Bashar Amad is one of Jordan’s first Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholders, having passed a rigorous three level examination series that represents the most widely used standard in the world for measuring the competence and integrity of investment professionals. Formerly a researcher and financial broker, Amad realized that undertaking advanced training to build his skills in investment principles and portfolio management would open the path to greater opportunities in his career.

USAID introduced the CFA Training Program in 2000 as part of an initiative to raise the standards of the Kingdom’s capital and financial market participants. Amad and more than 100 other financial executives in the country participated in the CFA Level I, II, and III courses, passing the corresponding exams at rates exceeding worldwide averages. Today, Amad is a newly appointed manager of capital markets and asset management at one of the country’s largest banks, and a member of a capital market development subcommittee of Jordan’s prestigious Economic Consultative Council.

Amad credits the strength of the CFA training program and the value of attaining the CFA charter to his professional achievements. As a part-time CFA program lecturer to Amman’s banking community, he also understands the opportunities that a CFA program presents in helping raise individual qualifications and improve institutional standards, as well as promoting Jordan’s reputation as a strong and stable emerging market financial system.