Congratulations to our new charterholders

The highlights for me of Toronto CFA Society’s winter events are the new member lunch and the CFA charter recognition reception. While participating in the CFA exam process, most candidates will interact primarily with CFA Institute, which administers the CFA examinations. Local societies, such as Toronto CFA Society, focus on providing services to our members and, while candidates can join our society before obtaining their CFA charters, most wait at least until they have passed all three levels of the CFA exams. Thus, new CFA charterholders keep our society growing and they are the future society leaders. Speaking with some of the new members and new CFA charterholders, I was very impressed by their enthusiasm and commitment, which will serve our profession well. Congratulations to all our new CFA charterholders and a warm welcome to all our new members!

CFA Institute’s strategic plan

CFA Institute’s strategic plan for 2012 involves five major initiatives, three of which are related directly to members:

1. Lifelong learning with content developed either by CFA Institute, by member societies, or sourced externally;
2. Better connecting with members through technology;
3. Advocating effectively for members and for ethical markets.

CFA Institute strongly supports lifelong learning by members. To do this, it is striving to create a “community” among members and offer tools needed for members to be leaders in the investment industry. These goals led to the development of “My CFA,” an internet site designed to give members a personalized experience and the ability to tailor the content provided to their personal preferences. Formats are more web- and mobile-friendly while society and externally sourced content will be timely and relevant. My CFA will help to reinforce the relationship between the various member societies and CFA Institute. Rollout of My CFA is targeted for April 2010. You will receive information about this initiative from CFA Institute, and we encourage you to check out My CFA and personalize it to your needs.

Update on member survey

By the time you receive this issue we will have completed our latest member research projects; both a quantitative survey that went out in December/January and some qualitative focus groups that happened in February. Currently in field is an opportunity scan of the market for investment education. This will help us determine where we can best focus our resources as well as partnerships that can be developed for the benefit of our members. Thank you to all those who participated; your feedback is invaluable and we will use it as a resource in the development and enhancement of our offerings to you.

We welcome your feedback and ideas– please continue to share them with us by visiting our website at www.torontocfa.ca.