Bloomberg Women’s Buy-Side Network Brazil Debates CFA Certification

The Bloomberg Women’s Buy-Side Network (BWBN) and the Chartered Financial Analyst Society (CFA) in Brazil debated whether a CFA Certification is an important career step for women in asset management.

Leading women in Brazil’s fund management industry spoke about how they made their decision to pursue a CFA Certification and the resulting challenges and benefits.

Female participation in the buy-side industry remains much lower than male participation, particularly in leadership roles. “In Brazil only 11% of CFA charter holders are women, while it is 18% globally,” said Márcia Sadzevicius, CFA, Vice President of the CFA Society Brazil. “A CFA certification is highly recognized in any institution globally,” she said, adding, “We want to solve this gender gap and increase the participation of women in the financial market.”

Adelia Souza, CFA, Equity Analyst & Founding Partner of Encore Asset Management, said, “The CFA optimized my knowledge in the financial market and contributed to the growth of my career. Having the certification has ensured better networking, but it is important to highlight that women still have a long way to go on this matter. We must encourage the development of soft skills, such as interpersonal relationships to build a more transparent and inclusive support network.”

Vivian Lee, CFA, Partner, portfolio manager and co-CIO of credit strategies at Ibiuna Investimentos, said, “The financial market environment is friendlier to women, but there are still many challenges. Women in asset management need to keep up with the rapid speed of information and changes in the industry. Professional training can help and the CFA Certification is constantly updated with relevant themes.”

The panel was moderated by Yasmin Silva, Bloomberg Enterprise sales and BWBN Brazil Chapter Advocate.

This was the third event by the Brazil Chapter of the Bloomberg Women’s Buy-Side Network, which was launched in August to focus on elevating women in the asset management industry. Brazil is the latest to join BWBN, which has chapters in Hong Kong, India, Japan, Australia & New Zealand, and Singapore.

The first event was the introduction of the Brazil BWBN Chapter’s founding partners:  Flavia Almeida, CEO, Península Partners, Luciane Ribero, Founder and Principal Partner, 3V Capital Asset Management Ltd., and Tatiana Grecco, Risk Director, Itau Unibanco (including Itau Asset Management).

The second Brazil BWBN event was a mentoring program for young women interested in asset management with: Flavia Almeida, Luciana Puccetti, Vivest’s Head of Research; Maria Victória Guimarães Tofolo, CFA, XP Inc. Partner and Head of Portfolio Specialists; Milena Landgraf Tudisco, Itaú Unibnco Portfolio Manager, and Gina Bacelli, Chief Economist of Itau Private. The program also discussed the Bloomberg Market Concepts, a self-paced e-learning course that provides an interactive introduction to the financial markets.

For more information about the Brazil Chapter of the Bloomberg Women’s Buy-Side Network email – bbwbn@bloomberg.net

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