2020 Annual Dinner Recap

·

Written by: Tharaniitharan Panchalingam, Junior studying Finance and MIS at the Carlson School of Management and Fixed Income Analyst at the Carlson Funds Enterprise

The 2020 CFA Society Minnesota Annual Dinner featured Rick Rieder at BlackRock, with questions moderated by Society volunteer Susanna Gibbons, CFA, Carlson School of Management. Rick Rieder is BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer of Global Fixed Income, Head of the Global Allocation Investment Team in the Multi-Asset Strategies Group, a member of BlackRock’s Global Operating Committee and Chairman of the firm-wide BlackRock Investment Council. In addition to this, he is a member of the Borrowing Committee for the U.S. Treasury and is currently a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Investment Advisory Committee on Financial Markets.

The presentation got off to a humorous start with Rick sharing how his multiple flight delays in New York had him running around the Downtown Minneapolis looking for our venue! After he gathered his breath, he went into what his day was like. In the morning, he presented to the New York Fed on his outlook of the global economy and the policies that ought to be implemented. After this Rick mentioned how he was on a call with Elon Musk to give his thoughts on Tesla’s expected share sale to raise capital. Rick concluded by saying that Elon Musk is probably the smartest person of our generation.

We then went into conversations about Fixed Income; Rick believes that debt is far too cheap and that we are in an environment where spreads are unbelievably tight but, there is still a massive demand for US based fixed income assets, which further puts pressure on the US and global economy. He also stressed that due to the nature of the market, Fixed Income managers must not “stretch in 2020” and that hitting five percent would be an accomplishment.

He also touched on technology and how companies that have significant investments in R&D are creating this “incredible growth paradigm,” while those that don’t invest aren’t experiencing much growth, if any.

This led to one question that caught my attention. Susanna asked Rick, “what do you think of Negative Interest Rates and what are commercial banks’ alternative?” Rick immediately responded with “I think that negative interest rates are the dumbest invention of all time.” He went into why and stressed that it breaks down the traditional investment paradigm and that in Europe, because of the way businesses operate, growth will be extremely hard to come by. Rick said that Europe needs to create “exogenous growth” by investing in innovation. Europe’s innovation is stifling and as a result, don’t benefit from the dramatic growth that it has the potential for. He also said that Japan is in the same predicament and that there may be a time in the future where Japan will default on significant portions of its debt.

We ended the night talking about equities being very cheap relative to credit and that we will see a turn or two in equity multiples over the next few quarters.

All in all, this was a tremendous night. Rick has such a wealth of knowledge and his ability to weave a coherent picture with the data he analyses is incredible. We had great food, great company and a very insightful hour-long conversation! We hope to have Rick back soon!

A Letter from Our President

· · Leave a comment

The eve of a New Year is a great time to spend with family and reflect. It is also that time of year when my wife asks about my 2020 resolutions. But, instead of making a list of future broken promises, I would rather reflect on the year gone by. When it comes to CFA Society Minnesota, I often reflect on the same question: what is the value of CFAMN to me?

If you don’t know me, you may picture the CFA Society President as a very buttoned-up, 100% professional Kool-Aid drinker who is completely sold on everything we do related to CFAMN. If you do know me, you probably laughed at that image, and instead know that I am a fellow, engaged Society member just like each of you, who has happened to get more and more involved with the organization over the years. So even as president, I need to be able to answer that CFAMN is and continues to be valuable to me (of course, if I find the answer is less-than-ideal, I am in a particularly good position to help do something about it). 

There are three main things that I get out of my membership. 

  1. Education – I had no accounting classes when I sat for the CFA exams. It was in large part CFAMN prep programs that got me through the exams. Since that time, I have attended many events and learned a ton. This year alone I improved my personal organizational habits (Managing Me event) and got a jump start on my goal to learn programming (Python event). However, education is not just the education from any single event, but also what I have learned from the people I have met since I attended my first CFAMN social at Lyon’s Pub more than ten years ago. 
  2. Volunteering/Board Service – I have greatly enjoyed the time that I have spent as a volunteer for the Society and have found that the value I get from CFAMN has grown exponentially as I have become more involved. Whether it was helping set up at an Annual Dinner, developing the mentorship program, or helping to set the strategy for the organization, I love doing my small part to help advance our mission and get the opportunity to work with so many others who are doing the same thing. 
  3. Flexibility to shape the organization as a member – Volunteers do a tremendous amount to shape the society into an organization to which we can be proud to belong; Society members have the ability to have significant influence well. Members often introduce us to interesting speakers and are active in providing thoughts about what is or is not beneficial to them. Without that valuable feedback, volunteers could not be nearly as responsive or effective in shaping the organization into a truly meaningful society.  

However, the true value of CFAMN membership for me, and many others, is often less tangible – relationships. Not networking. Real relationship-building and CFAMN provides a forum for this to occur. The Society is comprised of a wide range of people, but we are connected in a way that many groups are not. Where else can you interact with a group of people that really get you in a way that most friends or neighbors cannot?
There is something that unites us, as a group of people that have faced the same challenges in preparing for and taking the exams and ultimately earning our CFA Charter designations. I imagine it is much the same way that a group of actuaries would feel, if actuaries had feelings. Kidding. I know an actuary and he is awesome. CFAMN acts as the clearinghouse, not for transactions, but for discussions – a place where relationships can begin. 

In the future I’d like to share more about how others have benefited from the people they have met through CFAMN. For today, I’ll share a story from a friend. 

“I met a person 4 years ago at a CFAMN event. Afterward, I sent them a short note and asked them a somewhat inconsequential question. They responded with a two-page email going into great detail to answer my question… Not only was I touched by the amount of care the person took to be helpful, I still have that e-mail, I still reference it. This person has had a material impact on my life because of one small thing they did.” Regarding the value of his membership he continued, “This may not do anything for most people, but I’m sure for most involved members, they have their own version of this story.”

If you have a story like this, or anything else that you would like to share about your experience as a society member, please let us know. Also, I will reiterate the call out from my last letter – please reach out if you are interested in meeting with me, or if you prefer, introduce yourself at an event. As an introvert, I am not always the best at going out of my way to meet new folks, but I would really like to meet you. Please feel free to say hello. Or maybe meeting new people should be my 2020 resolution?

All the best to you and Happy New Year!

Chris May, CFA
President, CFA Society Minnesota

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Financial Management Association in Minneapolis

· · Leave a comment

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Financial Management Association traveled to Minneapolis to visit U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, UBS and Target on Friday, November 15. CFA Society Minnesota worked with Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank to put together an outstanding day filled with real-life experiences. We had an incredible time and look forward to this event every year. Special thank you to both of these organizations for hosting our group and for teaching us about the different career paths in the finance industry.

Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo broke the ice with a heated game of financial family feud between two groups of Eau Claire students. The family feud was geared toward topics in wealth management. After playing financial family feud, there was a panel discussion with Kashi Yoshikawa, CFA, Kevin Ario, CFA, and Tasha Alexander. Joshua Witherspoon led the panel discussion and the students were able to ask any questions they would like. The finance leaders touched on client relationships, client retention, industry certifications, specialized services, D.I.S.C. personality model, and team building. They also explained their career paths and the different roles in the industry of wealth management. Special thank you to Joshua Witherspoon, Brittany Jacks & Ploy Pattinson for organizing this visit.

Speakers:

Kevin Ario, CFA: National Investment Management and Implementation Director
Kashi Yoshikawa, CFA: Regional Investment Manager
Tasha Alexander: Senior Private Banker

U.S. Bank

U.S. Bank hosted our group in a large training room. We first heard from an HR representative, Cindy Kuehl, who went over an organization overview of the company. We also heard from six other finance employees:

Aimee Brantseg: Private Wealth Advisor
Lisa Erickson, CFA: Senior Vice President and Head, Traditional Investments Group
Preeti Higgins: Private Banker
Leisl Kistow, CFIRS: Head of Wealth Management Trust Advisory Center & SVP
Kate Lyons, CFA, CAIA: Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager
Leslie Penrith: Vice President, Marketing
Leela Rao: Vice President, Director of Strategic Initiatives

They discussed each of their positions, what a typical day looks like for them and the challenges they face within their roles followed by a Q&A session. This was a very beneficial presentation and provided insight into the industry of wealth management. It was great to hear from all the professionals and to learn more about the different finance positions in their organization. Special thank you to Lisa Erickson and Kate Lyons for putting this visit together for us.

November Executive Director Message – What’s Your Opinion?

· · Leave a comment

If you read last week’s newsletter, you know that CFA Institute has been working with Societies over the past year to develop a career-focused competency framework designed to guide members in acquiring necessary skills throughout their careers. The new framework generated quite a bit of buzz when was released last month at regional Society Leadership Conferences.

The Institute is actively seeking input about the new competency framework from you and your fellow industry professionals. To shed more light on what this all means, we interviewed Josh Howard, CFA, who served as CFAMN’s President in 2015-2017 and who was elected earlier this year to serve as the President’s Council Representative for our 12 Midwestern CFA Societies. Josh also is a member of the CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Design Council, the joint Society-Institute working group helping to create the new framework.

Mark Salter, CAE, ABC
Executive Director

Q. There was a lot of excitement in the room when CFA Institute unveiled the new competency framework for professional learning at last month’s Society Leadership Conference. Why the excitement? Why is this important?

Josh: The competency framework was designed to provide direction to members seeking to maintain competence in a current role or transition to a new role, and to provide an organizing framework for the Institute and Societies to offer relevant content to members. It includes soft skills, technical skills and ethics, which are mapped to specific job roles. The competency framework is the first step in developing a robust professional learning experience, and it will guide the development of the professional learning platform and content.

Many Society leaders were excited about the competency framework after the unveiling because they recognized it can help Societies organize their educational events and better track topic areas they are missing or could emphasize more. It will be useful in mentoring programs, job seeker seminars and event planning, and hopefully will add to member retention at the Society level.

The competency framework has been released to all members, and the CFA Institute is looking for feedback. To learn more about the competency framework and to provide feedback, please visit this link.

Q. Some people believe that CPD (aka Professional Learning) should never be mandatory – that it should be left up to the individual practitioner. What are the pros and cons of this position?

Josh: The main retort I hear to making professional learning mandatory is that members already do it, and a concern that the requirements and content won’t align with the education we need to stay relevant, which will turn a professional learning program into a time-wasting, box-checking exercise.

The argument for a mandatory professional learning program is that having it will demonstrate to clients, prospects, employers and regulators that CFA charterholders are part of a professional body that has ongoing learning requirements throughout their career. Having a requirement to engage in professional learning throughout a career will align CFA charterholders with most other professional designations and will help our global members meet their regulatory learning requirements. I have even heard stories from other countries that the lack of a mandatory professional learning program means CFA charterholders in those countries are not exempt from certain regulatory requirements, whereas members of other professional organizations with mandatory professional learning are granted an exemption.

Q. Why did you volunteer to work on the CPD (Continuing Professional Development) Design Council? What did you hope to contribute or accomplish?

Josh: I volunteered because I care about adult learning. I have a Master’s degree in Education and throughout my career I have been interested in how adults learn. I wanted to help ensure that the professional learning product from the CFA Institute was designed with adult learners in mind, offering relevant content where, when and how an adult learner wanted to access it. I am just completing my first year on the design council and have had a great experience working with other Society leaders and Institute employees who care passionately about designing a great professional learning experience that adds member value, regardless of when and if it becomes mandatory.

A Letter from Our President

· · Leave a comment

By: Chris May, CFA, President, CFA Society Minnesota

“What are you going to do as the president for CFA Society Minnesota?” – This is the question that I have received most often over the past several months as I have prepared to take on this two-year responsibility. In a way this question makes complete sense. On the other hand, it demonstrates a misunderstanding of the situation. CFA Society Minnesota has already had the benefit of having more than 60 individuals volunteer to serve as board members over the past 10 years. Additionally, for every individual board member, there are many more folks who have volunteered over the years in a multitude of other capacities. And that is just in the past ten years. Imagine all the countless people who have been involved since the society was founded in 1952. It is a result of the cumulative efforts of all of these individuals over the years that has led us to where we are today. So many incredible things have been accomplished (Intellisight Conference – eight years, Compensation Survey – six years, Mentoring Program – five years), mistakes were made, friendships were created, and fun was had.

In January 2019 the CFAMN Board of Directors ratified an updated strategic plan. This built on the plan that preceded it and was the result of work done by the entire board, support from CFA Institute (our global parent organization), and feedback from our members. I offer all this up to put today into context. When I am asked about my term as president, it is all of this effort that I think about. In short, the work has been done. The plan has been drafted. Things are underway. I feel a responsibility to see that plan executed. Our plan is simple to understand but complex to execute. We are going to focus on three things:

1) Delivering Member Value
2) Enhancing the Brand of CFAMN and the CFA Charter
3) Building and Maintaining Operational Infrastructure

There are many components to each objective that create the complexity of execution. However, it is our goal that all of our actions will support one or more of the strategic objectives.
 
There is another item that is important to the board that is not captured in the strategic objectives. In our Mission Statement the word ‘fellowship’ is included. Thus, we believe that it is important that CFAMN provides opportunities for our members to connect and develop relationships.

With that in mind, I recognize that I do not have a relationship with the vast majority of our members. I’d like to change that. For those still reading, please consider this your invitation to take me up on this.

I value people that are willing to challenge the status quo and try new approaches. One such person is Sam Hinkie, former GM of the Philadelphia 76ers. So my ask is this – read his resignation letter and email me your thoughts.

On the other hand, if you want to drop me a note about anything else on your mind, please feel free to do that as well. I can be reached at lyndemay6@gmail.com.

Member feedback is critical to our future success. We begin board meetings with comments from members and we would love to share your feedback. The Berkshire Hathaway letters routinely include a shameless plug for Berkshire products. In that light, I will make a similar ask. If you are interested in getting involved in the society please check out the Volunteer Board or reach out to Diane Senjem at support@cfamn.org.

Thank you to each of you. We have much to do, but without each of your, our society would not be as strong as it is today.

All the best,

Chris May, CFA
President, CFA Society Minnesota