Nominations for the 2015 BlackRock/PortfolioConstruction Forum Certified Investment Management Analyst (CIMA) scholarship close on March 30.
The CIMA program is co-ordinated by the Investment Management Consultants Association (IMCA), and is widely recognised as a top qualification for individuals engaged in researching retail investment products and constructing portfolios for retail investors.
The 2014 scholarship was won by Justin Tay, (on the left in the picture) an investment analyst with Zenith Investment Partners.
Cathryn Gross, principal, member engagement, for PortfolioConstruction Forum, says IMCA is targeting “applications from retail research houses and multi-managers within financial advice firms”.
“It’s very important that portfolio managers and consultants and analysts from within the smaller advice firms feel they can apply, [as well as] multi-manager researchers in platforms,” Gross says.
“There’s an application online on the IMCA website; if you look at the CIMA qualification on the IMCA website there’s two applications for scholarships. One is the AMP institutional [scholarship] and the other is the Blackrock/PortfolioConstruction Forum scholarship. The application is about four pages long; you fill it in online, and submit it.”
The scholarship is valued at about $7000 and close at the end of the month The IMCA scholarship committee will determine a shortlist of finalists by April 15.
The recipient of the scholarship will be notified on April 30, three months before the qualification exam (July 30) and, all going well, the scholarship recipient will pass the exam and be recognised at PortfolioConstruction Forum Conference in Sydney on August 19. Between September 27 and October 2, the scholarship winner will attend a residential offsite course.
“You receive the scholarship, you sit the qualification exam – part of us assessing whether someone is appropriate to receive the scholarship is we think they’re going to be able to get through the exam – and in order to get through the exam you need to have worked in the profession,” Gross says.
“Part of getting the CIMA qualification is you sit the exam, to be eligible to this one-week in-house boot camp with all of the other CIMAs who have passed the exam, where you do all of the practical learning.
“You do not actually get your CIMA designation when you pass the exam – that qualifies you to sit down with the 20 or 30 other CIMAs who have passed the exam and do the in-house boot camp.”
Charmaine Cheung, head of managed funds and product research at BT Financial Group, says the CIMA program is “an immersive experience where candidates get to learn and experience the multi-faceted world of investment management and portfolio construction”.
“It is a must for all professionals working within the industry looking to further expand their knowledge and skills,” Cheung says.
