Tag Archives: CFAMN

A Letter From Our Society President

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Joshua M. Howard, CFA

Last month the Board of Directors of CFA Society Minnesota met to discuss the status of our current three to five-year strategic plan, which has been in place for two years now.  We took some time to reflect on what we have accomplished, debated whether any goals needed revising, and brainstormed ideas on what we hope to accomplish in the upcoming year. I was once again impressed by the commitment of your Board of Directors, as 18 board members spent three and a half hours at the end of a work day engaged in strategic planning, which isn’t every analyst’s idea of a good time.

CFA Society Minnesota’s Mission and Vision, which you can find on our website under the About Us tab, guided us in the creation of our current strategic plan and continues to guide our thinking about how we run the Society.  Our Mission is “To promote and advance the professional excellence, ethical behavior and fellowship of our members through quality programs, educational offerings, and volunteer opportunities.” Our vision states that “We envision a CFA Society of Minnesota that is highly valued, well respected, and widely recognized by investors, academia, and the business community in our region.” Both our mission and vision were updated in 2013. They align with and compliment the CFA Institute’s mission and vision, recognizing that each entity (Society and Institute) has different capabilities and goals.

Our current strategic plan has three main objectives. They are:

  1. Member Engagement: Expand participation and involvement among Society members
  2. Industry Awareness and Involvement: Increase awareness of and involvement in the Society among professionals and firms in our local investment industry
  3. Operational Excellence: Improve the effectiveness and sustainability of the Society’s business processes

Each of these objectives is supported by 2-3 specific, measurable goals. These include finding ways to assist our members as they grow in their careers (leadership training, writing and speaking groups, etc.), building a brand campaign and adopting policies and procedures that will aid in long-term financial and organizational stability. If you would like to see a detailed strategic plan, please contact the Society office at executivedirector@cfamn.org and they would be happy to provide the latest version.  If one of these objectives or goals is an area you would like to support please let our staff know that as well. We are always looking for thoughtful, energetic volunteers to help us accomplish our strategic plan.

Joshua M. Howard, CFA
President, CFA Society Minnesota

Facing an Ethical Dilemma?

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The CFA Society has long been an advocate for strong ethics in the Investment Profession. The Code of Ethics and Standard of Professional Conduct are an integral part of the testing process, and underscores the importance to the Society of practicing the craft while adhering to those principles. As stated in the CFA Society’s Mission & Vision Statement:

High ethical principles and professional standards are essential to positive outcomes; rules and regulations, while necessary, are not sufficient by themselves.

We think that the CFA Society’s commitment to strong ethics is part of what sets charterholders apart from other professionals in the Investment Profession. We think this is particularly important in light of highly publicized ethical failures and an increasingly skeptical attitude toward the Investment Profession from the public. We would like to reinforce this message by starting a dialogue on FreezingAssets to help promote ethical decision making. The CFA designation comes with an obligation to do more than determine what is legal. We must go beyond the bare minimum of what is required. We want to understand what is right. And to understand what is right, we need to engage in dialogue. We would like to solicit questions and concerns from members, and then tap into our member base and professional experts to explore the ethical issues involved.

So, here are the ground rules.

1) Questions should be submitted anonymously. We don’t want anyone to worry about experiencing negative career impact from engaging in dialogue. So, no real names, no company names. Just situations.

2) Real situations are better. No trying to trick the panel with things like “If God is all powerful, can he make a planet so big that he himself can’t lift?”

3) Freezing Assets is not providing legal advice. So don’t ask for it.

There is a form on Freezingassets.org for submitting questions, situations, or concerns – access the form here. As with much of what we do, this is an experiment. Maybe everybody already knows everything. But we kind of hope there are a few folks out there who are able to challenge us all to think more deeply about what we do. We think that’s really what the Code and Standards are all about.

When submitting an inquiry, you agree to the following. Neither the Blog nor the Society is giving legal advice. If you think you need to consult a lawyer or compliance professional you should do so. The Society disclaims any liability for any advice or commentary on this website. The Blog respects the privacy of its participants.

Looking Ahead – CFA Society Minnesota Employment Committee

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Marco Naylon, CFA

As the new chair of the employment committee, I want to share my road map for the next couple of years of our strategic initiatives. As always, I am open to any suggestions or comments on resources that our membership would find useful.

First, I would be remiss if I did not thank our immediate past chair, Kristine Mogollon, CFA, for all of her tireless efforts over the past number of years. She has done many things that have put us in a great position as I begin my term. Thank you, Kristine, for all your work!

My priority as chair is to provide as much value to our membership regarding resources, programming and opportunities to enhance and grow their careers. While I feel we have done a great job in the past, I still think there is room for improvement.

The ways that we will improve is through more active engagement with both our members and the employers in the investment community. Furthermore, I look to strengthen further our working relationship with the CFA Institute to be better able to leverage their resources and provide a more streamlined outlet for our membership to access those resources.

Secondly, I would like to offer more specialized programming and learning opportunities for our more experienced members to further enhance their careers and skill sets. While we will still provide content and programming that applies to all members, my vision is for our committee to be more of a resource to charterholders that are looking to make the next step in their careers.

A couple of initiatives for this year that I hope to bring to fruition:

  • Investment Writing Group that meets on a regular basis with the goal to improve each others’ craft of writing. Please let us know if you would have an interest in joining.
  • Public Speaking Group that will also meet on a regular basis with an emphasis on improving investment-related presentations. Speaking and presentation skills are highly sought after by employers. I would like to provide an outlet for our members to hone this skill in an encouraging environment. Again, please let us know if you have interest.
  • More Structured Programming. To provide more consistency of our employment-related programming, I would like to have our programming to have regular themes during the year.  For instance, members can expect certain programs related to job-search strategies, resume writing and interviewing workshops at regular intervals so our members can have clear expectations on our offerings and align their needs accordingly.

I look forward to my term as Chair and working with our wonderful volunteers on the committee. Please do not hesitate to reach out if we can be a resource for you. All the best in 2016!