Newsletter - Spring 2011 CFA Ireland Welcomes 34 New Charterholders Email: [email protected]Telephone: 087 6392159 Website: www.cfaireland.ie www.twitter.com/cfaireland www.facebook.com/cfaireland Contact Us contents... News CFA Ireland CFA Ireland hosted its 7th annual Charter Awards lunch at the Shelbourne Hotel in November of last year. 34 new CFA Charterholders were honoured for successfully completing the CFA Program. The lunch was attended by Charter recipients, their families and guests. The CFA Institute was represented by Roger Urwin of Towers Watson who is a member of the CFA Institute Board of Governors. In recognising the achievements of the charterholders Roger Urwin referred to the continuing success of CFA Ireland in growing the number of candidates and CFA graduates. There are now over two hundred CFA charterholders in Ireland and membership continues to grow. Left to right Oliver McClure, President, CFA Ireland; Claire Dunwoody, Robert Walters; Roger Urwin Towers Watson CFA Institute Board of Governors. sponsored by CFA Institute is a global, nonprofit member organization of financial analysts, portfolio managers, and other investment professionals. Page 1 of 6 www.robertwalters.com CFA Ireland Welcomes 34 New Charterholders page 1 UCC Winners of the Irish GIRC page 2 Exam News page 3 The Research Foundation Three new papers page 4 and 5 Photo Gallery page 5 and 6
CFA Ireland hosted its 7th annual Charter Awards lunch at the Shelbourne Hotel in November of last year. 34 new CFA Charterholders were honoured for successfully completing the CFA Program. The lunch was attended by Charter recipients, their families and guests.
The CFA Institute was represented by Roger Urwin of Towers Watson who is a member of the CFA Institute Board of Governors. In recognising the achievements of the charterholders Roger Urwin referred to the continuing success of CFA Ireland in growing the number of candidates and CFA graduates. There are now over two hundred CFA charterholders in Ireland and membership continues to grow.
Left to right
Oliver McClure, President, CFA Ireland;
Claire Dunwoody, Robert Walters;
Roger UrwinTowers Watson CFA Institute Board of Governors.
sponsored by
CFA Institute is a global, nonpro�t member organization of �nancial analysts, portfolio managers, and other investment professionals.
Page 1 of 6
www.robertwalters.com
CFA Ireland Welcomes 34 New Charterholders page 1
UCCWinners of the Irish GIRC page 2
Exam News page 3
The Research FoundationThree new papers page 4 and 5
University College Cork Wins 3rd Annual Global Investment Research ChallengeFebruary 2011
Paddy Power is a ‘great bet’ according to the UCC team that won this year’s CFA Global Investment Research Challenge (GIRC).
Five students from UCC - Frank Kenny, Richard Murphy, Richard O'Donovan, Donal Duggan and Dorota Donigiewicz - competed against teams from DCU, Trinity, NUIG and UCD in the Irish �nal.
This year, the students analysed Ireland’s largest bookmaker, Paddy Power. The winning team, mentored by UCC professor Ray Donnelly and industry mentor Ken Power of Killeevan Investment Consultants, reported that despite the di�cult economic climate, Paddy Power has maintained a very strong �nancial position and the recent decision to acquire the remainder of Australian operation Sportsbet provides signi�cant growth opportunities for the company. The CFA Global Investment Research Challenge is an annual educational initiative to promote best practices in equity research through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills. The industry mentors, report graders and judges are all senior professionals in the investment community and this year represent �rms such as Pioneer
Investments, Killeevan Investment Consultants, Setanta Asset Management, PI Investment, Kleinwort Benson Investors, State Street Global Advisors and Davy Stockbrokers.
Jack Massey, Paddy Power Finance Director, said “Paddy Power are delighted to be able to support the work of CFA Ireland and their e�orts to encourage the next generation of �nance experts in Ireland. We continue to seek and employ the highest quality Irish graduates in a variety of disciplines. The calibre of this competition bodes well for Irish employers in the future. Congratulations to all teams participating and we wish UCC all the best in Madrid.”
The UCC team later traveled to Madrid to compete against winning teams from colleges across Europe, the Middle East and Africa where a team from Milan Polytechnic took the prize. Our team from UCC were in good company - Milan Polytechnic went on to win the Global prize in the US in April.
CFA Ireland thanks the following for giving their time and expertise as mentors, judges and graders. Such support is essential to the success of this event.
If you would like to get involved as an industry mentor, a judge or a grader in the Global Investment Research Challenge for 2012 please contact Claire ([email protected])
MentorsPJ Davies Pioneer InvestmentsKen Power Kileevan Investment ConsultantsRichard Doyle Setanta Asset ManagementIan Hartery DCU MBA StudentJohn Stokes PI Investment Management
Judges/PanellistsNoel O’Halloran KB InvestorsJoan McGrath DavyJohn Forde PI Investment ManagementPeter O'Donoghue State Street Global Advisors
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NewsCFA Ireland
In January Riccardo Ronco, a leading technical analyst, discussed how all categories of investors can incorporate technical analysis into their investment processes. He also gave a number of investment recommendations based on his own analysis. For this event CFA Ireland welcomed over 70 members and guests.
For February, Eliot Geller of Je�ries International gave an illuminating presentation on commodities as an asset class. Geller discussed drivers of recent commodity price activity and volatility and the launch of physically backed products in the market place. He touched upon the forward term structure of the markets and its impact on investors, the correlation (or lack thereof ) between commodities and traditional asset classes and the role of commodities as a hedge against in�ation and in active portfolios. Once again the event was attended by approximately 70 people.
Our March event, despite the unfortunate events in Japan, drew almost 80 members and guests. Nick Ashmore of the National Pensions Reserve Fund at the NTMA spoke about Private Equity and how he sees it performing for 2011 given varying market conditions. Nick also spoke about venture capital in a European context and the implications for private equity investments in Ireland.
Also in March, iShares sponsored a St Patricks day social event at the Cellar Bar in the Merrion Hotel, which was a successful social and networking evening for all concerned. Our thanks to iShares for their hospitality.
CFA Ireland is committed to providing topical and relevant seminars for our members and guests, details are emailed to all members and can also be found on our website. If you are not currently on our mailing list and would like to receive updates from CFA Ireland please contact us : [email protected]
Recent CFA Ireland Events
Level 1 Dec Exam – Dublin In recognition of the increasing number of Irish based candidates opting to take Level 1 exams in December, the CFA Institute is now o�ering candidates the option to select Dublin as their exam centre. If you wish to change your exam centre to Dublin please visit the CFA Institute website, login and amend your exam centre details.
Mock Exam – May 21stIn preparation for the June exams, CFA Ireland is hosting a mock exam on May 21st 2011. The exam will be held at the National College of Ireland in the IFSC, Dublin from 9am to 4pm. This mock exam is invigilated and answer keys will be provided after the exam completion. For further information and to register for the mock exam visit http://bit.ly/eNiZDb
CFA Brie�ngat Your CompanyCFA o�ers a brie�ng to your business and your employees – we will outline what the CFA program entails, who is best suited to the program and what the bene�ts will be to your business and your employees. It is a great opportunity to learn more about CFA and to ask questions to those who know the program through their own experience of it.
If you would like to arrange such a brie�ng please contact Claire at CFA [email protected]
CFA Charter Exams Following the great success of the CFA Program in Ireland in recent years we currently have over 500 candidates studying the CFA Program. We wish them the best of luck in the forthcoming June exams. The current numbers registered are
�e Research Foundation -�ree New Research PapersNews
CFA Ireland
New CFA Ireland O�ce SupportMany members will know that Siobhan Funge who ran the CFA Ireland o�ce for four years has left to return to the world of investment management. She did trojan work in her time with CFA and we thank her for her dedication and input. We welcome Claire Paul as our new administrator who you will meet at forthcoming events.
The Research Foundation is a not-for-pro�t organization established to promote the development and dissemination of relevant research for investment practitioners worldwide.
Ten �ings the Investment Management Industry Should Take into Consideration Following the Financial Crisis
October 2010This monograph which looks at how the �nancial crisis has a�ected and will continue to a�ect the investment management industry.
Focusing on what the industry has identi�ed as challenges in the post-crisis period, such as asset allocation, risk management, management fees, and the redistribution of roles in investment management, as well as ethics and regaining the trust of the investor, the monograph highlights 10 key considerations:
1. E�ective diversi�cation.2. Review asset allocation more frequently. 3. Consider extreme events as they do occur more frequently than today’s risk models forecast.4. Consider carefully the magnitude of losses should one need to unwind positions rapidly. 5. Consider the complexity of the web of relationships between agents and between investment
products. 6. Look at macroeconomic quantities as the real economy does matter. 7. Consider the risk that hedging strategies can fail given that apparently solid counterparties can and
do fail (Lehman Brothers). 8. Build up multi-asset and multinational capability: 9. Build up the quantitative capability to address the size and complexity of markets. 10. Align the promise with what the investment management industry can deliver.
The monograph is free to download (PDF) and available to the public. It was researched and authored by Frank Fabozzi, CFA, Sergio Focardi, and Caroline Jonas on behalf of the Research Foundation of CFA Institute.
http://bit.ly/gVXJIS
A Primer for Investment Trustees
January 2011This “primer,” written as if addressed to a new trustee for a university, is a comprehensive discussion of investment issues relevant not only to investment trustees but also to investment professionals who work with trustees. Taking an individual step-by-step through the process of responsible trusteeship, it o�ers a solid introduction to basic investment principles.Topics covered include: Endowments funds and foundations, equity portfolio management strategies, pension plans and employee bene�t funds, portfolio risk management, incorporating best practice and risk management across these areas.
The primer is free to download at http://www.cfapubs.org/doi/abs/10.2470/rf.v2011.n1.1 It was researched and authored by Je�ery V. Bailey CFA, Jesse L. Phillips CFA and Thomas M Richards CFA.
October 2010Behavioral Finance and Investment Management is a portfolio of di�erent insights by di�erent authors—all intended to help us make better choices. Each piece in some way touches on our biases, our embedded beliefs, and considers how these biases and beliefs can help as well as hinder our decisions. In the beginning, behavioural �nance was a loose and easily maligned collection of hypotheses on the scienti�c frontier. Today, the discipline has achieved respect, and this book gives recognition to a few of the people who have enriched all of us with their research and determination to know what makes us tick.
Topic areas include: Understanding behavioural �nance, how behavioural �nance in�uences the advisor – client relationship , the area of con�ict within that relationship, risk perception and the sociology of markets.
This collection of articles was edited by Arnold S.Wood and is available at http://bit.ly/ejKRnb
The Research Foundation publishes books on a variety of timely subjects each year. These works emphasise research of practical value to the investment professional and provide a unique perspective on the rapidly evolving profession of investment management.
These articles are free to download at www.cfapubs.org
CFA Ireland Leadership
Oliver McClure, CFAPresident, CFA IrelandPI Investment Mgmt
Joe Kavanagh, CFATreasurer, CFA IrelandKB Investors
John Stokes, CFASecretary, CFA IrelandPI Investment Mgmt
Olwyn Alexander, CFA PwC
Sean Brosnan, CFA Renre
Paul Carthy, CFASSGA
Linda Duffy AIB
Noel Friel, CFA ESB Pension Fund
Caitriona MacGuinness, CFA Eperon AM
Ronan McCabe, CFA
Samantha McConnell, CFA IFG Group
Lindsay McMillan, CFA SSGA
Albert O’Flaherty, CFA Depfa Bank plc
Stephanie Condra, CFAInvesco Pension Consultants
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NewsCFA Ireland
Le
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ip
the CFA Ireland Charterholders Lunch
Roger Urwin, CFA Board of Governors,
congratulates some of this year's
CFA graduates
DIarmuid Bradley
�e
Gallery...
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NewsCFA Ireland
Orla, Niamh, Greg, Jiang,Neil (UCD Team)
Frank Kelly (UCC Winning Team)
Richard O’Donovan
(UCC Winning Team)
Jiang, Orla, Greg, Niamh, Neil,
Elaine (UCD Team)
Peter O’Donoghue, John Forde,
Joan McGrath, Noel Halloran
CFA Ireland GIRC Finals
Zhou, Yulia, Deirdre, Michael Joe, Caoimhe (Trinity College)
