In a world regularly shaken by abrupt events and with financial markets undergoing deep changes, occasional major advances are likely to bring great improvements both for human beings and techniques.
The creation in spring 2000, of a new international designation called Certified International Investment Analyst suited for all the world's investment professionals is just such an advance.
After only three years of existence, there are already 3315 registered candidates for the final level examinations and 1912 CIIA holders worldwide.
What makes this new diploma so attractive that 21 countries and three federations, representing some 30 000 professionals, have so rapidly joined the Association of Certified International Investment Analysts®, the organisation which delivers the CIIA® diploma?

A few of the many reasons can be highlighted.
- Despite a general trend towards globalisation, there is a strongly felt need for the respect of national cultures, history and specific organisation. This is precisely the spirit of the CIIA®.
- ACIIA® is committed to respecting each of it's member's national identity, the most essential aspect of this can be seen in ACIIA®'s respect for national languages. Today, candidates can choose from 11 examination languages: English, French, Japanese, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and Korean.

More languages will be approved as the demand increases.
- A truly international content. The CIIA® examinations consist of questions, coming from all over the world, which are prepared by high level experts from member national Societies.
- Holders of the CIIA® have to be members of a participating national Society. They must respect the rules and regulations of their national association, more especially the professional code of ethics. In this sense, the CIIA® designation denotes not only professional expertise, but also real professional integrity.
- Flexible and efficient organisation. All examinations take place every 6 months. Candidates are able to choose the number of papers they intend to sit per session; should they fail a paper, they are able to sit it again just 6 months later. Candidates are also invited to sit in any official Examination Center they wish, in the language of their choice throughout the world.
- Commitment to training. The ACIIA® members are committed to providing proper support for their candidates. They develop specific CIIA® courses, more especially "face to face" courses, thus saving their candidates valuable time and creating opportunities for valuable feedback.

 

These are some of the advantages of this new international designation. Much has been achieved over a very short period and much remains to be done. Today's results are extremely encouraging and the future prospects are particularly promising. Going beyond the high professional quality of the diploma, the atmosphere of understanding and mutual respect which can be felt in our organisation is highly attractive to many countries which should soon be joining ACIIA®.

Jean-François Balmary
Chairman of the Promotions and Marketing Commission