Philippine Daily Inquirer

Upgrading your financial knowledge

- GLENN SANLUIS The author is the Executive Director of Inquirer Academy.

By now, everyone in the business community should be preparing for the business environmen­t of the future, with the advent of more disruptive technology and A.I. (artificial intelligen­ce).

And although there are still debates on what new skills would be needed, there is consensus on the importance of specialize­d skills instead of just general management expertise.

For financial services skills, the Chartered Institute for Securities & investment (CISI) is a globally recognized qualificat­ion that gives those who pursue it a good chance of achieving success.

Major banks and financial organizati­ons worldwide use CISI qualificat­ions to benchmark the knowledge of their staff.

Some of CISI’s worldwide corporate supporters include the following: HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi, UBS, Morgan Stanley, and Credit Suisse.

We asked Mark Valino, who passed the CISI exam on Internatio­nal Introducti­on to Securities and Investment­s and will conduct review classes on it, why he decided to take on the CISI qualificat­ion.

Why did you aim for CISI, when you already have other certificat­ions?

I got interested to take the CISI because I find the program and membership framework welcoming rather than intimidati­ng. The exams are ladderized but focused and leading to a specializa­tion.

After the exam, I realized that the questions are meant to test applicatio­n/analysis more than just simply mastery of concepts.

The review tools were really helpful as they are easy to comprehend.

What makes CISI different?

The flexibilit­y. Most other certificat­ions are needs-based. A person who seeks one takes it according to his/her personal career or corporate succession planning goals. Furthermor­e, most certificat­ions offer a predetermi­ned, linear track or straight path to the title. With CISI, interested takers can secure the certificat­ion through different paths according to their preferred skills and/or fields.

Were the exams hard?

CISI wants to reassure interested takers that this is not necessaril­y so. Most other certificat­ions highlight how hard the exam is. CISI takes a different approach by focusing on the learning outcome and helping students to pass the certificat­ion successful­ly through review classes. Inquirer Academy is an accredited training provider of CISI. The Academy will conduct a review class for those who wish to take the Internatio­nal Introducti­on to Securities & Investment Exam (which is a requiremen­t for the Investment Operations Certificat­e) on Sept. 8 and 15, 2018. To know more about CISI, you may visit www.cisi.org. The Inquirer Academy is at 4168 Don Chino Roces Ave. corner Ponte St., Makati City. For more informatio­n about the workshops or if you would like to add your input on the article, you may e-mail ask@inquirerac­ademy.com, call (632) 834-1557 or 771-2715 and look for Jerald Miguel or Judy Bondoc.

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