The Bahamas has five new chartered financial analysts (CFA), and the country will need more if it is to remain a leading financial jurisdiction in the future, President and CEO of the CFA Institute Paul Smith said Friday.
Speaking to Guardian Business at the Charter Awards Ceremony at The Island House, Smith said the CFA brand is highly regarded globally, and many top people in The Bahamas' financial services industry have the designation.
According to Smith, because of the climate for offshore financial jurisdictions globally, tax breaks and tax exemptions will no longer be the golden ticket that will drive high net worth individuals and corporations to The Bahamas. He said talent will have to be the game changer.
"If The Bahamas is to survive and thrive as a financial jurisdiction, it has to be well known in the future for having highly talented people who are there to serve their clients," Smith said. "It can no longer exist as we used to exist in the offshore world."
On Friday, Leonard Scott, Jason Smith, Tiffany Smith, Jontra Rolle and Oliver Turner received their awards and were welcomed into the CFA Society The Bahamas.
"The (CFA) brand for a lot of international businesses is very high, so it says something to employers and future employers not just about their technical ability, but about the person they are," said Smith.
"It doesn't get you a job necessarily, but it tells the perspective employer that is doing that initial screening of you, what type of person you are.
"They are very highly regarded and we are extremely fortunate that we have a lot of highly placed CFAs (in The Bahamas)."
Smith implored Bahamians who are looking for investment advice to find someone who "has that CFA after their name".
"It's not just about technical competence, but it's also about ethical training as well, and the CFA places right at the center of everything we do, ethics," he said.

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