CFA Institute, the global association of investment management professionals, has announced commencement of applications for its Young Women in Investment initiative. The 2020 programme is open to 100 shortlisted 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 programme are filled or on March 8, 2020, whichever is earlier. Eligible women can apply for the program at www.empowering young women.cfa.

Commenting on the programme, Vidhu Shekhar, CFA, CIPM, country head, India CFA Institute says, “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.”

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’ programme 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 programme 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.

Charlottesville, Virginia (USA) headquartered CFA Institute is a global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. For more information, visit http://www.cfainstitute.org.