Chandigarh, September 14, 2016 – National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), CFA Institute and Indian Association of Investment Professionals (IAIP) have entered into an agreement to establish a framework of co-operation and implement various activities towards driving financial literacy and investor education in India. CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials.
This partnership will be beneficial as NSDL, CFA Institute & IAIP will be able to leverage their unique strengths to reach out to large investor community in India. With this, NSDL will be able to access international education content of CFA Institute whereas CFA India can leverage on the wide reach of NSDL. The formal collaboration plan was signed by MD & CEO of NSDL, Mr. G V Nageswara Rao and CFA India head, Mr. Vidhu Shekhar in the presence of CFA Institute Global MD, Mr. Paul Smith and CFA Institute - Asia Pacific MD, Mr. Nick Pollard.
Mr. G V Nageswara Rao, MD & CEO of NSDL commented: “With this partnership, Indian investor community will have access to global content and Indian investment industry professionals can learn of global best practices. NSDL’s student education oriented initiatives will also benefit from association with the CFA Institute.”
Mr. Paul Smith, Chief Executive Officer of CFA Institute, said: “I am very happy with our collaboration with NSDL. ‘Putting Investors First’ is a theme that CFA Institute advocates around the globe and NSDL has exactly the same ethos. With this partnership, we can leverage the strengths of NSDL to spread financial literacy and investor awareness across India.” He also stressed upon the need to develop soft skills amongst upcoming Indian investment industry professionals while imbibing excellent quality technical education as covered in CFA curriculum.
NSDL is the largest depository in India with custody value of over Rs.130 lakh crore (USD 1.9 Trillion). NSDL services more than 1.49 crore demat account holders through its Depository Participants from more than 27,000 locations across the country. NSDL is engaged in several investor education initiatives which have contributed to spreading financial literacy and investment culture across India. These initiative have helped NSDL to spread the reach of demat account holders to over 89% of the Pincodes in India.
CFA Institute is a champion for ethical behaviour in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. Putting Investors First is its annual event that aspires to make a real impact and to foster a market environment where both investment professionals and investors can thrive.