News round-up

More advisers sign up for professional development; Kerr buys van Eyk stake; IFA gives finPRO the big tick

Monday, June 14th 2010, 5:00AM

More advisers sign up for professional development
The CFA Institute has seen a 9% increase in enrollments for the CFA self-study program, highlighting the strong commitment among financial professionals to high standards of competence, integrity and professional excellence.

There have been 139,900 candidates enroll from 160 countries for the June CFA exam.

Asia Pacific continues to be the largest source of candidates, accounting for 40%, followed by 37% from the Americas and 23% from EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

"investors need trustworthy professionals to manage their wealth. This is the most important lesson the world has learnt in the global financial crisis," CFA president John Roger says.

The three-level CFA exam is covering topics including ethical and professional standards, quantitative methods, economics, financial reporting and analysis, corporate finance, investment tools, asset classes and portfolio management and wealth planning.

Kerr buys van Eyk stake
Pyne Gould Corporation, (PGC) led by George Kerr, has purchased Stephen van Eyk's 25% stake in van Eyk Research through a private equity deal.

The purchase is understood to have been made at 14 times EBIT through a special purpose private equity vehicle, the Torchlight Fund Number 2.

Van Eyk research chief Mark Thomas said while Kerr, who is director of PGC and owns a 15% stake in the company, may join the van Eyk board and would provide strategic input, neither he now PGC desired to get involved in the day-to-day running of the research company.

PGC is currently making a play to become New Zealand's first locally-owned listed bank.

IFA gives finPRO the big tick
The Institute of Financial Advisers (IFA) has given financial advice software company finPRO a big tick.

finPRO, the brainchild of IFA Fellow and Massey lecturer in financial advice, Simon Hassan, provides MS Office based tools and templates for financial advisers and has already won praise from advisers.

The software launches nationwide via an introductory series of small group workshops, starting in Auckland on June 22 and finishing in Invercargill on July 15.

For more details on the program or to book into a workshop, click here.

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