CFA SOCIETY TORONTO KICKED OFF 2018 with a diverse selection of excellent programming. Here are just three of the timely and interactive events.

• At the Machine Learning Fundamentals for Financial Professionals luncheon, participants left with a better understanding of how machine learning will affect the future day-to-day work of investment professionals.
• The one-day “Introduction to Data Science and Python for Finance” course provided attendees with information about data science methods relevant to finance and fintech. Participants were provided with hands-on programming experience using Python, as well as tools to develop a better understanding of effective data visualization techniques, and received a certificate of completion.
• At the 2018 Equity Investment Symposium, we welcomed a diverse panel of the industry’s most influential portfolio managers to share their insights and best investment ideas. The panellists interacted with our guests during a Q&A session after each presentation.

We’ve continued our efforts in raising awareness for the importance of the CFA designation and the Society beyond the investment community. The Society’s Awards & University Relations Committee’s goal is to promote the CFA designation globally, stressing that the designation symbolizes knowledge, professionalism, and integrity for both current and future financial practitioners. We are achieving our goals through various Society activities such as the CFA Society Toronto & Hillsdale Investment Management Research Awards, CFA Society Toronto’s Local Ethics Challenge, and the 9th Annual CFA Institute Local Research Challenge.

These are just a few examples of the relevant and engaging content and activities that our committee volunteers create in partnership with our Society staff members.

Finally, we are pleased to welcome the 684 CFA Charterholders from the class of 2017 to the Society. It was an absolute pleasure to celebrate this milestone achievement with their friends and families at the CFA Charter Recognition event in late February.

We’re looking forward to moving into the spring season. We will be reinforcing the value of the CFA designation with local high-net-worth individuals and employers even further by building stronger connections with our community through our partnership with CFA Institute’s Let’s Measure Up global brand campaign, and the Putting Investors First initiatives planned for April and May.