As ESG-minded practices have grown in both importance and popularity in recent years, several ESG tracking indices have increased. To stay current with the trend, CFA Association Russia invited Nikita Pavlov, a Senior Sales Manager of Investment & Advisory,CEE / CIS at Refinitiv, to give an overview of the ESG market and discuss ESG indices.

CFA Association Russia held an online presentation with Ruben Enikolopov, PhD, Head of New Economic School, and discussed possible economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Russian economy.

On May 19, CFA Association Russia invited Maxim Lapin, CFO of Moscow Exchange, to a live broadcast to discuss the issues around the sovereign debt, the cycles of recessions and comparing economic crises in different countries.

On May 14, CFA Russia invited Maria Semenova, ACCA, PhD, to an online presentation. She focused on tax efficiencies in project financing. Read a full breakdown and recommendations from the auhor inside the article.

On April 29, CFA Association Russia held an online seminar with Yakov Mirkin, PhD, a renowned Russian economist and Head of the Department of International Capital Markets at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO).

CFA Association Russia continued a series of online presentations on April 7, 2020. The society was joined by Andreas Bickel, PhD, a portfolio manager with over 25 years of experience, who lead investment departments of Goldman Sachs, Rothschild Bank and currently is CIO of Blackfort.

Karolina Shalimova, a senior tax consultant at Mazars, joined CFA Association Russia’s webinar on April 6 to discuss the questions around controlled foreign corporations (CFCs), companies that are registered and conduct business in countries other than the residency of their owners.

CFA Association Russia elected a new president, Maria Kharlashkina. Three new members joined to the society's board of directors.

On April 1, CFA Association Russia held a soft skills seminar with Alena Agniashvili, a business coach from EY’s Academy of Business. This was the third event on soft skills that CFA Russia held jointly with EY in 2020.

On March 27, CFA Association Russia held its third live webinar. This time the society invited Joachim Klement, CFA, Head of Investment Research at Fidante Partners, a financial professional with over 20 years of experience in financial markets, to share his thoughts on how to avoid common mistakes when investing.

CFA Association Russia continued its live online events with the presentation by Maria Semenova, PhD, ACCA, an independent tax consultant, who focused on the changing tax regulations for controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) and some of the challenges this might present to potential investors.

On March 17, the association invited Anastasia Glebova, founder of the recruiting agency SMART, who held a webinar on the situation in the finance industry labor market during the times of trouble caused by the coronavirus pandemic and economic recession.

This year, the teams from ICEF and HSE emerged as the local stage winners, showing excellent research and presentation skills. Now these two teams will travel to Jordan, where the EMEA Regional Final will be held on April 1-2.

With the ever increasing globalization of financial markets, Islamic finance is gradually gaining recognition throughout the world. As wealth in Muslim-majority countries is expected to increase in the future, the role of Islamic finance, which attempts to reconcile theology and modern portfolio theory, is also expected to grow.

To find out more about this problem, CFA Association Russia held a joint workshop with EY Academy of Business focusing on cognitive flexibility. Victoria Karyakina, a leading soft-skills coach from EY Academy of Business, held a 2-hour presentation, which analyzed the nature of our unconscious biases, discussed their negative consequences and gave advice on how to become aware of these preconceived notions.

CFA Russia invited an expert from Switzerland, Dr. Guiseppe Ballocchi, CFA, Partner at Alpha Governance Partners and a member of CFA Institute’s Future of Content Council, to talk about future trends and scenarios in the finance industry.

A speaker, Katerina Nazarova, one of EY’s coaches on emotional intelligence (EI), had an engaging conversation with the guests and shared some of her ideas on how to improve leadership skills and personal brand for women working in the corporate world.

The Bank of Russia published an official document recommending all financial organizations in the Russian securities market to come up with their own code of ethics based on the CFA Institute Standards of Practice Handbook.

During 2019, CFA Russia organized a few GIPS-related events, spreading the word about the advantages of getting verified. Slowly but surely, the work paid off with the first company agreeing to go through a GIPS verification early next year.

A market momentum around ESG is rising around the world. To discuss these issues in detail, on December 16, in partnership with Deloitte, CFA Association Russia held an evening seminar focusing on the role of ESG in the assignment of credit ratings.