What was your background before enrolling in the CFA program?

Krystyne Manzer: Prior to enrolling in the CFA program, I earned a degree in Economics from the University of Toronto. I had limited industry experience, but began my investment career on the RBC Dominion Securities’ Portfolio Advisory Desk where I was surrounded by charterholders and fully immersed in the business.

Dileep Samuel: Financial advisor.

Chris Mantzoutsos: I decided to enter the program soon after completing University. During this time I was also well under way in my search for an entry level role in the investment field. The CFA program was the natural stepping stone needed to enhance the knowledge gained from my Finance Major.

Teddy Li: I had more than eight years of experience in financial planning, corporate development, venture capital and auditing and had managed more than U.S.$2 billion in direct investments for multinational firms in China. I had extensive exposure to U.S. GAAP and IFRS. Then, I spent two at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill to pursue my MBA degree. After graduating with top honours, I started a new career in Toronto with the Bank of Nova Scotia as a financial advisor in Jan 2010.

Lixia Wang: I hold a Master of Economics and Bachelor of Mathematics, and was working for CPMS as a financial analyst.

Zhuoyun Grace Yu: I had just completed an undergraduate in engineering in China and I came to Canada to pursue a Master’s of Finance degree, as well as my CFA designation.

Gary Salzer: I graduated from the University of Windsor in 2006 with a B. Comm. – Honours in Business Administration and Economics. While studying for the CFA exams, I worked in the commercial banking division for a leading Canadian financial institution, in a series of progressing roles from 2006-2010.

Roshan Ramnarain: In 2004, I immigrated to Canada from Mauritius, and started as an executive assistant at Fairfax. Investment was always my calling. Prior to the CFA designation, I held a Bachelor degree in Economics-Mathematics, and am a Chartered Secretary (ICSA) and have completed the CSC.

Graham Markham: I took the CA route and was an auditor in a public accounting firm. There I focused on small public companies, and was first introduced to the markets.

Justin Harrington: After completing a master’s degree in mathematical finance in New Zealand, I moved to London, U.K. and embarked on a career in financial services at Credit Suisse First Boston (as it was called in those days). After 9/11, and the subsequent downturn in opportunities in the markets, I decided to take a time out and pursue a PhD in statistics at UBC.

Jonathan Santos: Student/Client Relationship Manager.

Arthur Medina: Investment/corporate banking in Manila, followed by international real estate acquisition and asset management with the Paul Reichmann family (Toronto) on Class A office buildings located in U.S./London, U.K./ Mexico City/ Jerusalem. CFA program was the perfect complement to my MBA degree and Canadian Investment Manager designation.

Peter Petrovski: I started my career as a teaching assistant at university for microeconomics and for micro market structures. This led to a position where I performed macroeconomic analysis on emerging countries, which taught me to deal with high volatility and develop research skills. Right after moving to Canada, I started to pursue my CFA career to prove that my foreign credentials and studies are comparable to the Canadian ones and that I am able to add a lot of value.

Donovan Pollitt: I had completed a Bachelor’s of Applied Science in Mining Engineering from the University of Toronto prior to starting the CFA program. I had also worked in exploration and production environments and wanted to learn more about equity valuation, the markets in general and how it all tied in to the mining industry.

Josh Greenspoon: Before enrolling in the CFA Program, I worked as an analyst for a large Canadian commercial bank for two years. After that, I decided to go back to school and get an MBA and it was during that time when I enrolled in the CFA Program and wrote and passed the first level.

How will having a CFA designation help you progress in your career?

Krystyne Manzer: The CFA designation is a strong foundation for enabling a career in multiple areas of the financial industry. Not only is the program recognized internationally, but it spans so many different subjects that charterholders walk out with advanced understanding of a variety of topics – from Research and Private Wealth Management all the way to Compliance and Trading – and have a working knowledge of how the business operates. This knowledge is key to being a successful partner in any role, so completing this program will not only help me advance in my career, but it will give me the ability to be mobile across the different business units.

Dileep Samuel: I hope to pursue a career in private wealth management.

Chris Mantzoutsos: The rigorous curriculum itself has broadened my knowledge and sharpened my analytical skill set, but it’s the qualitative attributes derived from the program such as discipline and ethical integrity which provides a solid foundation for a successful career in the investment world. The investment industry was built on trust. The CFA Institute Code of Ethics focuses on acting in the client’s best interest with the utmost integrity, competence and professionalism. Having a designation that not only preaches, but requires its members to abide by such a code, provides the solid foundation needed to succeed as an investment professional.

Teddy Li: First, the process of pursuing the CFA designation has helped me be prepared from a knowledge perspective to pursue my career in asset/wealth management. Second, the continuing education opportunities from CFA Institute and local societies will help me keep updated on the modern finance theories and practices, which are dynamic and change so quickly. Third, having a well recognized designation in the global finance industry and a strongly connected member circle will open the necessary doors for me and provide me with great networking opportunities.

Lixia Wang: My daily work is analyzing U.S. stocks, the CFA designation built a solid knowledge background about equity market analysis for me.

Zhuoyun Grace Yu: Pursuing the CFA designation has taken my investment knowledge to higher level, and has also reinforced the importance of maintaining high ethical standards that apply to my work life or personal life. Additionally, being a member of the local society has provided me with tremendous access to some of the best and most innovative thinkers in this industry.

Gary Salzer: Since receiving the CFA designation in 2010, I’ve had the opportunity to progress in my career, and recently transitioned into the investment and wealth management field. Being a CFA charterholder is one of the key job requirements from my employer to act as a discretionary money manager. Significant importance is also placed on adhering to the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. The CFA designation will continue to help me going forward in providing a high level of professionalism and expertise in wealth management, while doing so in an ethical manner.

Roshan Ramnarain: Completion of the CFA designation enlightened me in better appreciating the experienced and bold moves in ‘true’ value investing, and contrarian approaches; both in philosophy and practice.

Graham Markham: It will help for three reasons. Firstly, doing the CFA exams gives you an introduction to all the different areas of finance. Although I work with equities, it’s very helpful to know the basics of what affects the other markets (bonds, FX, etc.). Secondly, the designation brings a level of credibility with it – to someone who knows the exam process, they know the soft skills you had to employ to pass. Those exams require time management, focus, and hard work. Lastly, being a charterholder exposes you to a huge wealth of resources through Toronto CFA Society and CFA Institute. In the last year I have already really benefited from the Mentorship program, and from all of the educational sessions that the Toronto society organizes, and look forward to many more in the future.

Justin Harrington: I initially started the CFA program while still at UBC in order to brand myself as a quantitative individual with a demonstrated interest in all things financial. After looking at the alternatives, I believed (and still believe) the CFA designation sends the strongest message in terms of the curriculum and the amount effort one needs to expend in order to achieve it. Now that I’m back working in financial services, I have used elements of the curriculum every day, and feel the body of knowledge has provided me with an excellent background to progress.

Andy Ho: Networking and keeping abreast of current financial know-how in investments.

Jonathan Santos: The CFA designation will bring added confidence to the clients and partners we work with. I hope to become a registered Portfolio Manager in the near future.

Arthur Medina: Provides assurance/credibility in performing due diligence in executing asset management functions. There is a strong emphasis on fiduciary duty to clients.

Peter Petrovszki: My expectation is that the CFA designation will prove that my knowledge is similar to that of my Canadian peers. Also, through the CFA curriculum I became interested in some of the areas that I was unaware of and it enhanced my understanding of areas that are not directly related to my every day work but can be beneficial when interpreted in the context of my work.

Donovan Pollitt: The CFA designation is widely recognized as being rigorous and I think one benefits from that recognition in meetings with institutional investors, institutional sales people and analysts. CFA designation in hand, I don’t plan to progress my career by moving to either the buy side or the sell side, but hope the skills acquired in the program will help me in running a public company. With our current team in place we regularly go through the investment decision making process in managing capital allocations at our existing operations as well as evaluating internal growth projects and potential acquisitions.

Josh Greenspoon: I felt that the hardest aspect of obtaining the designation was the extraordinary sacrifice and self-discipline required for such an intense self-study program. At the same time, that is exactly what makes obtaining the designation so rewarding. You do it all yourself, nobody spoon-feeds you and the results speak for themselves.

Sandeep Singh: The CFA designation exemplifies many things and has helped my career by allowing me to gain not only problem solving skills but skills required to stop a problem from occurring before it becomes one.

What did you find hardest about getting the designation / what did you enjoy most?

Krystyne Manzer: The hardest part about earning the designation was being disciplined enough to lock myself away from society for months at a time. No, really, it was that final crunch time, where I’d been studying for months on end, and could count on one hand the number of days until the exam date. That’s the point when I needed to dig deep and find the motivation to review material that I’d gone over time and time again. The most enjoyable part for me was that first moment after I put the pencil down from the afternoon session, and knew that for the next few months, I’m free to read my own books again and see my friends again. Also, anticipating the results – that was both the most enjoyable and the hardest part.

Liam Coppinger: Reading GIPS performance standards and generally a great sense of accomplishment.

Dileep Samuel: The curriculum itself: Level II was especially tough as I wrote Level I in December 2008 and then wrote Level II in June 2009. I enjoyed Level III as it pertained more to my area of portfolio construction and financial planning.

Chris Mantzoutsos: The hardest part about obtaining the designation was the time commitment involved, specifically the sacrifices that I needed to be make for study time. Leisure activities, volunteer duties and personal interests are all affected when enrolling in the CFA program. But these sacrifices are a natural progression into what I enjoyed the most about the program, which was the discipline it instilled in me. This discipline is essential not only in successfully completing all three levels, but to also flourish as a successful investment professional. Discipline is what gets you through volatile markets and is what keeps investors focused on the fundamentals of investing.

Teddy Li: The hardest part is probably the great commitment to this long process for three levels. All the time and efforts that I have put into to prepare for the exams, the mental challenges, and the sacrifices of social and family lives were all hard parts in the process of getting the designation. I enjoyed every minute when I found I finally had a sound grasp of the challenging and difficult concepts/contents. I enjoyed the moment that I felt confident in entering the exam room. And certainly, the most enjoyable moment is that I found after 18 months hard work I finally passed all three levels and I felt I was really ready to join this most distinguished and globally recognized finance institute.

Lixia Wang: The CFA body knowledge is not hard at all based on my education background; I enjoy reading textbooks and working out the problems most. The hardest part is drawing my attention away from entertainment and concentrating on study during my spare time.

Zhuoyun Grace Yu: The biggest challenges in obtaining the CFA designation were the sizeable levels of commitment and dedication required, in order to adequately prepare for each of the exams. I made significant sacrifices to family and friends throughout the six months that I studied for each of the tests, and an imbalance was created with my work/life schedule. Having said this, the most rewarding part of the process was receiving my exam results and seeing the word ‘PASS’ next to my name. It was always so uplifting to know that my hard work paid off, particularly after passing the final level.

Graham Markham: Since I worked at an accounting firm at the time, I didn’t have much support from my employer for writing the exams. Besides making it an expensive process and using up all my vacation days, I had very few people to speak with who had been through the exams before, to find out about what to expect. What I enjoyed the most was that in contrast to university tests (which often get crammed for in the days before), as I studied over a long time period for the CFA exams I actually retained a lot of the information. It’s nice that when someone at work occasionally mentions an obscure concept that you don’t deal with every day, you can think to yourself “oh yeah…. I remember that one.”

Justin Harrington: Giving up evenings and weekends was a challenge to my motivation and energy, especially as summer approached. I really enjoyed the sections on derivatives and portfolio management – materials relevant to my every day work.

Jonathan Santos: I found the early part of the studying process difficult, trying to make time early and stay focused. As crunch time hit it was almost easier to shut other things out.

Arthur Medina: Hardest: Time management given the large coverage of topics to master (need to balance study time with family time) Enjoyed the most: Level III – perfect integration of investment management and portfolio management.

Peter Petrovszki: The hardest part was finding time to prepare for the exam with a newborn and a workplace that demands working at least 60-100 hours during the week and the weekends.

Donovan Pollitt: It was challenging finding the time to internalize all the material while balancing a career with frequent travel to two mine sites and investor meetings. Coming from the issuer side, discussing the material with a colleague who works on the sell side as to how it applied to companies we were both familiar with was both enjoyable and helped make the knowledge a lot more applicable.

Sandeep Singh: The hardest thing about achieving the designation was the countless hours of self study. It was also what I enjoyed the most. I plotted my course and only I was responsible for my success or failure.

Name an investor who inspires you and explain why.

Liam Coppinger: Henry Kravis – industrialist / landmark transactions.

Chris Mantzoutsos: If I had to choose one it would have to be Warren Buffett. The catalyst of the most recent downturn is best described by one of his quotes “you combine ignorance and leverage; you get some pretty interesting results.” Whether it’s because he likes a certain drink, or he doesn’t comprehend parts of a company’s 10-K, he proves that the preliminary investment process can be as simple as transparency, basic understanding and the concept of knowing the difference of value received rather than the price that is paid for a security.

Teddy Li: John Paulson is the investor that has inspired me the most recently because of the rigorous research that he has done on the fundamentals when he bet against the mortgage backed securities and decided to go long on gold. Someone blamed the short selling and accused him of potential inside trading on MBS. But for me, I still admire his courage and comprehensive work that he has done when shorting MBS. I don’t like the manipulative short selling. However, if there are fundamental/systematic problems within finance system, short selling helps to get things back to right and the fair values.

Gary Salzer: Seth Klarman. Along with Graham’s The Intelligent Investor, Mr. Klarman’s Margin of Safety is one of the classic books on value investing, and has helped shaped my investment philosophy.

Justin Harrington: Alan Howard (co-founder of Brevan Howard Asset Management – largest hedge fund in Europe). He’s immensely successful at what he does, takes massive bets in the markets, and yet has an excellent balance vis a vis his approach to risk management.

Andy Ho: Buffet is a great investor because he invests for long term and by looking at fundamentals.

Josh Greenspoon: Bill Ackman: I follow a number of value investors but Ackman stands out as a true contrarian. It took a lot of guts for him to bet against bond insurer MBIA but it paid off in the end.

What’s the last book you read? (non-required reading only!)

Krystyne Manzer: Eat, Pray, Love. I haven’t seen the movie, but the book was fantastic. It’s a story of a year in the author’s life as she travels to Italy, India and Indonesia. The story is marked with different experiences she had in these places, and not at all what I expected. For someone that’s looking for life lessons, this one is full of them. It’s a book I will read time and time again.

Liam Coppinger: My Early Life – Winston Churchill.

Dileep Samuel: The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins.

Chris Mantzoutsos: I am currently rereading Devil Take The Hindmost: A History of Financial Speculation by Edward Chancellor. It outlines past market bubbles and manias along with the subsequent panic starting with “tulip mania” in Holland during the 1600s, to the run-up right before the tech bubble. This book along with Benjamin Graham’s Intelligent Investor should be reread every few years by long-term investors.

Teddy Li: Pioneering Portfolio Management—An Unconventional Approach to Institutional Investment, by David F. Swensen, CIO of Yale University Endowment.

Lixia Wang: Asymmetric Returns: The Future of Active Asset Management.

Gary Salzer: The Big Short by Michael Lewis. An enjoyable and informative read that focuses on the financial crisis of 2007-2010, the creation of the credit default swap market, and those who bet against the bubble.

Graham Markham: Moneyball by Michael Lewis. It’s the true story of how a baseball general manager took a completely new approach to trading and valuing players, and his strategy has transformed the way managers think about the game ever since.

Justin Harrington: When Prime Brokers Fail by J. S. Aikman.

Jonathan Santos: More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby.

Arthur Medina: The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.

Donovan Pollitt: The Watch that Ends the Night by Hugh MacLennan. It’s a Canadian classic and had been on my to-read list since before I started the program.

CHARTERHOLDER PROFILE is a regular feature of The Analyst. Do you have suggestions for members that we should profile? Email us with the member’s name and a few sentences about who he/she is and why this person would make an interesting choice for a profile. TheAnalyst@torontocfa.ca