CFA Institute Conferences
CFA Institute president and CEO Paul Smith, CFA, stood before a crowd of more than 1600 investment professionals from across the globe at the 70th CFA Institute Annual Conference in Philadelphia, and asked a critical question: “What is finance for?”
“The big fear society has is your standard of living is going to drop dramatically [in retirement]. And that’s what clients come to you and ask for help on,” says Diane Garnick, chief income strategist and managing director for TIAA (Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association). So what does the retirement data say? One of the most worrisome trends is the gender retirement gap.
Latin America has achieved a pivotal milestone, Jorge Castañeda explained at the inaugural CFA Institute Latin America Investment Conference. After decades of difficulty, democracy seems to have finally taken root. Ron Rimkus, CFA, explains.
Effective financial advisory firms combine technology’s unique strengths with human insights, and the 2017 CFA Institute Wealth Management Conference explored ways that these combinations can deliver value to clients.
Barbara Roberts shared the lessons she has learned in her over 20 years as an entrepreneur and entrepreneur adviser at the CFA Institute Alpha and Gender Diversity conference. She focused on what she calls “the owner’s journey,” specifically the issues owner-entrepreneurs must navigate in managing their wealth.
For Andy Acker, CFA, portfolio manager of the Janus Global Life Sciences Fund, these are especially exciting times for investors in the health care sector. Opportunities abound, as significant advances in understanding the genetic causes of disease have resulted in a surge in new and more effective treatments. At the same time, risks remain and a disciplined approach to stock selection and portfolio construction is imperative for success.
“Everything starts with solving a very tiny slice of a problem,” explained Muhammad Yunus at the 2016 CFA Institute European Investment Conference. That is how social business begins. “There is no reason anyone should be poor; we just need to fix the system so that all are truly reflected in our economy.”
Some familiar leadership competencies include decisiveness, confidence, flexibility, intelligence, perseverance, and respect. But executive coach and author Julie Jansen notes a few others that deserve closer examination.
“While women’s leadership advancement is no longer impossible,” says Hannah Riley Bowles, “it is awfully tricky.” She urges women to think about career negotiations from a more strategic perspective.
So what is it that makes one team "smarter" than another? Anita Williams Woolley believes it's collective intelligence. A key component of collective intelligence is social perceptiveness. and it turns out women tend to be better at that than men. So when constructing teams, be sure to include more women.