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Dear CFA Society of Seattle Members:
Our principal event of the year, the annual gala Forecast Dinner, is now behind us and set to be counted as another success in CFA Seattle history, thanks to event co-chairs Dan Rutter, Aimée Huff and their team of volunteers. And thanks to the participation of our metal and table sponsors, all of whom recognized the impact of an event of this magnitude and chose to step up.
As president of the CFA Society of Seattle, I will piggy back on the Forecast Dinner’s momentum and request your attention while I take this opportunity to offer an update on the society. Consider this my State of the Society address.
Summer 2008
We began the fiscal year with a volunteer appreciation sailboat cruise, a tradition begun by the immediate past president. We were honored to have Chip Deale, CFA Institute Head of Society Relations, aboard with the thirty or so volunteers who participated. The cruise capped off a three-hour planning session, where your local board, along with CFA Institute’s Chip Deale, hammered out some goals for the year.
Fall 2008
Early last fall, we came together as a board on several occasions to forge a Strategic Business Plan for the Society. Just a few days prior to our strategy meetings, CFA Institute had laid out a new structure by which societies worldwide would receive funding to continue their missions. This included a newly introduced financial structure, requiring societies to deliver value to its members according to a predetermined minimum standard of service. Our Strategic Business Plan document was submitted and approved.
Because much of the funding our Society will receive depends on the number of local members we report at the end of each fiscal year, we also endeavored on a membership recruitment and retention campaign. You may have received a letter from me or from our Membership Chair inviting you to take advantage of a free-lunch offer. We are pleased to report that several lapsed members did take advantage of that and re-joined swiftly. Welcome back. As well, candidates and other non-charterholder members of the investment community were invited to join us via the Affiliate Membership program, and many have responded affirmatively. We are presently reaching out to the new crop of CIPM certificants in our area, whom are eligible for regular membership.
Winter 2009
The funding program I mentioned above has several components to it, or as we’ve grown accustomed from CFA Institute, “levels.” To share in the Level 2 funds that CFA Institute has made available to societies, early winter, we were asked to propose an outside-the-box idea that represented a stretch into new territory for our society. So our team, recognizing that a great number of our membership is involved in private wealth management, proposed production of a radio campaign whereby public-radio listeners could be enlightened as to what the CFA charter represents and encouraged to pursue business with a CFA charterholder. We are pleased to report that we received the funds we requested.
The radio campaign will begin to air soon, directing the listener to our in-the-works web database of private wealth managers. You will soon receive an invitation to be a part of this database.
Ongoing
Certain aspects of the Society’s funding will be contingent on our accomplishing a couple of new initiatives, per our parent organization. Firstly, we are encouraged to advocate on behalf of the industry. A new volunteer position of Advocacy Chair is now open, and we are actively seeking a seasoned charterholder to develop and undertake the breadth of responsibility in this area. And secondly, as fiduciaries of Society monies, we are examining the options of an accounting audit or review.
We are also collaborating with other societies in the Northwest region to put on events that leverage each others’ strengths. And, thanks to a CFA Institute-led enterprise to upgrade society membership technology, we will be participating in a system upgrade this spring.
We are proud to be 900 members strong and growing. Your board and the leaders of the society have worked very hard to ensure that our organization is in great health. Our balance sheet has grown over the years: a result of hard work and prudent management. But I should clarify, our balance sheet’s strength has not been funded by your dues, but rather by solid management. And I am very proud to report that our society has the second-lowest fees of all 136 CFA Societies worldwide.
We encourage you to explore the different capacities in which you could volunteer. To learn about the many volunteer positions available at CFA Seattle, please contact our volunteer coordinator, Nancy McFadden, or feel free to contact me directly as well.
The members of the board and I look forward to meeting you at our upcoming events. Please contact me or any member of the board if we can answer any questions.
Best regards,
Doug Hockersmith, CFA
President
CFA Society of Seattle
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