NEXT STEPS
Dear Distinguished Investment Advisers,
By His grace alone, it gives me great honour and privilege stepping into this role in a cause driving the advancement of financial markets across the globe. I also like to acknowledge and thank my predecessor and pioneer president, Toyin F. Sanni, who has without doubt led this cause excellently well so far for Nigeria.
No doubt we're in such challenging times, but I am the more encouraged and delighted to be working with a now enlarged Governing Council peopled as you can see, by the very best of hands you can get, having both sterling expertise and cognate experience in the investment industry. As we continue this journey in the same direction of total market integrity, it remains my strongest aspiration that CIIA attains in no distant future, every single objective and goal in this our quest for the upliftment of the Advisory role to its pride of place in the Investment Management value chain. In going about this therefore, I like to briefly share with members and the general public, what constitutes the association's core focus areas of development and policy directions going forward.
As part of our primary resolve to protecting investor interest, we are committed to raising a new and formidable generation of Investment Advisers to lead the market further up the path of integrity and trust enhancement. We will be doing quite a lot in this dimension as our community grows in number. In this wise, our STEPS initiative will become more pronounced in application throughout the advisory process in line with SEC regulations. This is in the overall objective of improving the investment decision process by standards across our market and in line with global best practice.
Secondly, we will be actively supporting the SEC's cause of enhancing investment performance reporting especially in our mutual funds space as it strongly aligns with our STEPS and the much-desired pooled funds growth initiatives. This will however also be applicable to other investment products both in the public and private markets.
Thirdly, the role of Sustainable/ESG investments in economic development will be part of our strategic focus to ensuring our market is well primed for the full benefits of this as Nigeria in general gradually exits the covid-19 pandemic challenges and moves closer to attaining the UN SDGs.
Fourthly we shall be paying very close attention to the evolution and immense benefits of fintech to market development with a view to ensuring unassailable investor interest in the entire process and ramifications of client access to technology for investing purposes.
In all the foregoing, our advocacy efforts with governments, regulators and other market interests will continue especially in the area of retail funds mobilization into significant sector developments, as we equally unveil more of our programmes in line with our core objectives.
It is my belief that our fiduciary mandate is clear and sure footed enough in our open embrace of sincere collaborative efforts with all market stakeholders towards the same lofty objective of development for the greater good.
It remains my solemn hope and belief that with the support of our great council and every member of CIIA under the will of Him the ever assuring enabler, things can only get better.
At CIIA, it's all about the Investor.
Akin' O. Adeniyi, CIPM
