Blue Chip Issue 83

BLUE CHIP On the money

BLUE CHIP On the money Making waves this quarter The ABCs of ESG and CFP® ESG SHARIAH FUNDS TO EXPERIENCE STRONG GROWTH More than a third of leading Islamic finance professionals expect dramatic growth in the number of investment funds combining ESG and Shariah compliance over the next two years, new research shows. The study among professionals working across a wide range of sectors found 36% expect dramatic growth while 49% expect a slight increase in the number of fund launches – but most believe the current Islamic finance market underserves ESG demand. The research was conducted by Maybank Islamic Berhad, the Islamic banking arm of Maybank Group, and IslamicMarkets.com, a leading platform that provides access to expert knowledge and financial opportunities, to support their upcoming forum entitled “Driving Sustainable Impact Through Islamic Finance”. It found 73% of professionals working for organisations including asset managers, banks, insurers, fintechs and consultancies believe demand for ESG investment strategies is not being met by the Islamic finance market. They believe that if investment products were certified as both Shariah and ESG-compliant more non-Muslims than Muslims would buy them given the strong demand for ESG in Europe. Around 72% agree the introduction of a global standard for ESG and Shariah would boost demand. However, 55% of those questioned believe the launch of a global standard is two years or more away and just 52% expect good or even dramatic progress in the next two years on the adoption of a unified global legal and regulatory framework for Islamic finance to help end the lack of standardisation the industry has faced for decades. NUMBER OF CFP® PROFESSIONALS WORLDWIDE Financial Planning Standards Board (FPSB), the standards-setting body for the global financial planning profession, reports the number of CFP® professionals worldwide has surpassed 200 000. With a net gain of 10 550 CFP® professionals last year, FPSB and its global network of organisations grew the number of CFP® professionals worldwide by 5.5% to a total of 203 312, as of 31 December 2021. “Last year, the number of CFP® professionals reached the highest ever, with growth from emerging, developing and mature markets demonstrating the broad appeal of financial planning and CFP® certification worldwide,” says FPSB CEO Noel Maye. CFP® Board, owner of the longest-running CFP® certification programme, finished 2021 with 92 055 CFP® professionals in the US, an increase of 3 329. FPSB China, with the second-largest CFP® professional community in the world, ended the year with 26 800 professionals, up 3 221 from the previous year. Rounding out the top seven growth markets for CFP® professionals were: • Brazil, with a net increase by Planejar – Associação Brasileira de Planejamento Financeiro of 1 971 CFP® professionals for a year-end count of 7 385 • Japan, with a net increase by the Japan Association for Financial Planners of 969 CFP® professionals for a year-end count of 24 064 • Indonesia, with a net increase by FPSB Indonesia of 415 CFP® professionals for a year-end count of 2 281 • Canada, with a net increase by FP Canada of 397 CFP® professionals for a year-end count of 16 797 • India, with a net increase by FPSB in India of 349 CFP® professionals for a year-end count of 2 338 The six territories with double-digit growth rates in the number of professionals last year were Brazil (36.4%), Indonesia (22.2%), India (17.6%), the People’s Republic of China (13.7%), Chinese Taipei (12.9%) and Israel (11.7%). The programme in Brazil is noteworthy for its achievements in both growth and rate of growth of CFP® professionals for the third year in a row. “Doubling the number of CFP® professionals globally since FPSB’s creation in 2004 and increasing the number of CFP® professionals ten-fold since CFP® certification first went international in 1990 is a tremendous accomplishment,” added Maye. “This effort is thanks to FPSB’s global network of certification bodies and the hundreds of thousands of CFP® professionals worldwide who commit to rigorous standards of competency, ethics and practice, and to delivering financial planning in their clients’ interests.”