London, 13 May 2009 - CFA Institute today announces the appointment of Usman Hayat, CFA, FRM, as director of Islamic finance and Environmental, Social, & Governance (ESG) Investing, to its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) office. Usman moves to London from the Asia Pacific Office in Hong Kong, bringing with him invaluable expertise in Islamic finance to the organisation's EMEA headquarters.

As director of Islamic finance and ESG Investing, Hayat's main focus is to assist in developing educational content for investment professionals and members of CFA Institute in these two areas. In response to the growing interest and activity in Islamic finance and ESG issues, CFA Institute has created this directorship to support its Life Long Learning initiative - a scheme that helps members to stay updated in their profession through access to conferences, online multimedia and resources, publications, and executive education.

Hayat holds the CFA designation, as well an MBA from Lahore University of Management Sciences. Previous to his role at CFA Institute, Hayat worked as an independent consultant in the capital markets of Pakistan. He has extensive knowledge and experience in the areas of market development and risk management having also worked as Joint Director at Pakistan's Securities and Exchange Commission. Since 2002, Usman has had over 60 articles published in English language media.

Commenting on the appointment, Nitin Mehta, managing director for EMEA at CFA Institute, said, "Usman's appointment is timely: Islamic finance and ESG factors are becoming important features of the investment landscape, and, therefore, investment professionals are seeking more educational opportunities related to these areas. Among the major financial centres, London is a leader in both topics, so Usman is ideally positioned to build a network of support and influence in developing educational content and programmes for the global investment community."

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About CFA Institute
CFA Institute is the global association for investment professionals. It administers the CFA and CIPM curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has nearly 100,000 members, who include the world's 84,136 CFA charterholders, in 131 countries and territories, as well as 136 affiliated professional societies in 57 countries and territories. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org. (Bloomberg users can find CFA Institute at 497458Z).

Claudia Matthes
direct line: +44 (0) 20 7786 4820
mailto:claudiam@penrose.co.uk

Media Contacts
Sally Todd / Claudia Matthes, Penrose Financial
T: + 44 (20) 7786 4815 / 20 cfa@penrose.co.uk
Steve Wellard / Sarah-Jane Purvis (Europe, Middle East, Africa)    
T: + 44 (20) 7531-0755 / 0766
steve.wellard@cfainstitute.org /sarahjane.purvis@cfainstitute.org

© Press Release 2009