Year-End Reports are an important aspect of the annual business planning process and ensure high operating standards are achieved across the CFA® Society network. Societies submitted their year-end reports within four months of their fiscal year ends, which meant April 2021 marked the final submission deadline for the balance of society submissions.
Through the collection of both qualitative and quantitative data from each local society, CFA Institute has been able to analyze and assess the progress of our partnership, the impact achieved, and the financial health of the CFA Society community.
As evidenced by our preliminary analysis of the data, three key themes have emerged:
- Many societies successfully pivoted to deliver programming virtually and hosted more events than they normally would in an in-person/live environment.
- Societies across all regions delivered professional learning-credited programming, with the top 10 representing a wide range of society sizes.
- Despite the challenges we faced this year, the CFA Society community continued to promote the CFA Program to students, candidates and employers.
Pivoting to Virtual Programming
When faced with an unprecedented global pandemic, the CFA Society community stepped up and adapted to ensure they continued to serve their key stakeholders. The pivot from in-person programming to virtual webinars, panel discussions, and conferences ensured members and candidates felt supported and informed. Many local societies went on to deliver more events than they usually would – reaching a wider audience at a lower cost.
Indeed, CFA Society France explained that it “adapted by putting its technological platform and its new organization to work. Consequently, 11 webinars and virtual working groups were delivered.” This allowed the local society to deliver value to its members despite the circumstances.
CFA Society Washington, D.C. noted that: “Following a successful eight months of in-person programming, the society shifted quickly and effectively to virtual programming. This had been a programming goal to enhance member value, which was expedited by the onset of COVID-19. For example, CFA Washington was forced to cancel our annual ESG Summit, which is an in-person, one day conference leveraging the attendees of the annual World Bank and IMF meetings. We were able to reimagine and reschedule the entire event as a multi-part virtual event and successfully host this event.”
Several societies cited that the shift to virtual programming allowed them to serve members who would not normally be able to regularly attend in-person events. The ease of recording virtual events also made it possible for societies to grow their virtual bookshelf of on-demand content for members to access in the future.
(Data Source: FY20 Year-End Report, Society Engagement Activity responses)
Delivering programming virtually also proved to lower costs for societies – evidenced by the average trend of Programming & Events expenses captured over the past three years. One society leader stated, “Expectedly, our biggest expense for the year was Programming and Events despite a 59% drop compared to the previous year.”
(Data Source: FY17-FY20 Year-End Society-Reported “Programing & Events Expense”)
As we all consider the incorporation of in-person events in the upcoming year, there is no doubt that virtual events are here to stay from both a member engagement and cost perspective.
Societies Stepped Up to Deliver Professional Learning
(Data Source: Total PL/CE credits available through FY20 programming offered by the society)
In the FY20 Year-End Report, the CFA Society network indicated the total Professional Learning (PL) credits that were offered through their programming as well as total PL-credited events. Based on the data collected, there are several societies to highlight. CFA Society India had an impressive year with 117 Professional Development/Learning Events that cumulatively offered 239 PL/CE credits, followed by CFA Society Germany with 49 events cumulatively offering 100 PL/CE credits, and CFA Society Chicago rounding out the top 3 with 59 events and 65 credits.
(Data Source: Total PL/CE credits available through FY20 programming offered by the society)
It is evident that the CFA Society community is delivering professional learning-credited programming, with the top 10 representing a wide range of society sizes.
To help one another, CFA societies have been sharing their programming content over the last year on Connexions. Check out the CFA Society Community Content page for the latest submissions, and to contribute your content related to professional learning, ethics, advocacy, networking, and more.
Continued Support for CFA Program Promotion
(Data Source: FY20 Year-End Report, Society Engagement Activity responses)
Over the past year, we have faced many challenges in the delivery of the CFA Program, with exam cancellations, travel restrictions, and the launch of Computer-Based Testing. We would like to thank the CFA Society community for your continued support and efforts to promote the CFA Program at a local level. Your commitment is clear from the number of CFA Program presentations to students, candidates and employers around the globe.
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