TwitterFacebookLinkedInEmailRSS
logo

An editorial blog of CFA Society Minnesota

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
    • Compensation Survey Contact Form
  • Subscribe to Blog via Email

Monthly Archives: May 2017

A Letter from Our President

23rd May, 2017 · Joshua M. Howard, CFA · Leave a comment

I just returned from the 2017 CFA Institute Society Leadership Conference, held this year in Philadelphia. I have now attended seven Institute conferences for Society leaders over the past six years, covering both Society Leadership and America’s Regional conferences. It was also likely my last Society Leadership Conference, as I will finish my term as President of CFA Society Minnesota in August.

The Society Leadership Conference is attended by 2-3 representatives from all of the CFA Societies around the world. It is one of my favorite things I get to do as a Society rep, as I love mingling with industry practitioners from Ireland, Vietnam, Argentina, Vancouver, Qatar, Germany, Australia, Shenzhen and dozens more countries and cities from around the world. Regardless of where we call home we have the shared experience of having taken (and passed) all three CFA exams, in English, on the first Saturday in June over the course of 3, 4 or 10 years.

As I have mentioned in prior letters these conferences get better every year. The theme this year was “The Power of the Personal,” with many of the sessions focusing not just on Institute and Society initiatives but on personal and professional development. These sessions included training on delivering media interviews, improving presentation skills, and how to use mindfulness to improve health and job performance. It was a great combination of information and training for managing the local Society as well as improving my own professional skills.

During the plenary session on Friday morning I was able to participate in a debate on the future of the profession. Besides myself, the debate included Society leaders from New Zealand, France and South Africa. The moderator was from Turkey, making it a truly global panel. The exact motion we debated was “This house believes that the investment profession as we know it will be obsolete in 10 years.” I represented the opposition, arguing that the profession will not be obsolete at that time. We had a lot of fun during the debate and it was a highlight of the conference for many attendees. It definitely spurred lots of interesting conversation afterward.

Here is a summary of my argument. Despite the headlines of job losses in the industry, the flows from active to passive and the threat of artificial intelligence on analyst and research jobs, I believe that the investment profession’s core purposes of helping create wealth (by mobilizing capital to productive uses for future growth) and managing client savings, spending and financial risk through time will still be needed 10 years from now, and will still require human ingenuity and discernment.

The only risk is that if the profession isn’t trusted and transparent parts of the industry may be killed off by regulation, technology and disintermediation. But if we work together to align incentives between asset owners, asset managers, savers and beneficiaries the profession as we know it will be even stronger 10 years from now. We will continue to gain more tools than ever to fulfill our duties as investment professionals, tools we should embrace. And if we use those tools properly I expect that the demand for our services will only grow over time, not become obsolete, and will also help create a better society.

Have a differing view, or want to share your opinion on this motion? Please post a comment below. I look forward to reading your thoughts and ideas on the future of the investment profession.

Joshua M. Howard, CFA
President, CFA Society Minnesota

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
Posted in Local Charterholders | Tags: CFA, CFA Institute, Josh Howard, President's Letter, Society Leadership Conference |

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Recent Posts

  • Important Minnesota Financial Literacy Legislation Update 03/20/2023
  • New Financial Literacy Effort Launched for Minnesota Communities and Schools 09/30/2022
  • End of an Era 07/26/2022
  • Starting my Midwestern Goodbye 04/05/2022
  • Face-Off 10/18/2021

Submit your inquiry here

Categories

  • Compliance (3)
  • Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule (1)
  • Ethics (7)
    • Ask the Ethicist (2)
  • Freezing Assets Shout Out (34)
  • Hot Topic Commentary (177)
  • Intellisight (1)
  • Local Charterholders (88)
  • Member Spotlight (4)
  • Society President Letters (15)
  • Spotlight on MN Companies (1)
  • Valuation (2)
  • Weekly Credit Wrap (35)

Archives

  • March 2023 (1)
  • September 2022 (1)
  • July 2022 (1)
  • April 2022 (1)
  • October 2021 (1)
  • August 2021 (1)
  • May 2021 (1)
  • February 2021 (1)
  • January 2021 (2)
  • October 2020 (2)
  • September 2020 (2)
  • August 2020 (1)
  • June 2020 (1)
  • February 2020 (1)
  • December 2019 (1)
  • November 2019 (2)
  • October 2019 (1)
  • September 2019 (1)
  • August 2019 (1)
  • July 2019 (2)
  • June 2019 (1)
  • April 2019 (3)
  • March 2019 (2)
  • February 2019 (1)
  • January 2019 (2)
  • December 2018 (1)
  • November 2018 (2)
  • October 2018 (3)
  • September 2018 (1)
  • April 2018 (3)
  • March 2018 (8)
  • February 2018 (3)
  • January 2018 (1)
  • November 2017 (5)
  • September 2017 (1)
  • August 2017 (3)
  • July 2017 (1)
  • June 2017 (1)
  • May 2017 (1)
  • April 2017 (2)
  • March 2017 (1)
  • December 2016 (2)
  • November 2016 (2)
  • October 2016 (1)
  • September 2016 (1)
  • August 2016 (1)
  • July 2016 (2)
  • June 2016 (5)
  • May 2016 (2)
  • April 2016 (2)
  • February 2016 (5)
  • January 2016 (3)
  • December 2015 (1)
  • November 2015 (4)
  • October 2015 (6)
  • September 2015 (1)
  • July 2015 (1)
  • June 2015 (6)
  • April 2015 (2)
  • March 2015 (4)
  • February 2015 (2)
  • December 2014 (2)
  • November 2014 (7)
  • October 2014 (10)
  • September 2014 (3)
  • August 2014 (5)
  • July 2014 (2)
  • June 2014 (5)
  • May 2014 (9)
  • April 2014 (9)
  • March 2014 (8)
  • February 2014 (7)
  • January 2014 (8)
  • December 2013 (6)
  • November 2013 (7)
  • October 2013 (13)
  • September 2013 (4)
  • August 2013 (2)

Popular Tags

#memberspotlight 2015 Compensation Survey A Day in the Life BlackRock Board of Directors Carlson School of Management CFA CFA Charter CFA Charterholder CFA Charterholders CFA Institute CFA Institute Research Challenge CFA Minnesota CFAMN CFA Program CFA Society Minnesota CFA Society MN Changing Perceptions Chartered Financial Analyst charterholders Compensation Survey Diversity ESG ethics freezing assets shout out interest rates investment management Josh Howard Joshua M. Howard Member Engagement Minnesota non-GAAP earnings North Dakota Nuveen Asset Management President's Letter SEC Society President South Dakota Susanna Gibbons University of Minnesota Volunteer Volunteering Volunteers Weekly Credit Wrap women in finance
© 2021 CFAMN Freezing Assets - Please note that the content of this site should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFAMN, FreezingAssets.org or CFA Institute.
  • Home
  • Log In
  • RSS Feed