Jon Stokes

The ethical choice in a situation is not always clear or straightforward, so taking the time to exercise your ethical decision-making skills will help you when faced with a real ethical dilemma.

To promote “ethical exercise,” we are introducing a weekly Ethics in Practice cases to give you the opportunity to practice assessing and analyzing situations and making ethical decisions.

For the second straight year, CFA Institute sponsored an open letter from 16 influential asset owners calling for asset managers to comply with the Asset Manager Code.

In a continuing effort to build market integrity, CFA Institute has made it easier and more efficient to adopt the Asset Manager Code. It will also begin requiring annual notification of compliance.

Pension plan sponsors, including CalSTRS, CalPERS, and PRIM, have signed a letter endorsing our Code. Its timing coincides with several of our initiatives, including Putting Investors First Month.

Aging population and shift from employer to individually directed retirement plans have placed “senior” investors in the spotlight.

Despite courts’ waffling on insider trading, the CFA Institute Code and Standards are constant: If you know the information is material and not in the public domain, don’t trade or cause others to trade by disclosing it.

Updated CFA Institute Code of Ethics addresses larger purpose of capital markets and growing concerns about the role and effects of capitalism.

Interactive webinar increases understanding of ethical principles applicable to investment professionals and how to make them a key factor in everyday decision making.

When does strategizing with other investors on your activist plans morph into tipping fellow investors about trading positions that could move stock price once disclosed?

How overconfidence and the lack of an effective compliance program and rigorous risk assessment system can lead investment professionals into dangerous waters.

The SAC Capital Advisors case emphasizes the importance of exercising supervisory responsibility. Supervising others to prevent violations of securities laws, rules, and regulations is also a prominent part of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.

As investors seek “political intelligence” for a leg up, there’s a fine line between acceptable versus insider information.

The results of the 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer are out and the findings, for the financial services industry at least, are not encouraging.

No one would argue with the premise that trust in those individuals and entities who manage investor assets is a fundamental element in any investor-adviser relationship. But how can investors gauge the integrity of the investment professionals and firms they are considering hiring? Are there objective measures of trust that can assist in determining which advisers are more likely to act ethically in the future?