For my April update, I’m taking a deeper dive into recent CFA Institute initiatives and mapping them against the Society Service Standards—the efforts and services societies deliver to members and other stakeholders in your markets.
Societies play an integral role in providing our joint members the local—and in some cases regional— experiences, relationships, networks, live and virtual programming, career support, and educational opportunities that complement CFA Institute’s offerings and that we cannot deliver alone. This month’s update provides an overview of the state of the business and what’s on the horizon at CFA Institute to help you consider how we can best serve investment professionals and advance the investment industry through aligned objectives.
Society Service Standard: Shaping the Future of the Industry and Profession
Services that help increase our influence across the ecosystem
Many of you have felt first-hand impacts of recent disruptive events, including the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the emergence of ChatGPT, and the ever-changing crypto landscape.
These events, however difficult they may be to navigate in the moment, highlight the need for CFA Institute to have a strong voice in the investment industry, one that advocates for sound governance, advances ethics and professionalism, and prepares practitioners and policymakers for future trends that will impact the industry.
To drive how the industry thinks and influence what it does, the Research, Advocacy, and Standards team has been developing and promoting research and thought leadership around four key pillars
- Data analytics and technology
- New insights into the investment profession
- Structural resilience of capital markets
- Influencing and impacting the profession
I would like to bring your attention to a few noteworthy publications and projects coming soon that are especially relevant for the industry and our members, and I invite you to explore what else in planned on the Content and Product Pipeline.
- These Research Foundation publications provide investment and data science professionals with a guide to the current fintech landscape. The first release (published in late March) discussed machine learning (ML) and natural language processing. The second release, set to be published this week, focuses on trading with ML and big data, chatbots, knowledge graphs, and AI infrastructure.
Future State of the Investment Industry
- This work will revisit the first "Future State of the Investment Profession" paper published 2016–2017, reviewing the megatrends and new scenarios for the industry over the next 5–10 years. Scheduled to be published in May, the report will help CFA Institute identify the areas where we should focus our research and policy efforts to make a greater impact on the industry in the coming years.
Our next Inside Track session, scheduled for late May, will allow you to go deeper into content on data analytics and technology. We hope you’ll join us to learn more about these publications and how your members can engage with the content. Look for an invitation to register next week.
Beyond engaging with research publications, societies can work with local regulators or engage firms in roundtable discussions to encourage adoption of our codes and standards, issue comment letters on legislation or regulation impacting capital markets, partner with CFA Institute to develop original content relevant to your market, or drive input from your members and local thought leaders to develop new standards or update existing standards to achieve this service standard.
Society Service Standard: Offering and Promoting a Diverse Portfolio of Learning Products
Services that promote educational opportunities to current and future investment professionals
The Credentialing and Professional Learning divisions recently merged under the leadership of Chris Wiese, CFA, forming a new division, Education. Under this structure, we anticipate greater ease in creating a unified, cohesive portfolio that will not only serve market needs but also consider the journey of those we serve, from candidacy to membership and beyond.
We are thrilled with how the announcements about upcoming changes to the CFA Program have been received—from candidates, members, employers, and many societies alike. Although the true tests will begin on 16 May when we open up registrations for 2024 exam administrations, start rolling out the streamlined curriculum and Practice Packs, and begin offering the Practical Skills Modules, we are confident that making these changes to the CFA Program was the right decision to ensure its continued relevance.
We are also pleased with how the products in our Professional Learning portfolio have been received so far. Thank you for your engagement and interest in the Investment Foundations® Certificate and Certificate in ESG Investing. With nearly 1,300 and nearly 12,000 registrations this fiscal year, respectively, we are excited that these offerings are filling industry needs and providing more continuing education options for a wider range of professionals.
Our new Data Science for Investment Professionals Certificate launches this week. We’ve heard that investment professionals want a deeper understanding of how data science concepts apply to the profession and how to put them into practice. Learners will be able to explain clearly and “translate” machine learning concepts and their application to real-world investment problems to non-expert audiences and clients. We’ve already begun promoting this certificate, alongside the Handbook of AI and Big Data. Some easy-to-use promotional tools and more information will be distributed to societies soon.
Although I’m noting recent courses and certificates in this update, the Society Service Standard related to “professional learning” refers to that term in its broadest sense: the activities that contribute to individuals’ knowledge as investment professionals and lifelong learners.
Many activities—from reading a research report or Refresher Reading, attending a qualifying society conference or webinar, or engaging with content through an employer, just to name a few—can count as professional learning, so long as they are educational in nature, relate to topics derived from the Global Body of Investment Knowledge, and are geared to increasing the knowledge, skills, and abilities of an investment professional. Societies have latitude in determining the PL activities that best resonate with your members—and these offerings go well beyond CFA Institute courses and certificates. I encourage you to explore the library of PL-eligible content on our enterprise site for more examples of additional qualifying activities. I hope this helps as you consider your society’s plans to meet this service standard.
Society Service Standard: Building Community and Providing Member Value
Services that promote membership growth and retention, candidate engagement, career support, and networking
We have faced a few significant headwinds that have affected global CFA Institute membership growth and retention rates, which in turn impact society membership growth. Some of these challenges are the limited pipeline of candidates progressing through the CFA Program, changing attitudes in the workforce, and weaker retention among younger members and in APAC.
So, what are we doing to address these issues?
My team is sharing recommendations for a multi-year growth and investment strategy for membership with the Board in May. To better understand the problems we face, we have conducted interviews with current and lapsed members across a number of markets, and a quantitative survey will be distributed to our global membership in the coming weeks. We want to understand the pain points members are experiencing, what they value about their membership, and ways we can support them throughout their professional lives. The results of this research will help determine our priorities, but we anticipate these will center around three areas:
- Creating a modern, rich member experience and value proposition. Members should find value in their annual dues beyond simply a transaction for using the designation after their name. We will improve the digital experience, and enhance professional development opportunities, career services, and member-only benefits.
- Activating our global community in a modern, inter-connected ecosystem. You will recall that one of the long-term goals of the Society Operating Model is to lay the foundations of a growing, inter-connected membership. We envision bringing members and volunteers together over common interests—whether that’s geography, society affiliation, professional track, or area of expertise. Societies will be very much part of this ecosystem.
- Expanding audiences and growing our constituent base through new non-voting membership classes. We will also explore opportunities for offering subscription-based content to non-members.
Pending input and approval of our direction from the Board at the May meeting, a more comprehensive business plan will follow. We look forward to bringing the society network along on this journey and gaining your input.
Society Service Standard: Ensuring Excellence in Society Governance and Operations
Accountability for maintaining high governance and operating standards
This standard spans a wide range of activities, from how societies run their day-to-day operations, to how CFA Institute onboards society leaders, to how the society voice is conveyed to CFA Institute leadership and Board of Governors, and more. Click on each heading to learn more about recent and upcoming news for this standard.
FY24 Business Planning and Operating Standards (BPOS)
In May, we will roll out an enhanced Business Planning and Operating Standards (BPOS) process, aligned to the Society Operating Model.
The FY24 business plan templates will reflect the Society Service Standards by segment, and we’re developing a reference guide with examples to help illustrate how each segment can achieve the Service Standards. You can expect more information in the coming weeks.
Presidents Council Governance
The recent work of the Presidents Council (PC) has provided a solid model for what good governance looks like.
By revising the Terms of Reference to strengthen the society voice and enhance the selection process for electing Presidents Council Representatives, fielding the Society Sentiment Survey so the results can be shared with the Board at the May meeting, sharing notes from Board meetings, and more, the PC is working to improve transparency, communication, and representation throughout the network. I commend this group for improving the way the PC interacts with CFA Institute leadership, society leaders, society staff, and the Board.
Higher Logic Community Platform
The successful launch of 120 society websites hosted by CFA Institute on Higher Logic in February means we can now turn our attention and resources to the online community we’re building for society leaders and staff through Higher Logic.
We are refining site capabilities and in the coming months will invite those who volunteered as beta testers into the platform so we can make additional refinements before rolling the site out to the greater network. We are thrilled by the potential the Society Leader Community has for bringing our society leaders and staff together and look forward to creating a forum where you can share best practices, troubleshoot any issues, and learn from each other.
Society Leader Orientation
Onboarding new society leaders is critical for retaining society volunteers, promoting effectiveness in their roles, and preserving the spirit of volunteerism.
The Society Leader Orientation experience is being updated to reflect the new Society Operating Model, CFA Institute’s strategy, and enhanced governance and other topics important for new leaders to know. The new experience is scheduled to launch in June/July.
Brand and Marketing
Societies have identified two main areas that need our attention when it comes to marketing and branding: first, our presence as a global brand, and second, the assets you have access to for your marketing needs.
As we’ve retired the Let’s Measure Up campaign materials, our marketing team is developing new creative assets and a cohesive brand identity. This work is being done with care and intention to ensure the direction of our brand is reflective of product enhancements and new offerings we are delivering on a global scale—all while preserving the brand equity we have already built.
The Evolve creative assets reflect the first step towards a new look and feel for our brand. These were developed to reinforce the high quality of our brand while also indicating action and energy to appeal to charterholders, candidates, employers, and the public.
As we get further along in our branding, our marketing team expects to come to you later this fiscal year for feedback on what we’re proposing and get more detail on the types of materials and content you need to be successful.
Our recent engagements with you as we rolled out the Society Operating Model put to the forefront that many of the activities, efforts, and priorities of societes are well aligned with areas of focus at CFA Institute. As you continue to serve the members and candidates in your markets, we look forward to optimizing ways we deliver value together, through the lens of the Society Operating Model.
MEMBERSHIP
Renewal Communications and Society Toolkit
A second pre-renewal email will be sent to members this week, highlighting an interactive map that shows where charterholders around the world are located and reminding members of the member directory. The email will also list the updated dues rate for the coming membership year. A sample of the email will be added to the CFA Society Member Renewal Toolkit, available in Society Center.
Remember that renewal systems will open on 2 May.
CREDENTIALING AND CANDIDATE SUPPORT
CFA Program Informational and Promotional Materials
New promotional and informational materials about the CFA Program are now available! Navigate to the CFA Program folders from the Marketing Resource Hub on Society Center to access
- an updated CFA Program deck that can be edited to serve your needs
- flyers with content geared to the university student audience
- other one-pagers and fact sheets to distribute at your events
SOCIETY MANAGEMENT
Presidents Council Representative (PCR) Elections
Nominees for PCRs of eligible subregions have advanced to the candidate stage. Campaigning has begun and will wrap up on 2 May, and presentations will take place between 3 and 5 May. To see a list of candidates and read their nominations packets, please log in to Society Center (Councils & Committees tiles > Presidents Council Representatives).