12.28.2009

CFA Exam - Mars Edition

'Ethical practices by investment professionals benefit all market participants and stakeholders and lead to increased investor confidence in global capital markets. Clients are reassured that the investment professional they hire have the clients best interest in mind and investment professionals benefit from the "reputational capital" such integrity generates. Ethical practices instill a public trust in the fairness of markets, allowing them to function efficiently. In short, good ethics is a fundamental requirement of the investment profession.'

~Ethical and Professional Standards, CFA Curriculum Level 1

Three comebacks for that unintentional comedy:
1. I didn't realize the CFA institute had such a great sense of humor!
2. Which planet are they certifying for? Certainly not Earth.
3. I think Goldman Sachs ought to get a CFA charterholder or 2 on staff.

3 comments:

W.C. Varones said...

To be fair, it's not investment professionals who have destroyed public faith in the markets. It's Bush/Paulson/Bernanke/Obama/Geithner, with their arbitrary and capricious changing of the rules and their political selection of winners and losers.

Negocios Loucos said...

I knew that wasn't going to get by without comment and of course I do agree with you on that. I'm just had to chuckle when I came across that because obviously Goldman, and the other crook firms, employs many CFAs and after reading a bit of the ethics section of that book I believe all of those people should all have their CFA titles revoked for not reporting their employers transgressions. I mean do you think the guy who came up with the idea of selling the trash MBSs and then shorting them has a CFA?

chris g said...

Similar to any professional organization, the nice thing about ethics rules for CFAs is the ability for someone else to complain about a CFA with whom he/she is doing business if that CFA breaks even the spirit of the law.

I had a run-in with a real estate agent once. The real estate agent had the letter of the law on her side but I had emails that clearly showed she was misleading me. I complained to the real estate board. We had a hearing. I won. She paid a fine and was sent back to real estate school for additional training. It must've been mighty embarrassing for her. The client she represented settled most graciously with me after that.

A CFA charter holder goes to great length to get a charter. The tests take 250 hours each to prepare. Only a small % of candidates make it through all 3 levels. It is the most respected of all financial designations. Everyone takes having a charter very seriously. A lot of smart people are in the local CFA societies. If you lose your charter because of an ethics violation then everyone will know (it's published in a society newsletter).

disclosure: I teach a CFA review course.

Happy Super Tuesday!