The CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, has announced that Sarah Townsend from Arabian Business and Al Ittihad’s Husam Abdel Nabi are the winners of its third annual Middle East Financial Journalism Award in the English and Arabic category respectively. The award recognises the contributions of journalists towards the advancement of investor education and professionalism in the financial sector.

The institute received 42 submissions from journalists across English and Arabic publications in the GCC region and winners were selected based on an anonymous critique of these submissions by a judging panel of CFA Society members across four criteria: educational value, clarity, relevancy and evidence-based reporting.

Gary Baker, Managing Director for the CFA Institute in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "The quality of industry reporting from this year’s journalists was truly remarkable. Our judges were very impressed by the participating journalists and their ability to produce informative, accurate and insightful articles. Over the past few years, we have witnessed the GCC promoting greater freedom of press and this places additional responsibility on journalists to abide by the code of ethics, which is at the foundation of our work at CFA Institute. We are reminded every day of the importance of high quality journalism in a world where, unfortunately, fake news is gaining ground."

He added, "I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Sarah Townsend and Husam Abdel Nabi on this prestigious recognition. The quality and depth of their articles reflects an exceptional standard of journalism which contributes significantly towards the advancement of investor knowledge and professionalism in the investment industry."

Both journalists were awarded a media scholarship to the CFA Institute Investment Foundations programme, a global self-study programme designed to enhance understanding of the global investment industry as well as the roles and responsibilities within it.