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09 March 2022 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo Supplied
Dr Edson Vengeai
Dr Edson Vengesai believes accreditation from and affiliation with the CFA Institute signals to potential students, employers, and the marketplace that the UFS BCom Investment Management and Banking curriculum is well-suited to prepare students for a brighter career in the investment field.
The University of the Free State (UFS) Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences was recently welcomed into the world’s largest association of investment professionals, the CFA Institute University Affiliation Programme. The CFA designation is globally recognised as the gold standard in the investment field.

Accreditation by this respected source of knowledge in investment and portfolio management reflects the rigour and value of the UFS BCom Investment Management and Banking (IMB) degree – housed in the more than a century-old Department of Economics and Finance. 

According to Dr Edson Vengesai, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Finance, the BCom IMB positions students well to obtain the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) charter, which has become the world's most respected and recognised investment credential. Including the UFS, only five universities in South Africa are affiliated to the CFA Institute. 

Most respected investment designation

Members who have attained the prestigious designation ‘Chartered Financial Analyst’, hold prominent roles in leading investment firms in financial centres worldwide. “Becoming a charter holder is a defining moment for many investment professionals, which exemplifies a robust understanding of advanced investment analysis and real-world portfolio management skills,” he says.  

Dr Vengesai states that with this affiliation from the CFA Institute, the BCom IMB degree has been acknowledged as incorporating at least 70% of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge (CBOK) within the programme. Moreover, it also places emphasis on the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. He believes preparing graduates who are ethically grounded and ready to execute their duties in an ethical and professional manner is a major necessity in the financial analysis and investment field.

Writing from London in the United Kingdom, Director of University Relations at the CFA Institute, Peter Watkins, states: “The UFS BCom in Investment Management and Banking is a rigorous programme that will be of great benefit to students entering the investment profession.”

Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and Pro-Vice-Chancellor: Poverty, Inequality and Economic Development, Prof Philippe Burger, adds that the accreditation aligns with the faculty’s drive to create opportunities for its students to not only pursue excellence, but also to compare with the best in the industry, locally and on an international basis. He says the BCom in Investment Management and Banking is one of a range of cutting-edge, industry-relevant, and scientifically rigorous degrees offered by the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. “Quite a number of the faculty’s programmes are accredited by professional bodies, with accreditation by the CFA being the latest.”

Taking the financial sector to new heights

Through the CFA programme, the UFS will also be eligible to receive CFA Programme Student Scholarships each year, which will contribute to the much-needed skill set of well-grounded financial analysts who can take the financial sector to new heights. “Aligning our degree programme with the CFA curriculum will equip our students with the kind of expertise and real-world skills in investment analysis that will help set them apart from other institutions and peers,” adds Dr Vengesai, who also aims to produce a breed of innovators, critical thinkers, and producers of information.

“The affiliation signals to potential students, employers, and the marketplace that the UFS BCom Investment Management and Banking curriculum is closely tied to professional practices and is well-suited to prepare students for a brighter career in the investment field,” Dr Vengesai concludes. 

News Archive

UFS receives research grant focusing on enablement of non-profit organisations
2011-01-20

 
Prof. Mabel Erasmus

The University of the Free State (UFS) has received a research grant to the value of R1,1 million from the National Research Foundation (NRF) to conduct research on community engagement, with the emphasis on knowledge as enablement – a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) focus.

This was the first time the NRF had requested applications for research with a focus on community engagement (CE). With the grant, the UFS has become one of the first recipients of a research grant that focuses on community engagement.

The overarching research question that will be dealt with is how Higher Education Institutions (HEI) and the NPO sector can establish long-term, research-based collaborative engagements that will be mutually empowering and enabling through joint, reciprocal knowledge-based activities and capacity building.

The contention that this proposal is based on, is that HEIs have limited knowledge of the NPO sector and thus are unable to be fully responsive to the challenges that NPOs face. What is more, it is very likely that staff and students from HEIs do not have an adequate grasp of the experiential understanding, contextual community knowledge and practical know-how that NPO practitioners have, and hence do not appreciate the crucial contributions that they can make with regard to meaning-making processes aimed at improving some of the harsh South African realities.

According to Prof. Mabel Erasmus, Associate Professor and Head of the university’s Division: Service Learning, which submitted the research proposal to the NRF and is the grant-holder, the university would like the information generated by the research to be beneficial to both HEIs and the NPOs. “Knowledge regarding NPOs, specifically their challenges and information about what they are doing, will be invaluable to HEIs. At the same time, the research must benefit the NPOs with knowledge to improve their practice and strengthen their functioning.

“The research will take place in close collaboration with the NPOs, as their inputs are crucial. The research will thus not be ‘about’ them but ‘with’ them.”

“We do not want to send our students for community-based education or as volunteers to NPOs year after year and it does not mean as much to them as these organisations would hope for. With the research process we would like to strengthen NPOs, to build their capacity and give them our whole-hearted cooperation,” she said.

Funding received from the grant will be applied over a period of three years. Except for the study grants for five Ph.D. students and four master’s students, the grant will further make provision for a number of workshops, a local conference, a publication and presentations at international conferences on this matter. The research team of 22 persons includes academics from other HEIs such as the Central University of Technology, University of Zululand, University of Johannesburg and Monash SA. Several staff members of NPOs also form part of the team, including REACH (Bfn), Childline (FS) and others.

Prof. Erasmus said that the UFS was one of a few institutions that were currently conducting research to this extent on the link between the NPO sector and HEIs within the field of community engagement.
 

Media Release
18 January 2011
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za

 

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