When even the legendary business academics such as Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management suggest that the era of shareholder capitalism is over – you have to wonder what is going on. And yet, even industry titans such as Jack Welsh have publicly expressed doubts. Whether this is simply a reaction to ‘shareholder value’ focusing so heavily on quarterly short term results, or whether it’s the start of a long term move towards a greater emphasis on corporate social responsibility remains to be seen. In this issue, Irene Goryn’s provocatively titled article “Sustainable investing: Will it become mainstream–or will mainstream investing become sustainable?” opens the debate.

Speaking of debates, Rossa O’Reilly, CFA touches on another controversial issue currently facing the industry – the rollover to IFRS. His article “OSC vows to make IFRS work for investors” on page 8 discusses how the regulators will help smooth the transition – but will the adoption of IFRS in Canada bring better disclosure and measurement of financial items?

Elsewhere in this issue, Daniel Trunzo interviews Rotman Professor Joseph Martin to understand last year’s banking crisis from a historical perspective, while Anne Maggisano interviews Michael Mauboussin, chief investment strategist at Legg Mason Capital Management.

Finally, our charterholder profile this month puts the spotlight on Gerry Ramos, CFA, vice president and chief compliance officer at MFD Private Client Placements.

As always, The Analyst welcomes letters and submissions from members.