Armenia’s capital markets are developing at an impressive pace, but one obvious gap in recent years pertains to the human resources in the sector and their level of professional development. We talked to Rada Tomova, Associate Director and Head of Regional Policy Partnerships, Capital and Financial Markets Development at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Elina Mirzoyan, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at AMX Group and about how they joined forces to address this issue.
Text : Nazareth Seferian Photo : amx
In 2024, utilizing support from its Shareholder Special Fund (SSF), EBRD partnered with the Armenia Stock Exchange (AMX) to make the Capital Markets e-learning program by Intuition available to Armenian professionals. “We had originally piloted this course in just one country in 2021, and it took us some time to build momentum, look at the results of that pilot and expand capacity for future rollout,” says Rada Tomova, “In 2024, we decided to make it available to all interested countries where EBRD has operations.”
“The timing was very natural,” says Elina Mirzoyan, “Armenia’s capital market had reached a new phase of development and a key challenge slowing down the capacity for scaling was human capital. Much of the knowledge held by our professionals in the field has historically been fragmented or gained through experience rather than structured learning. So we felt this need for systematic, internationally aligned professional education in capital markets, and EBRD provided a solution that was a great fit.”
A cohort of 30 Armenian professionals joined the Capital Markets e-learning program, which now counts more than 1000 learners across 138 EBRD partner organizations in 19 countries. Globally, the participants come from a broad range of institutions, from regulatory bodies and government institutions to private entities like commercial banks, credit organizations, stock exchanges, and investment companies. In Armenia, the participants represented AMX, the Central Bank, most of the banks operating in the country, and several investment companies.
The course is designed in a way that participants use videos and case studies, combined with learning assessment tools, to explore and dive into a broad spectrum of topics, from introductions to capital markets, through risk management, and raising funds. Learners can choose the depth at which they study each topic, because the course is structured as a series of tutorials. When studying credit risk, for example, an entry-level professional can look at introductory tutorials on risk management basics, credit risk principles, credit analysis, and so on. A more experienced professional can dive into more advanced tutorials on the same topics and examine material on management and realization of credit risk management, credit analysis forecasting, the various stages of problem credits, and more.
“The program curriculum covers a lot of topics and allows participants from all levels of a company to participate. Globally, around 43% of our participants are mid-level professionals, while 40% are at the senior level. But we also have some entry-level participants and even C-Suite representatives,” says Rada, “For example, a company may have a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who is very experienced in the specific business area their firm is involved in, but is looking at capital markets for the first time. There are modules in this course that are very relevant for such situations, helping to educate companies about the benefits of and requirements for raising financing via bonds or equity issuance.”
In terms of gender balance, there is an interesting contrast between EBRD’s international experience and the results of the e-learning program’s pilot rollout in Armenia. More than half of the participants globally have been men while, in Armenia, 77% of the first cohort consisted of women.
AMX sees this course as a tool to further develop the Armenian market. In some Eastern European markets or EU member states, regulators require certain mandatory levels of professional training for anyone seeking a license to work in this sector. Such mandatory training is not required in Armenia, which can put the brakes on market growth. By building professional capacity in Armenia, AMX expects to support issuances that are qualitatively better as well as facilitate the introduction and use of more sophisticated financial products. Ultimately, the aim is to have a market in Armenia that is more efficient and attractive for investors.
There is some evidence that this approach has worked in other countries. “In Georgia, we had an EU-funded program which comprised a targeted capacity building program on capital markets, supplementing the training provided via this e-learning course, and our stakeholders there agreed that it was transformative. Professionals from several non-financial corporations took part and the training received was one of the factors prompting them to issue bonds in the market. Even after that program ended, and the financial and training incentives were fully deployed, the impact on market growth continued—companies whose securities were maturing decided to refinance via the capital markets, and were able to obtain larger volumes and longer tenors,” says Rada. “A similar EU-funded program is now under implementation in Armenia too, with significant take up by local companies”.
AMX has seen plenty of positive feedback and strong engagement from the participants in Armenia. There was a completion rate of 85% and, the various tutorials within the course were accessed a total of more than 850 times by unique users. “During our recent AMX Awards, we introduced a special nomination for the most active participant of the course,” explains Elina, “Our winner had spent the most hours on the platform and earned the most certificates. But we did not just see individual commitment, we noticed a recognition of the importance of continuous professional development within the market.”
There was a lot of demand for the course, but spaces were limited for the first rollout. However, AMX is preparing to expand this kind of learning across the whole financial ecosystem, increasing the number of participants and broadening the scope to include not only market professionals, but also students, potential issuers, and the wider public.
This effort, called the AMX Academy Initiative, covers multiple parallel programs, including educational study visits and internships for university students, capital market modules integrated into university curricula at the Russian-Armenian University and the American University of Armenia, targeted sessions for current and potential issuers and business leaders, participation in career fairs to attract young talent into the financial sector, and public awareness initiatives, including educational video series explaining how the capital market functions.
This kind of commitment to capacity building in the market is exceptional. “We work in more than 30 markets and I can only count several other cases where there is a well-established academy like the one that AMX is launching,” says Rada, “This is a big step in the right direction and could potentially include internationally accredited courses, such as from the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment in the UK as one example, as well as solutions that are localized to the needs of the market.”
AMX is very optimistic about the future of the Armenian market but is clear that the Academy is just one piece of a bigger puzzle. “Ultimately, capacity building will remain a core pillar of our market development strategy. But there are other important components of this work, such as infrastructure development, technological advancement, and international integration,” concluded Elina.