Message from the Board – Society Updates Dec 2024

Dear Members,

I am delighted to present to you our first newsletter in the year 2025. The year 2024 was another fantastic year for the country as a whole and also for the investment fraternity in India. India oversaw the largest election in history, with billions of people exercising their right. The stock markets continued to do well, though by the end of the year the economy and the market showed some signs of a slowdown.

Starting the Society updates with our exceptional repertoire of events, I am reminded of an Urdu sher-

Jahan se ilm ka humko guroor hota hai,
Wahin se hoti hai ibtidaa jahaalat ki

(When we start becoming arrogant about our knowledge, that is the beginning of ignorance)

It perfectly captures the paradox of knowledge and humility. The moment we think we know everything, we close the door to learning. True wisdom lies in regularly participating in knowledge sharing events, staying curious and open-minded as I emphasize later in this message as well.

In this vein, it was heartening to see that your enthusiasm and vibrancy remained buoyant throughout the year and inspired your Society to maintain a steady stream of high-quality events, focused on enhancing our professional knowledge and improving connections within the investment community.

Our regional chapters hosted a diverse range of events, covering topics from investment strategies and fraud detection to macroeconomic insights. Pune explored “Mastering Investment Strategies”, while Bangalore and Ahmedabad discussed “Is India the Perfect Emerging Market?”. Bangalore also hosted “Behind the Scenes of Angel Investing”, and Delhi examined the power sector and battery supply chain onshoring. Chennai organized a Python workshop and a unique “Brunch with CXO” session featuring Kasi Viswanathan, CEO of Chennai Super Kings, on the commercial side of cricket. Kolkata welcomed Biswadip Gupta, Chairman of Vesuvius India Ltd., to share his entrepreneurial journey.

Beyond these specialized sessions, chapters hosted flagship events with strong participation. The 8th Value Investing Pioneers Summit focused on value investing strategies, while the India Investment Conference 2024 brought together industry leaders to share insights on future of investing. The 2nd India Alternative and Quantitative Investing Summit delved into alternative and quantitative strategies shaping India’s investment landscape.

Your Society’s knowledge-sharing efforts extended beyond online and physical events. Podcasting is one of the fastest-growing mediums for information dissemination in the world. CFA Society India’s podcast is one of the highest rated podcast in finance and investment category. The podcast sub-committee within PAC continued to bring out engaging content by bringing out three podcast episodes in the last quarter. A standout episode featured David Atkin, CEO of Principles for Responsible Investment, who discussed responsible investing and the increasing role of sustainable finance in reshaping the financial sector.

Not only did your Society organize a host of popular and interesting events, it found a way to reach out to more and more of our community on social media. With LinkedIn currently at 97,500 followers, the last quarter saw a sharp growth of 21% (6753 new followers) in new people joining us on LinkedIn to share the journey. This growth also made CFA Society India’s page rank third in follower growth among its peers. On Instagram, the official CFA society India’s account reached +32.5% more accounts than in the previous quarter. Our follower base increased by 6.5% as compared to the previous quarter.

The Career Committee also had a very busy quarter. Career Days were organized in Chennai and Pune, seeing participation from marquee employers. Apart from this, there were also three Meet-an-Employer sessions. The Committee also organized webinars focusing on Careers in Sell-side Institutional Equities and Careers in Corporate Venture Capital.  Besides, there were enriching workshops on Advanced Valuation Techniques in Mumbai and Chennai, on basic Technical Analysis and on advanced Technical Analysis.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is a highly regarded event for students looking to pursue a career in finance and investments. In the last quarter, four zonal finals were concluded and Eight teams advanced to India Finals to be held on 1 February 2025, which promises to be an exciting and competitive event.

Last but not the least, the last quarter of the year is also the time to facilitate new Charterholders. 175 Charterholders and 161 L3 Passouts were facilitated across 4 chapters. This milestone was celebrated with esteemed senior industry professionals, the Board of Directors of CFA Society India, senior leaders from CFA Institute, and their loved ones.

The first month of a new year is a great time to reflect upon one’s own professional journey, to take some learnings from the past and to make some new resolutions. Looking at my own personal journey, I confess that I have missed many interesting knowledge sessions, due to laziness, ignorance or arrogance (re: the Urdu sher).

My personal new year’s resolve is to attend more of the Society’s events and to continuously strive for improving my knowledge base and skill set by attending more of the Society’s events and connecting more with fellow investment professionals. What is yours?