CFA Society France Newsletter: June 2020

Society Newsletter: June 2020

A Word from the President

Dear Members,

My first thoughts are with you and your family. I hope you are all safe and healthy.

As we have learned from the recent health and economic crisis, we all have to adapt to a new reality in our personal and professional life. This means notably additional flexibility, better use of resources and greater integration of technology. Therefore, the Board and I took the decision to keep on with the transformation of our Society into a professional body in these difficult times. With the executive team fully in place, CFA Society France is in a position to accelerate the roll-out of its strategy. The webinar series was successfully launched in May and all events are now available on our Youtube channel, the Certificate in ESG Investing is being promoted and deployed, and several new projects were activated in order to answer to your needs in a sustainable way.

More than ever, our Advocacy mission is critical to raise awareness of our mission to the public, to make your voice bolder and to promote inclusive development. Our contributions to the new MiFID2 regulation and Non-Financial Reporting Disclosure were widely recognized in the media and by key standard setters.

Our Annual General Meeting will take place on September 17 together with our "Back-to-School" social event. The Board and I will take this opportunity to share with you our vision and to discuss with you about your further needs and expectations. Many initiatives were launched and achieved by you as volunteers so please engage with your Society. I'm confident you will find new ways to take advantage of our development. Thanks to a renewed governance framework, a fully dedicated executive team and an enhanced recognition in our ecosystem, CFA Society France is well prepared to address the needs of our community for the years to come. We look forward to meeting you in September, come join us!

Finally, I would like to take a moment to commemorate Jean Echiffre who has been long-term engaged in our association and played a key role in the development of our Advocacy Committee. We miss him and our thoughts are with his loved ones, to whom we extend our deepest sympathy.

Kind regards,

Jean-Philippe Dorp, CFA

President

CFA Society France

Join Us

Chair: Irina Troussova, CFA

Upcoming Conferences & Events:

18/06: [Webinar] Open Innovation in Asset Management

Lessons from the insurance sector organized by the Asset Management Innovation Initiative, a group of senior asset managers from across Europe who have connected to drive innovation

22/06: [Webinar] Green Deal: Operational Consequences for Investment Professionals

Discuss and debate with Finance Watch and AXA Investment Management

30/06: [Webinar] Q&A Certificate in ESG Investing

Ask all your questions about this unique Certificate newly available in France

02/07: [Webinar] Primary Financial Statements

Learn more about the most updated information on financial statements with IASB

07/07: [Webinar] Soft Skills - Collective Intelligence

Develop your soft skills with Adamantia Advisory, a Management & Organization Consulting Firm

17/09: [Webinar] 2020 Annual General Meeting and Back-to-School Social Event

Take part to this event, vote and meet with other Members and Candidates

See our Events Calendar

Events are free for members and candidate members. Non-members are welcome (€20 fee).

If you would like to submit topic of interest for future conferences, please contact us .

Please note that all events are subject to date changes or cancellation.

On the Move!

(Click on names to discover the bios)

Bernard COUPEZ, previously CEO of Strategy & Regulation, is appointed Managing Director, Advocacy, at CFA Society France

Alejandro HINIESTO, CFA, previously Director at CFA Society France, is appointed Head of Transition Management at CFA Society France

Kim MANTEL, CFA, Product Manager at Heavenize, is appointed Chair of the Technology Committee

!Important!

No Seats Left for the December Exam in Paris

Chair: Marc Kaadi, CFA

Due to additional social distancing measures that will be in place in December, CFA Institute has reached the maximum seating capacity in Paris and is unable to accept additional registrations at this time. However, they are working diligently to secure additional testing space. Our advice at the moment is to hold off on registering for December until CFA Institute has more information regarding capacity in Paris. They will reach out in early July to candidates who have not yet re-registered for the December exam with detailed options. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Membership fees frozen until 2022

President: Jean-Philippe Dorp, CFA

In light of the unprecedented economic crisis caused by the Covid-19, the Board of Directors has taken the decision to freeze the membership fees for the fiscal years 2021 and 2022.

Accomplishments by Our Committees

Membership Committee:

The Key Figure of the Month

Chair: Joëlle Harb, CFA

1,252

CFA Society France counts more than 1,250 members as of January. Our association proudly hosted its Charter Award Ceremony at the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée on February 2020 to celebrate the success of 266 new Charterholders in France. Congratulations! The ceremony was chaired by Naim Abou Jaoude, CEO of Candriam Investors Group and Chairman of New York Life Investment Management International, and Nick Bartlett, CFA, Senior Director at CFA Institute. Together with Jean-Philippe Dorp, CFA, President of CFA Society France, they celebrated the success of the new Charterholders and awarded them the charters. To continue enjoying the benefits attached to CFA Institute and CFA Society France, and keeping in touch with the Society and its members, don’t forget to renew your membership here ! Any questions? Contact us at [email protected] .

Advocacy Committee Reloaded

Chair: Romain Devai, CFA

Thank you and welcome to the dozen of volunteers who confirmed their interest in the Committee work and joined a kick-off meeting early April! A first taskforce actively participated to the response to the consultation on the review of MiFID2. The key messages of this work are available here . While another one worked on the response to the consultation on the review of the NFR (Non-Financial Reporting) Directive. Two webinars were held recently and are fully available on our Youtube channel: one about the consequences of the pandemic for the EU and another one about the work done during the MiFID2 review . Noteworthy, the dedicated sub-committee on Financial Analysis Reporting (FAR) has also been relaunched. Its goal will be to help members strengthen their expertise in financial analysis with the most up-to-date information. Coming events: a debate organized with IASB on primary financial statements on July 2 and a webinar discussing the EU Green Deal on June 22. Please join us and participate in the debate!

Months Rich in News and Development

Chair: Gabriel Houette, CFA

On May 4, the ESG Committee organized a webinar hosted by Gabriel Houette , CFA, and Patricia Donnelly , CFA, to present the Certificate in ESG Investing, why you should take it and how it will benefit you. A new one will be organized by end of June, please participate in if you are interested. Together with CFA Institute, the team organized a virtual round-table about the future of sustainable finance, which brought together more than 20 ESG experts and Rhodri Preece, Senior Head of Industry Research for CFA Institute and author of the ‘ Investment Professional of the Future ’ report (2019). This working group, which included Julien Bras , CFA, and Marina Iodice , CFA, has been involved in the preparation of the next ESG report to be delivered by CFA Institute at the end of the year. Finally, Gabriel Houette , CFA, and Marina Iodice , CFA, took part to the NFRD consultation organized by the Advocacy Committee. Many thanks to them. Any questions about ESG? Contact us at [email protected].

An Eventful Year in Technology

Chair: Kim Mantel, CFA

Thanks to the tech survey sent out in January, we collected valuable insights about your interests and were able to design a programme of customized events on key topics, such as our much-anticipated and very successful Data Science webinar on June 9. Thank you for your collaboration and contribution! Several technological developments have been implemented to support the growth and continued professionalization of CFA Society France: SAGE solution was selected to meet our Accounting, Treasury & BI-Reporting needs; Marketing Cloud will replace Constant Contact for external communications; Google’s Hangouts Meet is now used for internal communications; a trial run is conducted on Basecamp 3 as a collaboration tool; and a support desk has been established to help on a daily basis the Executive team, Committees and staff. Next challenge: the revamping of our website. Thank you to all our volunteers: Eric Thien , CFA, Yijun Fan , CFA, Philippe Auffray , CFA, Sihame Bouchouar , CFA, Guillaume Graignic , CFA, Mourad Lassoued , CFA, and Ting Ouyang , CFA. Any suggestions? Contact us at [email protected].

Must-Read

CPD:

The Research Papers of the Quarter

ESG and Responsible Institutional Investing Around the World: A Critical Review by Pedro Matos (May 2020, 2 PL). While there is no consensus on the exact list of ESG issues, responsible investors increasingly assess stocks in their portfolios based on nonfinancial data on environmental impact, social impact and governance attributes. The objective is to reduce exposure to investments that pose greater ESG risks or to influence companies to become more sustainable. Which ESG issue is getting the most attention from institutional investors? Do they position themselves for increased regulation? What are their ESG ambitions? Find out the answers to your questions in this report.

The Brave New World of Product Governance in the EU Asset Management Industry by CFA Institute (May 2020, 1.25 PL). Discover how MiFID II and PRIIPs have modified the rules of the game for manufacturers and distributors. CFA Institute surveyed European members on product governance practices over time and the specific effects major regulatory developments have had in this respect. Find out the key takeaways of this survey in the full report.

The VIX Index and Volatility-Based Global Indexes and Trading Instruments by Matthew T. Moran and Berlinda Liu (April 2020, 2 PL). This piece is a guide to investment and trading features. Tools based on volatility indexes are widely used for hedging, diversification, risk management and alpha generation. What items should investors carefully study? Read the full report here.

Missed the June 15 webinar on “Earning Trust, What Investors are Expecting from Financial Professionals?”? Access to the key takeaways of the report here.

Articles Quoting

CFA Institute and Societies' Leaders and Experts

Next challenges in investment management. In Yahoo! Finance , Margared Franklin, CEO of CFA Institute, Heather Brilliant, President and CEO of Diamond Hill Capital Management, and Maria Wilton AM, Non-Executive Director of CFA Institute, explore four big ways investment management will need to evolve: Thinking creatively about internal talent; Embedding diversity throughout the recruitment process; Including men in the diversity conversation; and Attracting diversity through purpose. (Australia, June 6).

« Les sociétés de gestion doivent pouvoir mutualiser le coût de l’accès à la recherche ». Behind a paywall, in NewsManagers , Bernard Coupez, Managing Director, Advocacy at CFA Society France, discusses the European Commission consultation on the revision of MiFID II. (May 18, also picked up by L’Agefi and L’Agefi Actifs)

En période d’incertitude, les biais comportementaux affectent les décisions des investisseurs. CFA Society France President Jean-Philippe Dorp and CFA Institute MENA Head William Tohmé discuss investing during uncertainty in L’Agefi . In particular, investors must more than ever be part of a long-term perspective by integrating social and environmental issues. (France, May 28).

Launch of ESG Certification in France. CFA Society France President Jean-Philippe Dorp announces the launch of the new “ESG Investing” certification in France in Les Echos . The certification includes analysis of ESG factors and management of ESG portfolios. The article also highlights the appointment of Bernard Coupez as Managing Director, Advocacy. (France, March 17)