Mission and Vision Statement
Mission: "To create value for society by contributing to the development of the local financial industry through the promotion of the highest standards of ethics, education and professional excellence."
Vision: "Become the reference organization of the financial industry in Argentina in matters of regulation, ethics and professional finance development."
The Genesis of CFA Society Argentina
In the late nineties, by the ending phase of the Convertibility, a growing population of CFA Charter-holders and Candidates had been performing its profession in Argentina. By that time, the entity that gathers us on a global perspective was known as AIMR and there were no local chapters (societies were called chapters at that time) south of Mexico. As all service provision to Charter-holders and Candidates has always been thought to be distributed on a decentralized fashion by local societies (then chapters), CFA stakeholders at the very south of the continent were not living on an equal foot as compared to colleagues in other latitudes.
But a pioneering group of individuals decided to initiate the efforts to open the first South American local chapter, with the first records dating back to year 2000. A non-exhaustive list of these individual include (please consider that any missing name is the responsibility of the writer of this document and he will be happy to amend according to feedback) are Alejandro Santos, CFA, María José Anastasio, CFA, Narciso Muñoz, CFA, Fernando Berge, CFA, Juan Cruz Elizagaray, CFA, Santiago Cúneo, CFA, Rodrigo Ribeiro, CFA, Claus Born, CFA, Sebastián Ramírez, CFA and Miguel Zielonka, CFA.
By the very first moment, the founding group considered to open a chapter to function as a regional hub for the whole Southern Cone, covering and providing services throughout the borders of Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Brazil. Nonetheless, with a more comprehensive assessment of the situation, the final outcome resulted in the inception of a chapter to service Argentina and Uruguay.
During the planning and start-up period, and in addition to the efforts of the pioneers' group, the support coming from the CFA Institute, and especially from the Regional PCR Daniel S. Meader, CFA were pivotal in order to achieve a successful birth. It is worth clarifying that AIMR had changed its denomination to CFA Institute during the launching process of the local society.
Notwithstanding the huge crisis that Argentina had to go through during years 2000 to 2002, that culminated with the biggest sovereign default in history until that time (only surpassed in 2008 with the Greek default), our ambition to initiate the chapter remain unchanged. Against all odds and headwinds, in early 2002 the Argentina & Uruguay Chapter of Investment Professionals has formally started to function at a time when there were countless uncertainties about the future for finance professionals in a country like Argentina, with a broken state and a fully paralyzed banking system. A few months later, we changed the name of our local association to CFA Society Argentina & Uruguay.
In light of the need to have presence in both countries and in order to better deliver the CFA mission, a group of volunteers have embarked upon a project to spin off the CFA Uruguay and the CFA Argentina Societies.
As a result of these combined efforts, in February 2018 the Board of Governors of CFAI has approved the establishment of an independent CFA Uruguay Society which has also been recognized and authorized by the Uruguayan government. Thus, effective February 23, 2018 both the CFA Argentina and Uruguay Societies are functioning on a stand-alone basis.
We are fully convinced that this change will allow for more and better service delivery to members in both sides of the Rio de la Plata. It will also be a continuing opportunity to coordinate initiatives for larger member value in those cases where scale can bring benefits to CFAI.
Our story as a society is the living example and the actual confirmation that we should never assess reality from a static perspective, but we should always appraise the perspective. We are a generation within a chain of generations, and even in the tougher times we could find opportunities to be captured by ourselves or by the coming generations behind us.
This society biography is open to comments, amendments, corrections and updates on a continuing basis. Any member who would like to improve this testimony and to help recording the growth of this common project is invited to do so.