Of all the countries in the world, no one expects the country with the highest percentage of CFA Charterholders and Bloomberg terminals per capita to be the Vatican.
When people think of global financial centers, they usually think of Singapore, Luxembourg, or the Cayman Islands. However, recent data from Bloomberg shows that the Vatican, the world's smallest sovereign state, outperforms them all on some of the most advanced financial indicators.
CFA Charterholders per capita: Vatican tops
• The Vatican has 0.004 CFA Charterholders per capita – 4 certified professionals among a population of just 882.
• The Cayman Islands, which comes in next, has 0.002 (185 CFAs out of 73,000 residents).
• Luxembourg and Singapore follow with 0.001 and 0.0008 respectively.
All CFAs in the Vatican work for the same institution: the Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR), otherwise known as the “Vatican Bank.” The head of investment, Giovanni Boscia, CFA, is a former employee of Lehman Brothers and Salomon Brothers—a profile that would not be unusual on Wall Street, but one that is surprisingly located in the heart of the Vatican.
Bloomberg Terminals: More than anywhere else
In another impressive indicator, the Vatican has 17 Bloomberg terminals for 882 residents, which translates to 0.019 per capita – more than four times that of Luxembourg, which has 0.004.
Surprising workforce statistics
• 12% of the Vatican’s population (107 out of 882) work in the financial sector – a higher percentage than any other country, including Luxembourg (10%).
• The Vatican also has more people in the clergy than in the military, and more in the military than in finance. But since most of the workers commute from outside the city every day, the numbers get even more interesting – there are more people working in the Vatican than there are residents.
An investment fund of EUR 5.4 billion
IOR manages a multi-asset fund of 5.4 billion euros, mainly oriented towards investments in bonds. This also explains the need for CFA Charterholders and access to sophisticated tools such as Bloomberg terminals.
A surprising conclusion for finance lovers
In a city of just 121 hectares, which houses works by Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Caravaggio, and which has the most famous ceiling in the world – the Sistine Chapel – are also found some of the sharpest minds in global finance.
For all those who think that high finance lives only in large metropolises, the Vatican serves as a strange but impressive reminder that financial power sometimes hides in places no one expects.
After all, who would have thought that the Pope's headquarters would also be the headquarters of CFAs and Bloomberg Terminals per capita?
Note:
A CFA Charterholder is a certified professional in financial analysis and investment management. The CFA designation is among the most prestigious in finance and requires three levels of exams, work experience, and a commitment to ethical standards.
