I HAVE THOROUGHLY ENJOYED my first few months here at the Society in my role as CEO. Experiences have ranged from meeting our new grads and sharing exam war stories to hosting a fireside chat with industry veteran Ned Goodman.

I also had the privilege of meeting and introducing some of the keynote speakers at our always-popular Professional Development Day, where we also launched our Lifelong Learning Portal. This online portal is designed to help members meet the demands of ongoing education requirements, and it provides access to over 800 video-based learning modules from Fitch Learning, a qualified CE provider for CFA Society of Toronto. The video content was created over time as Fitch worked with many leading global institutions within our industry. In addition, members in career transition and those interested in other segments of the business can use the wide variety of practitioner tutorials to quickly upgrade their skill sets in other specialized areas.

The Lifelong Learning Portal is a completely mobile solution. Users can connect anywhere/anytime to learning content wherever there is a network connection through a PC, smart phone, or tablet.

Also, some new services have been added to our online affinity program, ranging from discounted portfolio management and trading tools from Inovestor and Qtrade to Toronto FC tickets and a wine merchant who used to be one of our CFA practitioners.

Over the next six months, I am looking forward to implementing our employer outreach pilot project. We’ll be speaking with senior industry leaders who are CFAs to gather their views on how to improve member services and differentiate charterholders from their peers. During this time, we will also meet with a group of senior industry talent managers and regulators to hear their views on industry trends and developments.

The foundation of CFA Society Toronto rests on its many dedicated volunteers who continually find innovative ways to bring practitioner-based events and new topics to the programming roster. We celebrated their contributions at our Annual Appreciation Event evening on April 11 at the TMX.

Stay tuned for a call for new volunteers that will highlight areas in which we will be seeking applicants.

Before you head off on summer holiday, be sure to mark your calendars for the Annual Forecast Dinner on Wednesday October 1. Planning began in February, and it will accelerate during the summer months. Later this month, we will announce an impressive and well-known lineup of international experts that will entertain and inform the crowd.

Enjoy the upcoming wonderful long days of summer.