CFA Society Bahrain hosts 10th annual Forecast Dinner

CFA Society Bahrain, the Kingdom’s pre-eminent association for local investment professionals, hosted its 10th annual Forecast Dinner and Charterholder Ceremony in Four Seasons hotel on Saturday night.

The ceremony was one of the main annual events in this year’s investment and business calendar.

Mahmoud Nawar, president of CFA Society Bahrain, welcomed Usman Ahmed, CEO of Citi Bahrain, as the guest of honour and recognised 25 new charterholders in the presence of nearly 200 guests and society members

In addition to awarding the latest recipients, their CFA charter, Karim Chedid, investment strategist at BlackRock, a prominent guest speaker, discussed the outlook for GCC markets as well as delivering investment ideas and macro thoughts on the market.

Other speakers present on the occasion led a discussions on debt capital markets and regional equities, with a critical focus on the region’s most pressing issues and its economic outlook for 2016.

Congratulating the new charterholders, Mahmoud Nawar, president of CFA Society Bahrain, said: “As we welcome 25 new charterholders into CFA Society Bahrain, we are proud of our continued growth as a centre for financial and investment excellence in the Kingdom. Despite challenging market conditions, it is very encouraging to see that financial professionals in Bahrain continue to dedicate themselves to the ethics, rigour, tenacity and analytics at the core of the CFA programme.”

Looking at the year ahead, Nawar concluded: “The year ahead will be interesting for CFA Society Bahrain as financial markets in the GGC countries continue to evolve. For the second time, CFA Institute will be hosting its annual Middle East Investment Conference (MEIC 2016) here in Bahrain in April where charterholders will hear from a range of global experts, from a variety of professional and educational institutions about issues and topics affecting both the global and regional markets. Over the past 12 months, the society has taken the lead in promoting thought leadership and discussion on a broad range of topical issues. We have another exciting programme scheduled for 2016, including the completion of our second Mutamahin development programme for fresh university graduates.”

To earn the CFA designation, candidates must pass all three levels of the exam (successful candidates often report dedicating in excess of 300 hours of study per level); meet the work experience requirements of four years in the investment industry; sign a commitment to abide by the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct; and become a member of CFA Institute.