Investments & Wealth Institute and Association of Professional Fund Investors Form Strategic Alliance

Certified Investment Management Analyst® -CIMA® certification recognized as global standard for fund allocators

Denver, Co, Oct. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Two associations for investment practitioners who are committed to competent and ethical practice of investment management analysis and fund allocation have formed a multi-year strategic alliance to raise the bar of professionalism, and promote standards of quality for investment professionals around the world.

The strategic alliance aims to support and advance each organization’s respective objectives.

  • The Association of Professional Fund Investors (APFI) will work collaboratively with the Institute to promote global awareness and adoption of the CIMA certification as the most relevant global standard for manager research and fund investing, thereby enhancing the competency and professionalism of services delivered to investors.
  • Investments & Wealth Institute® has entered into a service agreement with APFI to support their aims to empower professional fund investors to learn, share ideas, network with their peers, and have a collective voice to national and global standards bodies and regulatory authorities.

The APFI has previously released a International Accreditations for Fund Selectors evaluating international accreditations available to industry professionals. While the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation is by far the most widely-held and most well-known accreditation in the financial services industry, the APFI believes that the Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA) accreditation is a better fit for professional fund selectors and recommended the CIMA certification as the most relevant and practical for fund allocators.

Adam Choppin, Executive Chairman of the Board for the APFI said, “All of the credentials we reviewed have excellent curricula and provide professionals with the necessary educational core to act as professional fund and manager selectors. But what sets them apart when you look at them side by side is how relevant, practical and useful each one is to a real working professional and what you have to do to maintain it. When we looked at those things objectively, the CIMA certification rose to the top.”

“We really started from a point that said, what set of tools and skills should a fund allocator have, based on our individual experience from across the globe,” said APFI Director, Gandy Gandidzanwa .

The CIMA accreditation is one of only six global accreditations approved by the APFI and of those only two require ongoing education to maintain the designation. “I was actually shocked when we did this review and found how few of these accreditations required ongoing education,” Choppin said. “That you would say you never have to do anything ever again to be equally qualified doesn’t make sense to me. I would never hire a fund manager who never made an effort to improve themselves.”  Formed in 1988 as a credential for investment management consultants, CIMA certification is one of only a handful of professional certifications in financial services that meets the rigorous accreditation requirements of ISO 17024, a global standard for personnel certifications. Earlier this year, CIMA certification was accredited by the ANSI National Accreditation Board under this standard. Today, the certification requires three years of professional experience, several background checks detailing a clean disciplinary and legal history, completion of a comprehensive executive education program at one of four registered programs – The Wharton School, Chicago Booth School, Yale School of Management, or the Investment Management Research program in Australia. Following 300 hours of self-study, candidates must then pass a 140 question, five-hour examination, with a first time pass rate of 56%. All certified professionals must recertify every two years by maintaining ongoing ethics and continuing education requirements (40 hours every two years).

Operated and managed entirely by member volunteers, and independent of commercial interests, the APFI is a hub for professional allocators and manager research professionals from across the globe. Originally founded in Switzerland and now headquartered in the UK, with a leadership team spread from Cape Town to Kerala and Seattle to Sweden, the APFI’s membership reflects the global diversity of the fund investing profession. The APFI has turned to the Investments & Wealth Institute as a technical partner to enable its global membership access to the modern tools of networking and collaboration for an increasingly digital age. Working with the Institute to globalize the reach of the APFI’s most highly recommended accreditation (the CIMA), also furthers the APFI’s goals of promoting the industry’s highest levels of professional standards and integrity in fund investing.

“This partnership will unlock opportunities for members of the Association of Professional Fund Investors and bring substantial benefits to both organizations,” said Sean Walters, Chief Executive Officer of the Investments & Wealth Institute. “Members and practitioners around the world can benefit from rich content sharing, moderated discussions, and a networked community of the world’s best and brightest global investment professionals, hosted on our new community platform, and facilitated by APFI members, who work on nearly every continent around the globe.”

About the Investments & Wealth Institute

Founded in 1985, the Investments & Wealth Institute is the premier professional association, education provider, and standards body for financial advisors. Through its award-winning events, publications, courses, and acclaimed certifications—Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®), Certified Private Wealth Advisor® (CPWA®), and Retirement Management Advisor® (RMA®)—the Institute delivers Ivy league-quality, highly-practical education to more than 30,000 practitioners annually in over 40 countries.  Members of the Institute include the industry’s most successful investment consultants, advanced financial planners, and private wealth managers who embrace excellence and ethics in applying a broad set of knowledge and skills in their daily work with clients. www.investmentsandwealth.org

About the Association of Professional Fund Investors

Formed in 2011, the Association of Professional Fund Investors advances the interests of investors by promoting professional standards and integrity in fund investing. APFI members are all professional fund investors – professionals whose principal occupation is the identification and evaluation of investment managers, funds, vehicles, etc. that are external to their own organization. APFI promotes best practices in fund investing by setting global standards of professionalism and accreditation, while empowering professional fund investors to learn, share ideas, network with their peers, and have a collective voice to national and global standards bodies and regulatory authorities. www.profundinvestors.org

Cindy Chaifetz
Investments & Wealth Institute
303.850.3079
cchaifetz@i-w.org

FreedomPay Selects Hill+Knowlton Strategies as Communications Agency of Record Amidst Global Expansion

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Oct. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FreedomPay, a global leader in Next Level Commerce™ has selected Hill+Knowlton Strategies (H+K) as its communications partner, following a competitive agency review. H+K will work with FreedomPay’s in-house marketing team to execute the global fintech leader’s national communications strategy as it continues its global expansion across 130+ countries, more than one hundred currencies and thousands of commerce partners.

FreedomPay is the only, fully independent, ‘open’ and agnostic Commerce Platform supporting the most innovative partners across banking, acquiring, processing and software vendors around the world. A pioneer in Commerce Technologies, FreedomPay’s cutting edge technology is unrivaled in speed, security, and capacity. With its award-winning, world-class Platform now serving 3 Billion+ transactions across the globe and accelerating into advanced cloud infrastructure, the company is growing rapidly to meet the needs of merchants with over 600+ integrations and the ‘new norm’ consumer demanding more experiences across in-store, online and on mobile commerce.

“FreedomPay’s singular focus on the evolving needs of both merchants and consumers distinguishes our solution set and is driving exponential growth,” said Chris Kronenthal, President & CTO at FreedomPay. “As technology continues to unite markets across all continents, our international partners are turning to our globally available and scalable Platform to support increasingly complex requirements to satisfy merchant and consumer requirements. With a focus on continued innovation for the fintech industry, as well as an extensive US and global presence that delivers an understanding of the markets and stakeholders that we are expanding to reach – we look forward to collaborating with Hill+Knowlton as our communications partner and sharing our entrepreneurial drive and culture of innovation.”

FreedomPay’s global footprint delivers full Omni-channel capabilities to merchants in 130+ countries and territories. FreedomPay’s Next Level Commerce™ platform is now fully compliant with PSD2 strong customer authentication, on-line PIN and foreign language support now meeting the needs of hundreds of thousands of merchants around the world.

About FreedomPay

FreedomPay’s Next Level Commerce™ platform transforms existing payment systems and processes from legacy to leading edge. As the premier choice for many of the largest companies across the globe in retail, hospitality, lodging, gaming, sports and entertainment, food service, education, healthcare and financial services, FreedomPay’s technology has been purposely built to deliver rock solid performance in the highly complex environment of global commerce. The company maintains a world-class security environment and was first to earn the coveted validation by the PCI Security Standards Council against the Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE/EMV) standard in North America. FreedomPay’s robust solutions across payments, security, identity, and data analytics are available in-store, online and on-mobile and are supported by rapid API adoption. The award winning FreedomPay Commerce Platform operates on a single, unified technology stack across multiple continents allowing enterprises to deliver an innovative Next Level experience on a global scale. www.freedompay.com

 

About Hill+Knowlton Strategies   

Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Inc. is an international communications consultancy, providing services to local, multinational, and global clients. H+K operates 77 offices in 43 countries worldwide, as well as an extensive associate network, delivering award-winning campaigns to clients across all sectors and disciplines and with a focus on continued innovation for the industry. Headquartered in New York, the firm is part of WPP, one of the world’s largest communications services groups.

Media Contact

Amy Dalkoff

Hill+Knowlton for FreedomPay

Amy.dalkoff@hkstrategies.com

312-255-3078 

Taylor Durovsik
FreedomPay
taylor.durovsik@freedompay.com

Hangzhou: rising distribution center of digital resources in China and key player in globalization reconstruction

HANGZHOU, China, Oct. 12, 2021 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/– In a recent Economist Intelligence Unit ranking of emerging Chinese cities, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Zhuhai stood out as the top five. These cities in southeast China are estimated to boast the greatest economic growth potential in the next five years and are expected to play an important role in China’s transition to a more technology-driven growth model.

Hangzhou, the pioneer city in China’s digital economy development, topped the ranking. According to the analysis, the eastern Chinese city will become an important distribution center of the country’s new digital resources and play a more important role in the new round of global economic system reconstruction, which is different from the globalization brought about by the last round of goods trade and financial resources flow and a series of international cities formed by it.

The 17th China International Cartoon & Animation Festival was held in Hangzhou, China from September 29th to October 4th, attracting many fans wearing various gorgeous costumes.

Hangzhou and other eastern coastal cities will benefit from the central government’s expected innovation and productivity drive under the 14th Five-Year Plan, as they have attracted large inflows of skilled workers, according to the report. Meanwhile, the pandemic has contributed to transformative changes in business dynamics. E-commerce penetration deepened as consumers developed a stronger preference for online shopping and businesses adopted new marketing formats, like live streaming.

According to Hangzhou Municipal Government, Hangzhou’s rise in China’s emerging market status and great potential for future economic growth are inseparable from the surging power of the digital industry. Data showed that in the first quarter of this year, the core industries of Hangzhou’s digital economy achieved a total added value of 112 billion yuan, up 28.1 percent year on year, achieving an average growth of 16.6 percent in two years and accounting for 26.7 percent of GDP.

While continuously upgrading the level of digital industry, Hangzhou has accelerated the development of industrial Internet, 5G and other new-era infrastructure, with emerging digital applications such as smart workshops and digital factories.

In Hangzhou, there are many digital enterprises dedicated to making factories smart. At present, Hangzhou has gathered more than 400 digital engineering service organizations, offering about 70 percent of digital transformation service capabilities for Zhejiang and about 70 percent of cloud computing capabilities for China.

With a booming digital economy featuring smart digital governance and convenient digital life, Hangzhou, a city known for its beauty over the past thousands of years, has made digitalization as its most distinctive symbol of the times. Digitalization also makes Hangzhou a distribution center of new digital resources in China, and plays a pivotal role in the new round of transformation of China’s economy facing globalization, driving the reconstruction of various elements such as trade, manufacturing, artificial intelligence development and design.

The upgrading and vigorous development of urban industry cannot be separated from the support of talents. In terms of attracting talents, Hangzhou has a dazzling performance sheet: for three consecutive years, the net inflow rate of domestic and overseas talents and the net inflow rate of Internet talents remain the first in China, and it has been selected as one of the most attractive Chinese cities in the eyes of foreign talents for ten consecutive years. Why is Hangzhou so charming?

“All the work to improve the quality of the city comes down to attract and retain talents.” This is Hangzhou’s answer as well as its vision. In Hangzhou, a consensus has been reached that talent is the most important resource, and the major policies of the city must be coordinated with talent work in advance. Issues related with talent work that need coordination will also be put on the agenda for discussion and solution at the earliest opportunity.

More than 100 international students from more than 40 countries have entered the first entrepreneurship park for international students in Hangzhou. So far this year, Wei Shang, an Indian student, has won orders of nearly 400,000 yuan to sell Chinese products to India. Anna Lu, a British student, founded an education consulting company, introducing excellent foreign teachers to many universities in Jiangsu and Shanghai…

Hangzhou’s environment for talents is getting better. This city with a population of over 10 million is providing fresh development opportunities, attracting talents from home and abroad to settle in Hangzhou with a more open ecological environment for talents and a more confident attitude.

Hangzhou citizens are the most fashion-conscious people I have ever met. They stress civilization and courtesy, and their lives are full of the pursuit of individuality and internationalization, according to Alan Wilkinson, an Englishman who has lived in Hangzhou for many years.

The unique fashion consciousness of Hangzhou citizens can be said to come from the cultural genes engraved in Hangzhou, a famous city with a thousand years of history and culture. Today’s Hangzhou, with prosperous culture, has become a city of animation, exhibition and contest. The China International Animation Festival, which has been held 17 years, has been held as a carnival for animators in China and even around the world. More and more animation companies and creators are racing to explore this rich mine in Hangzhou and promote the integration of animation culture into every aspect of the city.

The 15th Hangzhou Cultural & Creative Industry Expo to be held this year will continue to stimulate the endogenous power of Hangzhou’s cultural industry and let Hangzhou citizens enjoy the feast brought by global creative culture; The 14th FINA World Swimming Championships in 2018 showed the world Hangzhou’s comprehensive strength and ability to run the competition. Former FINA President Julio Maglione once said that they spent a very unforgettable time in Hangzhou, a city of vitality. In 2022, Hangzhou will host the 19th Asian Games, and more and more top-level events will be settled in Hangzhou, which will gradually brand the city with distinct sports marks.

Hangzhou is committed to building itself into a digital city to inject new momentum into the construction of an innovative city, a green city to highlight ecological civilization, a city of humanity with stronger historical and cultural charm, a happy city as an example of Zhejiang’s high-quality development and common prosperity demonstration area, and an open city with increasing internationalization.

Source: Hangzhou Municipal Government

Image Attachments Links: http://asianetnews.net/view-attachment?attach-id=403502

Karachi Police Arrests a TikToker Among Others in Murder Cases

The Karachi Police have arrested three persons, including a TikToker, allegedly involved in the murder of a Bykea rider in Sohrab Goth.

It is to note that one, Imran, 32, who was a Bykea rider, was shot dead at Super Highway on 26 September in a robbery. During the investigation, the accused told the investigating officer that they had killed Imran for not handing over his cellphone worth not more than Rs. 5,000.

Senior Superintendent of Police (East), Qamar Raza Jaskani, said the arrested accused included Kamran, Umar Farooq, and Muhammad Yusuf. They confessed to multiple robberies and snatchings.

Kamran revealed that he demanded Imran, who was sitting on a motorcycle, at gunpoint to hand over his cellphone, but Imran showed reluctance, so he resorted to using his gun and accidentally opened fire.

Expressing his repentance, the accused said he was drunk at the time of the incident. He informed the officer that he had six members in his group. He said five of the gang were riding three bikes and were present at the incident site.

Source: Pro Pakistani

PCB’s Row With PSL Franchises Finally Comes to an End With a New Financial Model

The uncertainty that loomed over the Pakistan Super League (PSL) due to the financial model has finally come to a close as franchise owners have accepted Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) new financial model.

Earlier, PCB had presented a new financial model to the PSL franchise owners, which included a greater share of the central revenue pool, a fixed USD to PKR exchange rate, and financial relief for the COVID-19 struck PSL 5 and 6. The terms and conditions have been agreed upon by the PSL owners after a lot of deliberation amongst themselves.

Newly-elected PCB Chairman, Ramiz Raja, confirmed the news and expressed his delight at resolving the matters with the PSL franchise owners.

“I am delighted that all matters have finally been resolved, which is a big step forward in building a stronger relationship with the franchise owners as we look forward to working with them to take the PSL to greater and unprecedented heights,” Ramiz stated.

According to the new financial model, the franchises will receive 95 percent of the revenue generated from all revenue streams, including broadcasting rights, sponsorship rights, and ticket sales. Previously, the PSL franchises received around 85-90 percent of the total revenue generated.

PCB has also assured the PSL franchises that no new franchises will be brought into the competition until at least the tenth season of the competition. This will help the existing franchises receive the maximum amount from the revenue generated.

PCB has also offered a lucrative package to attract top-quality players to the league. Additional money will be allocated to procure the best players in the world as PCB has decided to allocate any additional revenue from broadcast revenues to bring in the best players. Broadcast revenue in excess of PKR 3 billion will be used exclusively to attract the best talent in world cricket.

In addition to this, PCB has also altered the franchise fee payment structure, which will prove beneficial for the PSL franchises. The franchises will have to pay 50 percent of the fees two months in advance of every PSL season, 25 percent of the fees will have to be paid before the start of the first match, and the remaining 25 percent will be paid before the final of the competition. Previously, the PSL franchises had to put forth a bank guarantee. This condition has now been removed as well.s

Source: Pro Pakistani

FM calls upon int’l community to support Afghan people for peace, stability, development

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has called upon the international community to support the Afghan people in their quest for peace, stability and development at the critical juncture in their history.

He was addressing the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia through a video statement.

Foreign Minister lauded CICA’s role in providing an invaluable platform for promoting peace, security and development on the Asian continent through dialogue and cooperation.

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to the CICA process and the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security in Asia.

The Foreign Minister underscored that sustainable peace in South Asia would remain elusive until and unless the core dispute of Jammu and Kashmir is resolved in accordance with the resolutions of the UN Security Council and the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi also called for a just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question through the two-state solution in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions.

The meeting was hosted by Kazakhstan, the current CICA Chair, in Nur-Sultan.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Here is Why Iftikhar Should Have Been in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup Squad

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) stand-in captain, Iftikhar Ahmed, has been having a dream run at the National T20 Cup 2021.

In the ten league matches played so far, Iftikhar has accumulated 319 runs at an average of 79.75 with three fifties and as many 30 plus scores. Only his teammate, Sahibzada Farhan (368), and Sindh’s Sharjeel Khan (339) have scored more runs than him in the ongoing tournament.

Iftikhar has also bowled well. He took four wickets in the five matches he got to bowl in.

With his current form, one would wonder whether he should have been in Pakistan’s 18-member squad for the T20 World Cup, if not in the final fifteen.

Handy with the bat, clever with the ball, and a gun fielder on the fence, Iftikhar could have been a complete package the national side could utilize in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) conditions. As he plays the spin very well and bowls tight lines, he could have been the missing link for Pakistan.

Keeping Khushdil’s current form in view, Iftikhar could have easily replaced him in the traveling reserves. The left-arm batter scored 206 runs in eight matches played for Southern Punjab at an average of 24.71.

Therefore, Iftikhar could have been a better choice as he could provide a like-for-like replacement for any of the spin all-rounders, i.e., Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, and Imad Wasim, if and when needed.

Source: Pro Pakistani

PCB’s Row With PSL Franchises Finally Comes to an End With a New Financial Model

The uncertainty that loomed over the Pakistan Super League (PSL) due to the financial model has finally come to a close as franchise owners have accepted Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) new financial model.

Earlier, PCB had presented a new financial model to the PSL franchise owners, which included a greater share of the central revenue pool, a fixed USD to PKR exchange rate, and financial relief for the COVID-19 struck PSL 5 and 6. The terms and conditions have been agreed upon by the PSL owners after a lot of deliberation amongst themselves.

Newly-elected PCB Chairman, Ramiz Raja, confirmed the news and expressed his delight at resolving the matters with the PSL franchise owners.

“I am delighted that all matters have finally been resolved, which is a big step forward in building a stronger relationship with the franchise owners as we look forward to working with them to take the PSL to greater and unprecedented heights,” Ramiz stated.

According to the new financial model, the franchises will receive 95 percent of the revenue generated from all revenue streams, including broadcasting rights, sponsorship rights, and ticket sales. Previously, the PSL franchises received around 85-90 percent of the total revenue generated.

PCB has also assured the PSL franchises that no new franchises will be brought into the competition until at least the tenth season of the competition. This will help the existing franchises receive the maximum amount from the revenue generated.

PCB has also offered a lucrative package to attract top-quality players to the league. Additional money will be allocated to procure the best players in the world as PCB has decided to allocate any additional revenue from broadcast revenues to bring in the best players. Broadcast revenue in excess of PKR 3 billion will be used exclusively to attract the best talent in world cricket.

In addition to this, PCB has also altered the franchise fee payment structure, which will prove beneficial for the PSL franchises. The franchises will have to pay 50 percent of the fees two months in advance of every PSL season, 25 percent of the fees will have to be paid before the start of the first match, and the remaining 25 percent will be paid before the final of the competition. Previously, the PSL franchises had to put forth a bank guarantee. This condition has now been removed as well.s

Source: Pro Pakistani