California Perspective
Imagine feeling shut out from important decisions in your community. Imagine feeling you were always the last choice when it came to hiring for the good jobs. If social studies showed this was always due to systemic bias, wouldn’t you want to work for change—if not for yourself, at least for the generation to come? This is the motivation behind the movement for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). What are the fundamental principles to accelerate change around DEI? Can financial institutions adapt to DEI—and can their regulatory body, CFA Institute, lead the way? To showcase thriving financial institutions that have […]
Carbon, Cargo, Covid
As we slide into summer 2022, what are the big factors affecting the markets? Carbon, cargo, Covid. Governments and companies are starting to address the excessive carbon dioxide that is causing climate change. Interruptions of the supply chain, heavily dependent on cargo ships, continue to worsen operational risk. Meanwhile, the global economy is still dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. On May 2, 2022, Derek Walter, head of the Institutional Asset Management Committee at the CFA Society Toronto, moderated two panelists during a webinar to discuss the underlying drivers of market changes. “We need to separate the short-term from the long-term […]
Ethical Decision Making
Question 1. Do you think that one’s belief system triggers one’s actions? Or does one act and then justify one’s actions by changing one’s beliefs? Question 2. Is an effective leader one who adheres to a constant belief? Or is the effective leader one who adheres to “situational ethics”? These are two dilemmas that were explored in more depth on February 8, 2022, when Kevin Veenstra, Associate Professor at De Groote Business School at McMaster University, presented a virtual workshop on ethical decision making to members of the CFA Society Toronto. Veenstra’s research focuses on personality and unconscious motives and […]
Net-Zero Buildings
How do we build our homes and cities for a sustainable future? Climate change is such a huge, complex problem that tackling it can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, many organizations are addressing various parts of this colossal puzzle. One aspect is the “built environment.” Can existing buildings be modified to cope with climate change? Can buildings be redesigned to have net zero effect on the environment? On July 1, 2021, a panel of experts gave their thoughts on matters relating to climate change and buildings, as part of the New York Times Climate Hub series of webinars. This is the “Built […]
Who’s Minding the Bots?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being implemented in nearly all sectors of the economy at an increasing rate. A 2019 survey by Gartner showed that 37 percent of organizations had already implemented AI in some form. When it comes to integrating AI into your company, what are the risks? What are the opportunities? On March 12, 2021, the Industry Relations and Corporate Governance Committee of the CFA Society Toronto convened a panel of experts to look at how effectively a company’s corporate governance can provide proper oversight and avoid mistakes. In other words, “who and how we will mind the bots.” […]
Covid Vaccines
“Be careful what you wish for,” the adage goes, “it might come true.” After a year of an ever-broadening pandemic, vaccines have arrived, and thus begins a new round of planning and negotiating. As the first covid-19 vaccines are rolled out across the world, the magazine the Economist assembled a panel on January 14, 2021, to reflect on the challenges. An audience of thousands tuned in as three seasoned journalists discussed global issues related to vaccine development, the risks of misinformation, and the expected impact of an uneven distribution process of vaccines. The panel moderator was Helen Joyce, executive editor for […]
Ethical Decision Making
Why do well-meaning people engage in unethical behavior? Given that a healthy financial market depends on trust, and that trust is earned through ethical behaviour, ethics are fundamental to ensuring the integrity of finance professionals. A panel of two experts in ethical decision making from the CFA Institute—Jon Stokes, Director, and Paul Johnson, Manager and Special Investigator—spoke live to an audience of about 700 on October 21, 2020 in celebration of Global Ethics Day 2020. A survey of 3500 retail investors showed which industry sectors they ranked as “highly trustworthy.” Medicine was at the top of the list, with 68 […]
ESG disclosures: apples vs oranges
When it comes to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds, do you feel like we are still comparing apples with oranges? Isn’t it time for a global voluntary standard? “There’s been an explosion of interest in ESG investing, but the inconsistency in ESG-related disclosures could lead to an erosion of trust in the industry,” said Deborah Kidd, who is a director with the Global Industry Standards (GIPS). She was the first of two panelists who presented a consultation paper on “ESG Disclosure Standards for Investment Products” at a webinar titled “Improving Transparency and Comparability of Investment Products with ESG-related Features” […]
Investing in the greater good
Every day, more investors are converting their portfolios to socially responsible investing (SRI). But does being a socially responsible investor mean you will take a hit on performance? “Over the last five years, responsible investments have done at least as well as the traditional portfolio,” said Tim Nash, a fee-for-service financial planner who spoke at the webinar “Investing in the Greater Good” on August 18, 2020, sponsored by Questrade. Nash is the founder of Good Investing and blogs as The Sustainable Economist. He is also the lead researcher for Ethical Markets Green Transition Scoreboard research report, which details more than […]
Healthy skepticism
Selecting environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds is a way that ordinary citizens can invest in an ethical way. But what does the increased interest in ESG investing shown by institutional and private wealth clients really mean? Is it paying off? Are we at a watershed moment for structural change in the way investors allocate resources? The move to consider ESG investing came some years ago with scandals such as Enron, and continues with more scandals such as Volkswagen’s Dieselgate and Facebook’s meddlings, said Pedro Matos, a professor of finance at University of Virginia and the author of the CFA […]