Applications open for CFA Institute Young Women in Investment initiative 2020
Bangalore: CFA Institute, the global association of investment management professionals, opens applications for its Young Women in Investment initiative. The 2020 program is for up to 100 selected women from any educational discipline. Candidates need to be at the minimum final-year students graduating in 2020, though candidates with higher qualifications and/or experience are also eligible to apply. Applications will close when all 100 places on the program are filled or on 8 March 2020, whichever is earlier. Eligible women can apply for the program at www.empoweringyoungwomen.cfa
“We started this initiative in 2018, and since then we have seen remarkable demand from both the investment industry and participants. It is encouraging to see young women from diverse backgrounds, such as engineering, arts, sciences, commerce, choosing to pursue a career in finance. We are also excited to work with leading financial institutions in this program, whose support helps us to encourage more women to join the investment industry,” said Vidhu Shekhar, CFA, CIPM, country head, India, CFA Institute.
The intensive four-week boot camps, which take place simultaneously at centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru, include free room and board. Each boot camp will cover business skills and the basics of the investment industry, such as ethics, micro and macroeconomics, regulations, risk management, financial statements, securities, alternative investments, quantitative concepts, machine learning, financial modeling, with classroom sessions led by senior industry professionals. All participants who complete the boot camp will be offered a stipend-paying internship for three-to-six months at a leading financial institution in India, subject to certain conditions.
Launched in 2018, the ‘Young Women in Investment’ program aims to create awareness about, instill interest in and enable women to view the investment management industry as a viable long-term career option. It is also an attempt to help these young women gain a better understanding of the flexibility within the industry and address concerns that the financial sector disproportionately rewards those who work long and inflexible hours. The program is a part of a wider CFA Institute Women in Investment Management initiative that seeks to improve investor outcomes by encouraging gender diversity in the investment management industry.