At a certain point in our lives, we become less likely to attempt to learn something new. Research shows it has to do with the declining grey matter in our brains as we age. The good news is that regular exercise and a continued dedication to education can help us maintain our grey matter.

Flexing brain power by exploring new topics and ideas is good for us in many ways and helps us better understand and advocate for causes we care about.

Within the theme of Advocacy and Education, this issue of The Analyst  features our charterholder profile of Professor Karolina Krystyniak, PhD, CFA, who shares her academic and professional journey and passion for diversity, inclusion, and making learning accessible to all students.

The 2024 CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Champions from the University of Waterloo reflect on lessons learned during their competition against thousands of students from nearly 100 countries.

As investment professionals and everyone else in the world expand their work with artificial intelligence (AI), we weigh the risks and rewards of using AI in writing and create a list of best practice guidelines. As well, our resident Python expert explores the practical use of Python’s Pandas library.

Our industry spotlight of husband-and-wife entrepreneurial team Andrew Auerbach, CFA, and Jean Blacklock, LL.b, delves into their career transitions to entrepreneurship and reflects on how the investment industry can better support entrepreneurship.

This issue also includes exclusive coverage of CFA Society Toronto’s 2024 Pension Conference —highlighting a wide breadth of coverage on market outlooks, fixed-income, climate change, and neurodiversity in the workplace—and the panel event “Investing in Tomorrow: How Sustainability Reshapes Equity Value Today,” diving deep into ESG valuation.

Visit us online in late September for The Analyst’s exclusive coverage of the 67th Annual Investment Dinner, featuring Henry (Hank) M. Paulson and Blair Jacobson.

This fall, as you complete your educational and professional goals for 2024 and set new ones for the year ahead, we hope this issue inspires some learning and helps you maintain your grey matter!