Mauritius: An official award of certificates ceremony was held yesterday, at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) House in Ebene, for some 60 participants from different sectors of the Financial Services who successfully completed the six-day Financial Education Programme on Family Office and Wealth Management.
The Minister of Financial Services and Good Governance, Mahen Kumar Seeruttun; the Chief Executive of the FSC, Dhanesswurnath Thakoor; and other personalities were present on occasion.
Speaking on occasion, Minister Seeruttun highlighted that the training programme is a training imperative in the blueprint of the Financial Services Sector and is essential for the success of our International Financial Centre (IFC), which rests on our offerings and our competitiveness. According to him, these capacity-building initiatives will turn our human capital into something that becomes a commodity for the region. “Raising the quality and capacity of our human capital drives the policy initiatives of this Government,” he added.
Furthermore, Seeruttun observed that it is important to keep skilling and to reskill our professionals to ensure a good talent pool is always present, in particular, due to the fact that these professionals are highly prized in more established jurisdictions such as London and Luxembourg. Signing up professionals on our financial education and specialist training courses will go a long way in fulfilling this ambition, he stated.
The Financial Services Sector, the Minister stressed, is one of the key pillars of the Mauritian economy, and its vision is to double its contribution to Gross Domestic Purpose by 2030.
“The sector employs about 20,000 people and creates good jobs, particularly in high-growth areas such as Wealth Management, and in our pursuit of financial sector resilience, we need to have the best of talent on our side,” he pointed out.
In addition, Seeruttun indicated that during recent missions to Europe and India, very keen interest had been observed from advisors, private bankers, and family offices, amongst others, to either relocate or increase their presence in our IFC, mainly since Mauritius is the Gateway for global monies seeking investment opportunities in Africa.
He emphasised that Africa can no longer be ignored with high and growing financial needs and, as the sector grows, demands will evolve with the changing needs of private wealth clients. “It is therefore useful that training focuses on the future of wealth management, with topics covering next-generation clients and the digitalisation of private banking,” the Minister pointed out.
On this score, Minister Seeruttun underscored that a Wealth Management Hub of the future would require such professional talent who are well-versed subject matter experts to serve the needs of the affluent. “The Family Office and Wealth Management industry of the Mauritius IFC is still in an emerging state and all set for steady growth and will receive all the support required to keep up with the competition and rise above it,” he said.
The Minister also spoke of some initiatives taken to provide training and to upskill the professionals of the Financial Services Sector.
The Financial Services Institution (FSI), he indicated, is preparing to scale up to an awarding body soon, and certifications in areas such as Applied Wealth Management is being envisaged; practice-based learning at the undergraduate and postgraduate level will also be introduced soon; the FSI will be working with industry partners to encourage greater participation in the Work-Study Degrees and Post Graduate Diplomas and; the Ministry will be organising an international Wealth Management Conference later this year.
Minister Seeruttun congratulated the participants for the successful completion of this Financial Education Programme and encouraged the FSC, as the Regulator, to include such Certifications as part of its Competency Standards to sign off on professionals serving in the wealth management space.