CFA Institute Launches Globally Recognized Claritas® Investment Certificate in China

CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals that sets the highest standards for education, ethics and professionalism, announces the launch of the Claritas® Investment Certificate in China. The launch of the globally recognized finance program comes in response to the rising demand to develop a professional financial services workforce with international standards in China.

For every investment decision maker there are up to ten professionals working in support functions in the average investment management business. Claritas is targeted at these support professionals and has its objective of helping them break through the complexities of the global investment management industry. The Claritas program from CFA Institute builds the industry knowledge and ethical awareness of these professionals, and supports companies that want to raise their standards of workforce effectiveness.

The Claritas program serves as a comprehensive introduction to the investment management industry and a solution to raise workforce effectiveness and competence across a variety of professional disciplines in both back office and client-facing roles.

“As a leading advocate for the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence globally, we look to provide relevant support to investment management businesses in China to help them stand out in the investment industry amongst their peers,” said Paul Smith, CFA, President and CEO of CFA Institute. “The addition of the Claritas Investment Certificate to our other professional education offerings, CIPM® program and CFA® program, will address the need in China to develop all professionals within the financial services workforce to the highest international standards.”

Focusing on the essentials of finance, ethics, and investment, the Claritas program was developed in response to the global financial crisis as a way to bridge knowledge gaps across the industry.

What makes Claritas an ideal program for financial services professionals are the four core benefits it brings which include enterprise risk management enhancement by increasing employees’ knowledge and confidence in speaking up when problems arise; firm-wide communication improvement through providing employees a common understanding of industry structure, international terminology and the language of finance; employee engagement strengthening by building employees’ sense of how they can maximize their potential and contribute to the success of the firm; and, finally, the global recognition of the program.

Claritas® Investment Certificate is designed for professionals working with investment decision makers in functions such as operations, administration, information technology, human resources, marketing, sales, compliance and customer service. It is a self-study course requiring between 80 to 100 hours of study over a six month period, and is made up of seven modules, covering industry overview, ethics and regulation, inputs and tools, investment instruments, industry structure, serving client needs and industry controls.