Are You Being Served?
You may have seen the list of “Top 10 viewed articles and webcasts of 2006” recently published by CFA Institute. We felt very honoured to be able to serve two of these topics live to members in 2006! They were :
- Rubble Logic: What Did We Learn from the Great Stock Market Bubble? by Clifford S. Asness, and
- Avoiding Short-Termism in Investment Decision-Making by Jack Gray (also published in CFA Institute’s “Global Perspectives on Investment Management”).
The society aims to bring quality services and products to its members including those who are candidates and employers. In the past 6 months we have continued our goal of serving a varied smorgasbord of gourmet offerings and have continued to refresh the menu of wholesome offerings.
So what have been some of the highlights in recent months?
- To resource continuing growth we have extended the team. Please welcome our latest volunteers, Paul Allard, Shan Gao, Michael Singh, John Cook and Julian Morrison.
- In employer outreach we held the first meeting of the Employer Advisory Board (“EAB”). This was an opportunity for the society to showcase recent initiatives and seek feedback on strategy issues the board is currently considering. It was also an opportunity to engage employers on their needs such as ethics and investment workshops.
- In member education we welcomed the eminent Charley Ellis to Sydney for a gala luncheon and speech at the Establishment Hotel.
- In candidate education we significantly enhanced and relaunched the CFA review course.
- For candidates and members we held the flagship annual dinner and graduation ceremony. A record number of candidates passed level III in 2006 both in Sydney and globally (an over 100% increase compared with 2005 in Sydney). Australia continues to rank 9th globally in terms of graduate numbers.
- A record 28 educational and social events were held for members and guests with total attendance of approximately 1,400.
However this has been but a small entrée – so read inside to discover more!
And…for the next 6 months some of the strategy highlights we are cooking up include further dialogue with employers in particular with the EAB and the biennial board strategy day to plan for the next two years. At the board level we continue the dialogue about diversifying our “business model”, resourcing for growth and delivering services in the most efficient and cost effective manner. No doubt these themes will guide strategy going forward. We have also come up with a novel and very, very long approach toward resourcing- on this note we’ll soon be welcoming back Vice President Olivia Engel from maternity leave whilst Michelle Wigglesworth, Director Communications will be taking a (maternity) leave of absence.
However there is another very important ingredient in this mix and it is you - our members! So with this in mind, I return to the opening question:
Are you being served?
We’ll be sending the biennial member survey soon and welcome your feedback on what we are cooking well, what could more well-done and what else could be on the menu.
Of course we do hope you can sample an event or two before then and look forward to seeing you then.
Victoria Rati CFA
President
