The 100% locally owned investment management company, Arysteq Asset Management, has over the past five years been quietly building homegrown Namibian capacity.
At the outset, founders Purvance Heuer and Andrew Jansen crafted a plan that will eventually establish the business as a training house for analysts, portfolio managers and other market specialists. The ultimate goal is to be at the forefront of mentoring young graduates into becoming CFA charter holders.
“Our values of excellence and innovation are driven by our passion for learning and education,” said Heuer, the company’s managing director and chief investment officer.
According to the Wall Street Journal and other major media houses, the CFA exam is the most difficult exam on Wall Street. “Wall Street” is, of course, intended to refer to the centre of financial markets and investment in the world.
It does not take much to go onto the website of the CFA Institute to see that over the last 60 years, there have been less than 200 000 CFA charter holders worldwide.
The CFA Institute is a not-for-profit organisation, based in the USA. Their vision and mission is to lead the investment profession globally by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education and professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society.
To be a charter holder, you must pass the three gruelling exams, become a member and make an ethical declaration. When searching for those in Namibia who have reached this milestone, we can find only 29 in total.
In furthering its vision for the business and Namibia, the Arysteq leadership has set itself the mission of promoting professional qualification within the company.
Arysteq now has four CFA charter holders in its employ. These charter holders are incidentally also chartered accountants, a coveted qualification of the accounting profession.
The two latest professionals who were admitted to CFA charter holders are Dean Isaaks, who is the head of research and a portfolio manager, and Chidera Onwudinjo, who is a research analyst at the company.
“It’s always so exciting when someone in the company achieves such a great milestone, and to be able to celebrate two wins at the same time is more than we could have asked for. I have seen their hard work and dedication to achieve this accomplishment, and they definitely deserve this honour. I am also excited about seeing our dream of growing young professionals come to fruition,” said Jansen, the chairperson and portfolio manager.
“The success of the two gentlemen proves that Arysteq is on a journey that will enable young professionals to reach their goals and enable them to be the future of the nation. We are committed to staying true to our pledge of building towards common Namibian goals.”