ADDED 2021-02-01

Dear CIFA members,

As you may be already aware, CIFA has been in discussions with Morningstar, Inc for the upgrade of Funds domiciled in Cyprus to Grade 2. We have reached the point where Morningstar has accepted the upgrade provided that certain requirements are met. The requirements are the commitment of CIFA to facilitate through mechanisms the delivery of data to Morningstar and the commitment of interested managers to submit data of their funds continuously in the manner and timing required.

Who is MorningStar?
MorningStar is a financial services firm present in 27 countries and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois in the United States. They offer an abundance of services, but of interest is their grating system which makes them a very respected and reliable source of independent investment analysis for all levels of fund and stock investors, ranging from inexperienced beginners to sophisticated experts. Their rating system works in stars, 1 – 5, with the higher being the better and is widely used to help investors choose among the thousands of mutual funds available as well as several professionals in making their own analysis or investment decisions.

Why is the upgrade important?
Currently funds from Cyprus being at Grade 3 are not rated and are not visible on the platform. With the upgrade to Grade 2 the Cyprus Funds will be rated and become visible to users. This is considered important as it will enhance the visibility of both the Funds themselves as well as the jurisdiction while it is expected to simplify the due diligence procedures performed by third party institutions when considering investments and wire transfers into Cyprus Funds.
It is also important to note that jurisdictions much larger than Cyprus in the targeted industries have not yet achieved to enter Grade 2 and the success of Cyprus entering is expected to stimulate interest.

Who qualify to participate and how?
Managers of liquid funds, UCITS, AIFs or RAIFs, being active in Equities, Bonds, ETFs, Money Markets etc.
You can register your participation following the link HERE

CIFAs Commitment
CIFA is committed to engage the resources necessary to ensure receipt of the reporting from participating Managers in a timely manner and provide to MorningStar, further CIFA will arrange for the reporting package to be generated with Morningstar and be presented to participating Managers and provide technical support necessary for commencing the reporting.

For assistance needed at this point, please contact one of the members of the steering committee, Marios Tannousis - +357 99 678445, George Sams - +357 95 985063, George Karatzias - +357 99 492532

PLEASE REFRAIN FROM ANY ANNOUNCEMENTS PRIOR THE OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FROM CIFA