The CFA Institute is part of a worldwide project announced at the G7 meeting being held in Quebec to expand the representation of women in the financial industry in emerging countries, CFA announced Wednesday.
As part of global development initiatives established at the 44th annual G7 meeting, CFA Institute has been selected to help establish an internship program focused on university women studying finance in developing markets. The CFA Institute is a global association of investment professionals.
The institutional investors that have pledged to commit resources to the project are AIMCo, Allianz, Aviva, CalPERS, CDPQ, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Natixis Investment Managers, OMERS, Ontario Teachers’, OPTrust and PGGM.
CFA Institute CEO and president Paul Smith called the lack of women in finances “one of the world’s – and the industry’s – most intractable challenges.”
“When we think about what finance is for – its important role in eradicating poverty, closing the infrastructure funding gap and fostering conditions in which opportunities abound for everyone – then this initiative represents an outstanding example of our ability as an industry to effect meaningful change,” he added.
The G7 countries are the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and Germany.