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The objective of ACIIA is to provide an internationally recognized, advanced professional qualification called CIIA. To this end, ACIIA continuously reviews the quality and the relevance of the CIIA examination and the CIIA training materials.

ACIIA considers professional competence and ethics as the two key pillars underlying investment analysts’ activities worldwide. It also places an emphasis on investment analysts’ independence from any external undue pressures which could impair their objectivity.

ACIIA recognizes the governing role of National/Regional Member Societies in their own countries/regions – irrespective of their size or the development stage of their local markets. This recognition of national/regional sovereignty is a key factor which differentiates ACIIA from other similar associations. Its policy to respect the cultural and regulatory aspects of each country/region helps investment analysts better understand local factors which would affect investment decisions and thus minimize the risk of these decisions being taken based on wrong or incorrect views or perceptions. The cultural and regulatory aspects of each country/region are incorporated into a national/regional specific examination coverage in addition to the common, global aspects that are examined.

ACIIA relies on National/Regional Member Societies for the development and enhancement of the CIIA designation and expects both the examination administration and training programmes to be managed by National/Regional Member Societies in their countries/regions.

There are three types of members: Federation, Contracting and Associate. The governing body of ACIIA is the Council, which consists of Federation and Contracting Members. The Council holds its meetings twice a year in June and November and the Annual General Meeting is held at the same time as the Council Meeting is held in June.

You can download the ACIIA Information Booklet for prospective members here

CIIA and Market Recognition

CIIA certification is officially recognized by financial market authorities as a required or as an adequate qualification for investment professionals in the following countries/regions: China, Hong-Kong, Italy, Korea, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Vietnam. In France, CIIA was agreed as an approved qualification by the Ministry of Education.

In certain countries/regions, CIIA holders’ benefit from exemption (partial or complete) from professional examination requirements due to the recognition of the quality content of the CIIA. This is the case in Argentina, Brazil, Greece, Poland, Russia and the UK.

Our Global Leadership

Meet the individuals shaping the strategic direction of ACIIA. Our Council Members are experienced leaders from around the world, committed to promoting excellence and integrity in international investment analysis.

Each brings unique insights and global perspectives to our mission. Click on their profiles to learn more.

Dr. Andreas Jacobs

Chair

Chief Executive Officer of AZEK AG and the Swiss Financial Analysts Association SFAA based in Switzerland

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Klaus Beinke

Deputy Chair

Managing Director, DVFA Germany

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Jesus Lopez Zaballos

PhD, Chair of the EFFAS Executive Management Committee (EMC)

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Maximilien Becq

Board Member, French Society of Financial Analysts (SFAF), France.

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Mr. Jin Hongfeng

Director of Administration Office of Securities Association of China (SAC)

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Kazuo Katayama

Managing Director The Securities Analysts Association of Japan

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Paweł Cymcyk

CEO of the Polish Association of Brokers and Investment Advisors (ZMID)

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Chair

The Swiss Financial Analysts Association aims at contributing to ensure a high level of qualification among professionals working in the financial sector. The SFAA is recognized by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI as the examining and awarding body in relation to the Federal Diplomas. It is also the parent company of the Swiss training centre AZEK. AZEK contributes to the standing of the Swiss financial sector by offering a set of high quality training programs to cover the specific needs of both the financial professionals and their employers.

Since 2010 Dr. Jacobs is Chairman of the Board for OLZ & Partners Asset and Liability Management AG, based in Bern. OLZ is an independent asset and wealth manager with an investment strategy that prizes rationality over rashness and science over speculation. It manages assets from both private and institiutional clients based mainly in Switzerland.

Before joining AZEK and the SFAA, Dr. Jacobs was Managing Partner & Chief Financial Officer at Aravis AG in Zürich. Aravis is an independent Swiss on-shore private equity house, an established investor in the renewable energy and life science spaces. It is serving over 30 leading investors including corporates, pension funds, government funds, insurance companies and family offices and actively managing more than a quarter of a billion Swiss francs.

Dr. Jacobs was Chairman of the Board of UBS Fund Management AG in Basel and Chairman of the Board of approximately 30 UBS Fund Management companies / SICAVs in Luxembourg.
Dr. Jacobs is a Lecturer in Portfolio Management for the CIIA program and also a lecturer in Finance at the University of Bern. He holds a Phd in Finance.

Chair

The Swiss Financial Analysts Association aims at contributing to ensure a high level of qualification among professionals working in the financial sector. The SFAA is recognized by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI as the examining and awarding body in relation to the Federal Diplomas. It is also the parent company of the Swiss training centre AZEK. AZEK contributes to the standing of the Swiss financial sector by offering a set of high quality training programs to cover the specific needs of both the financial professionals and their employers.

Since 2010 Dr. Jacobs is Chairman of the Board for OLZ & Partners Asset and Liability Management AG, based in Bern. OLZ is an independent asset and wealth manager with an investment strategy that prizes rationality over rashness and science over speculation. It manages assets from both private and institiutional clients based mainly in Switzerland.

Before joining AZEK and the SFAA, Dr. Jacobs was Managing Partner & Chief Financial Officer at Aravis AG in Zürich. Aravis is an independent Swiss on-shore private equity house, an established investor in the renewable energy and life science spaces. It is serving over 30 leading investors including corporates, pension funds, government funds, insurance companies and family offices and actively managing more than a quarter of a billion Swiss francs.

Dr. Jacobs was Chairman of the Board of UBS Fund Management AG in Basel and Chairman of the Board of approximately 30 UBS Fund Management companies / SICAVs in Luxembourg.
Dr. Jacobs is a Lecturer in Portfolio Management for the CIIA program and also a lecturer in Finance at the University of Bern. He holds a Phd in Finance.

Deputy Chair

Klaus Beinke is based in Frankfurt and has been the Managing Director  of the German Association for Financial Analysis and Asset Management GmbH (DVFA), the leading provider of education for capital market issues since 1st April 2020. Before this over a period of 25 years Klaus held various management positions at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, a top business school in Europe where as Vice President, he built up Professional as well as Executive Education and developed it into the economically decisive pillar of the institution.

As a long-standing member of the Presidium, he and his 120 employees were responsible for the entire Open Enrolment as well as the Customized Programmes. In addition, he was in charge of the digitization of educational processes as well as for the development of online and blended educational offers as a member of the executive board of efiport AG.

Klaus has an apprenticeship as a banker and a diploma in business administration from the University of Osnabrück with a focus on business informatics and finance.

Council Member

Chair of the EFFAS Executive Management Committee (EMC) General Manager of the Spanish Institute of Financial Training School (IEA/FEF). Deputy chair of IDEASEF (Instituto para el desarrollo de la Inteligencia Artificial en el Sector Financiero), Independent Board Member of MAPFRE Inversion SMV and Independent Board Member and chairman of the Audit Committee MAPFRE AM. Since 2014 member of the Advisory Board of Docout, a company specialized in outsourcing services, in business processes, records management and consulting, using high-tech tools.

Jesus is a member of the Madrid College of Economists (since 1985), a member of the European University Association for Community Studies (since 2006) and a former member of the boards of ACIIA, ILPIP, and IATEC Spain.

In 1984 he started his professional career as a broker in the Spanish Money Market. Later he worked as an expert in the Capital Market Industry for several important private and public financial institutions where he held a variety of responsibilities in different fields. Appointed Head of Domestic Treasury of the Banco de Crédito Industrial in 1991 and Head of Training of the Treasury and Capital Markets areas of Argentaria in 1995.

Founding partner and chair at “Formación y Finanzas, SL” (since 199), a Business Consulting and Financial Advisory firm specialized in advisor and training activities for the Financial Industry. Founding partner of Aureo Wealth Advice EAFI, S.L (2013), a wealth management company registered with the Spanish regulator.

PhD in Management & Business Administration at San Pablo CEU University, Madrid (1999), summa cum laude, and Degree in Economics & Business Administration at Complutense University, Madrid (1985). He also has a Diploma in General Management (PDG) from IESE (1997) and is a Certified Expert in Business Valuation and Financial Advisor by the Spanish Institute of Financial Analysts, Madrid (2008,2022). Since 1990 he has been a usual Lecturer and Visiting Professor in Seminars and specialized courses in several Universities and Business Schools.

Council Member

Maximilien has been a Member of the SFAF since 2013, a Lecturer for the CIIA program since 2017 and a Board Member of the SFAF since 2021.

Maximilien has been working since 2019 at AXA Investment Managers (€887Bn of assets under management as at Dec.2021). After having been dedicated to business development and Responsible Investment issues for the Equity, Fixed Income and Multi-Asset investment strategies as a Senior RFP Manager, he is now an Investment Specialist on Alternatives strategies: Impact Private Equity and Alternative Credit.

Previously, between 2008 and 2018, Maximilien held various positions in the banking industry. He started with Internal Audit for the BPCE Group, the second biggest French bank, before joining the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) teams of Natixis as a Credit Analyst on the Insurance sector and then as a Sales dedicated to the Banking sector.

Maximilien holds a Master in Finance and Audit (ICN Business School, Nancy, France). He is a Certified European Financial Analyst, a Certified International Investment Analyst, and a Certified ESG Analyst (CEFA, CIIA and CESGA holder).

Council Member

Since 2013, Mr. Jin Hongfeng has joined the Securities Association of China. He has served as the senior manager of the Standard of Practice Department and vice director of Administration Office. From 2014 to 2018, he has served as Deputy Director of Xi county, Linfen city, Shanxi Province and vice director of the Standard of Practice Department, responsible for the text book and test paper of Securities Qualification Examination, Sponsor Representative Competency Examination and Senior Managers Qualification Test. He assumes his current position as Office Director since May 2019, responsible for administration, daily management and international affairs.

Council Member

After passing the Japanese Bar Examination and graduating from the University of Tokyo (Faculty of Law), Mr. Katayama joined the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in 1983 and completed his career as a government official in 2019. As a government official, he dealt with the supervision of financial institutions for a total of seven years including at the time of Japan’s financial crisis and handled various insolvency cases of financial institutions such as the Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan as Director of the Financial Supervisory Agency in 1998. He also dealt with the debt management policy of JGBs as Director of the Financial Bureau of MOF (2006-2008) and designed the emergency lending scheme of government financial institutions at the time of the Global Financial Crisis as Director of the Minister’s Secretariat of MOF.

In addition to these financial matters, he worked for six years (1988-1990 and 2015-2019) in tax and customs matters, including as Deputy General Manager of the National Tax Tribunal (2018-2019). He was also seconded as General Manager of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) Copenhagen Office (2000-2003) and as Legal & Crisis Management Manager of NIDEC Corporation (2010-2012) under the personnel exchange program between the public and private sectors.

In 2020, he was registered as an attorney with the Dai-ichi Tokyo Bar Association and became Special Counsel of Atsumi & Sakai Law Firm. After working as Advisor for Nippon Life Insurance Company for three years, he joined SAAJ as Executive Vice President in 2022 and became Managing Director in 2023.

In addition to a BA in Law from the University of Tokyo, he received a Diploma in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1986.

Council Member

Paweł Cymcyk is the CEO of the Polish Association of Brokers and Investment Advisors (ZMID) since 2014. In his role, he is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the organization’s executive board, supporting financial firms in recruiting top talent, and leading strategic planning initiatives. He also manages the execution of projects aimed at promoting the financial industry and enhancing its public image.

In addition, between 2016 and 2019, at his initiative, ZMiD organizes the Future & Finance Congress, one of Poland’s key conferences bringing together financial market leaders. From 2015 to 2018, he was also responsible for the organization and coordination of the largest networking events for the Polish financial market, fostering professional dialogue and collaboration across the industry.

The Polish Association of Brokers and Investment Advisors (ZMID)is a professional non-profit organization founded in 1991 in Warsaw, uniting licensed securities brokers, investment advisors, analyst and financial consultants in Poland. ZMiD plays a key role in educating professionals for the financial market and is actively involved in most recruitment processes for financial institutions, supporting the development of the capital market through education and talent development.

To achieve its goals and mission, ZMiD conducts a wide range of training and certification programs (www.szkolenia.zmid.org.pl) , including preparation for Polish broker , advisor licenses and analyst certificates, as well as international qualifications such as CIIA.

ZMiD engages in public dialogue with market regulators and government bodies, represents its members’ interests, and organizes networking events for members to foster knowledge sharing. Through its educational, regulatory, and community-focused initiatives, ZMiD strengthens the quality and integrity of Poland’s financial sector.

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