Bangladesh must deepen financial market to retain, deploy CFA talent: experts

Bangladesh's capital market and wider financial sector must be strengthened to attract large-scale investments and make better use of highly skilled financial professionals, policymakers and market leaders said on Saturday.

The observations came at a gala programme marking the 10th anniversary of CFA Society Bangladesh, where speakers noted that although the country has developed a growing pool of globally certified investment professionals over the past decade, the lack of market depth continues to constrain opportunities for deploying such expertise.

The event was attended by the newly appointed Chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), Masud Khan, as chief guest.

Addressing the gathering, Mr Khan said the analytical discipline and ethical standards promoted by Chartered Financial Analysts (CFAs) align closely with the regulator's efforts to improve corporate governance, strengthen market discipline and enhance investor confidence.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr M Masrur Reaz, chairman and CEO of Policy Exchange Bangladesh, on the theme "Conducive Fiscal Policy for a Better Investment Climate: Imperatives and Priorities for Bangladesh."

During his address, Dr Reaz disclosed that a foreign direct investment (FDI) project valued at nearly $3 billion is nearing completion after remaining stalled for about two years.

"We are currently advising on a strategic infrastructure project worth almost $3 billion," he said. "During the last two months of negotiations, one issue repeatedly raised by foreign stakeholders from a G7 country was Bangladesh's readiness in terms of human capital."

According to him, prospective investors sought assurances regarding the availability of qualified investment analysts and globally certified investment management professionals capable of supporting large-scale projects.

Dr Reaz said the investment, expected to span 15 to 20 years, could reach a positive conclusion by the third week of July. He stressed that international institutional investors increasingly consider the availability of high-quality local financial talent a prerequisite before committing substantial capital to emerging economies.

Data presented by CFA Society Bangladesh President Asif Khan highlighted the concentration of CFA charterholders in a limited number of sectors due to the relatively shallow domestic capital market. The Society, incorporated in 2015, currently has 136 regular members and 92 associate members.

According to the data, asset management is the largest employer of CFA charterholders, accounting for 32 per cent of the total, followed by investment banking at 23 per cent. Together, the two sectors employ more than half of the country's CFA talent pool.

Corporate finance functions account for 14 per cent of charterholders, while commercial banking and academia each represent 9 per cent. Financial consulting firms employ 7 per cent, while regulatory institutions, including the central bank, account for only 6 per cent.

The Society also identified major employers of CFA professionals, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in development finance, Bangladesh Bank in central banking, Standard Chartered, HSBC and BRAC Bank in commercial banking, and EDGE AMC, Shanta Capital Market, IDLC and UCB Stock Brokerage in the capital market sector.

The presentation further showed that the CFA designation now has more than 204,000 charterholders across 160 markets worldwide. The Americas account for 57 per cent of members, followed by the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region at 22 per cent and the Asia-Pacific region at 21 per cent.

Participants at the event expressed concern over the migration of Bangladeshi CFA charterholders to global financial centres such as New York, London and Toronto. They noted that while the international recognition of the CFA qualification enables local professionals to secure positions at leading global financial institutions, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, Bangladesh must introduce policy reforms and develop more sophisticated financial products to retain such talent domestically.

Held at the Grand Ballroom of Sheraton Dhaka, the event brought together asset managers, corporate executives, stock market stakeholders and treasury professionals, and concluded with a networking dinner and cultural programme.

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