The Latest and Greatest of Blockchain
On April 12, 2022, Will Cong, Founding Director of Fintech Initiative at Cornell University, moderated a panel to discuss “The Latest and Greatest of Blockchain.” The panelists included: Bobby Henebry, CFA, Founder and CEO, Henebry Blockchain & Cyrptocurrency...
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Integration Frameworks
On February 1, 2022, the CFA Women’s Network hosted ESG event, moderated by Swasti Gupta-Mukherjee, Associate Professor of Finance at Loyola University Chicago’s Quinlan School of Business. The esteemed panel included: Emily Lawrence, North American Director of...
Memory Techniques
Approximately 140 CFA Society Chicago members met by Zoom on September 14, 2021, to learn how to use mental training techniques to improve memory and retention. The instructor was Paul Nowak, founder of IRIS Reading, LLC, who has presented to CFA Society Chicago in...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Josef Lakonishok
Approximately 60 members of CFA Society Chicago and their guests gathered at the University Club on August 18, 2021, for the latest event in the Distinguished Speaker Series. An additional 190 people participated virtually, by live streaming. This was the first event...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Dan Draper, CFA
The S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) have a long and proud history with the DJIA celebrating its 125th anniversary late this spring. At the time, this was a ground break innovation and today, investors all over the world still rely on this...
ESG and the Evolution of Corporate Engagement
On June 16, 2021, David Sekera, chief US market strategist at Morningstar Research Services LLC, moderated the webcast “Evolution of Corporate Engagement,” which addressed two topics. First, how has the shift from in-person meetings to virtual interactions affected...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Jan Hatzius
On May 26, 2021, CFA Society Chicago’s Distinguished Speaker Series held a webinar entitled “Economic Outlook – Passing the Peak.” Drew Speight, CFA, moderated the conversation with Jan Hatzius, chief economist and head of the Global Investment Research Division at...
Capital Markets Series: Cryptocurrency – Institutionalization or just another fad?
Cryptocurrency represents the most volatile asset that comprises the capital markets in 2021. Price swings of greater than 10% in one week are common. At times it seems as though price action is driven primarily by the tweets of Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla who has added...
Investment Impacts of the Pandemic
On April 27, 2021, CFA Society Chicago’s Women’s Network hosted a virtual event entitled Investment Impacts of the Pandemic. Katharine Wyatt, CFA, chief investment officer at Loyola University Chicago served as moderator for the discussion. She as joined by panelists...
Distinguished Speaker Series: David Coolidge
On May 4, 2021, CFA Society Chicago members gathered by video conference for a wide-ranging survey of the history of the banking and brokerage business in Chicago from the perspective of David Coolidge of William Blair & Company. Coolidge, currently vice chairman...
Capital Markets Series: Market Microstructure
On April 21, 2021, a full house gathered on Zoom to listen in on a panel discussion about ETFs and their effect on market microstructure, hosted by CFA Society Chicago’s Education Advisory Group. The discussion was moderated by Ben Johnson, CFA, director of global ETF...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Marc Lasry
One of the few charms of the COVID era has been virtual events with a wide variety of the industry’s leaders. Distressed debt investor Marc Lasry, co-founder and CEO of Avenue Capital Group and co- owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks, fits that description. On April...
Speaking in a Virtual World
Virtual meetings have been synonymous with the pandemic and given that they are convenient, cost effective and allow unique opportunities to connect, it is likely they will have a role in our post-pandemic world. As professionals, we need to continue to master new...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Jean Hynes, CFA
On March 23, Jeremy Heer, CFA, remotely interviewed Jean Hynes, CFA, Wellington Management Company’s incoming CEO, who will retain her role as the firm’s leading Healthcare investor. The conversation covered Hynes’ unique career path, her view of the issues facing the...
Distinguished Speaker Series: President Charles Evans
A sold-out crowd gathered on Zoom on March 3, 2021, to hear the President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Charles Evans, speak about the state of, and outlook for, the U.S. economy. The event was moderated by CFA Society Chicago’s own Nick Vassilios,...
Capital Markets Series: Real Estate
A full house gathered via Zoom on February 18, 2021, to listen in on a panel discussion hosted by Danny Kaufman, CFA, Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the JLL Chicago office. Featured in the discussion was Emi Adachi, Senior Vice President and Deputy Director...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Sir Angus Deaton
On February 23, 2021, CFA Society Chicago’s Distinguished Speaker Series Advisory Group held a webinar entitled American Exceptionalism—The Erosion of US Working Class Life. Cosmin Lucaci, CFA, served as moderator and the keynote speaker was Sir Angus Deaton, Nobel...
POWER Series: Tricia Rothschild, CFA
A group of 150 gathered virtually on February 10, 2021, to engage on the topic of Trading vs. Investing and the Influence of Fintech. Hosted by the CFA Women’s Network, this POWER Series event featuring speaker Tricia Rothschild, CFA, president of Apex Clearing,...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Ben Inker, CFA, GMO
On January 26, 2021, CFA Society Chicago’s Distinguished Speaker Series held a webinar entitled “Value: If Not Now, When?” Jeremy Heer, CFA, served as moderator and the keynote speaker was Ben Inker, CFA, head of asset allocation at GMO. The conversation initiated...
LIBOR Cessation: Updates, potential market impacts and preparing for the end of LIBOR
A distinguished panel of experts met via video conference on February 2, 2021, to provide the CFA Society Chicago with an update on the transition away from the use of LIBOR as a reference rate in global capital markets. The event was hosted by the Society’s...
SPAC Investing – A Deeper Look at Blank Check Companies
On December 15, 2020, CFA Society Chicago’s Education Advisory Group hosted a Zoom event exploring SPAC investing. What is SPAC investing? Investopedia provides a nice summation; A SPAC (Special Purpose Acquisition Company) is a company with no commercial operations...
The State of the Illinois Budget
There was little joy in this Holiday Season discussion of the fiscal outlook for the state of Illinois. The state’s expenses have exceeded revenues since 2001 and ratings on Illinois debt have been falling for thirty years, driven by a growing pension debt (Note:...
The Future of Oil & Gas
On November 24, 2020, CFA Society Chicago hosted a virtual event addressing the road ahead for the energy commodities, the firms involved, and how that translates into future opportunities. Tim Flannery, CFA, CPA, managing partner at Copia Capital, moderated the panel...
Capital Markets Series: Private Debt
The development of the market for private debt (or private credit) was the subject of the third installment in the four-part series on capital markets hosted by CFA Society Chicago’s Education Advisory Group on November 18, 2020. The private credit market has grown...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Ed Wehmer, Wintrust
On the day after Election Day, Nick Vassilos, CFA, from Charles Schwab remotely interviewed Ed Wehmer, founder and CEO of Wintrust Financial. Thirty years ago, Wehmer recognized a market opportunity in a mostly commoditized banking industry. He designed a culture and...
Capital Markets Series: Private Market
Another large crowd assembled over Zoom for the second installment of CFA Society Chicago’s Capital Market Series on October 20, 2020, covering Private Allocations. The panel discussion featured Harisha Koneru Haigh, CFA, managing director of Private Investments and...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Anthony Scaramucci, Skybridge Capital
Over 300 CFA Society Chicago members and investment professionals gathered virtually on October 15, 2020, for the latest event in the Distinguished Speaker Series. The featured “Distinguished Speaker” was hedge fund manager Anthony Scaramucci. Perhaps best known to a...
Capital Markets Series: Public Allocations
On October 7, 2020, a resilient crowd gathered via Zoom to listen in on the first installment of CFA Society Chicago’s four-part Capital Market Series, focusing on public markets. The event was a panel discussion featuring Bob Browne, CFA, executive vice president and...
LinkedIn Strategies
On Tuesday, October 13, 2020, CFA Society Chicago hosted a webinar entitled LinkedIn Strategies. Jeff Feeney, CFA, moderated the discussion with guest speaker Kathleen O’Holleran, vice president and consultant at Lee Hecht Harrison, Inc. O’Holleran started the webinar...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab
A crowd of over 200 signed in for a “virtual fireside conversation” with Liz Ann Sonders on September 22, 2020. Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, covered a range of topics within the context of the environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic...
CFA Societies Chicago & Boston Trivia Night
Fifteen members of the CFA Societies in Boston and Chicago gathered in virtual form on September 17, 2020, for the first ever joint trivia night. Hosted by the Social Events Advisory Group of CFA Society Chicago, the event was planned jointly by the staffs of the two...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Suni Harford, UBS Asset Management
On August 19, 2020, members of CFA Society Chicago, among others, gathered on Zoom to listen on a discussion about the Future of the Asset Management Business between Suni Harford, President of UBS Asset Management, and CFA Society Chicago’s own Thomas Digenan, CFA,...
Chicago Investment Professionals Job Outlook
CFA Society Chicago members gathered in virtual form on September 10th to hear insights on the job market for charterholders across the country as well as specifically in Chicago. The event took the form of a panel discussion featuring retained recruiters from two...
Speed Reading for Business Professionals
On Tuesday, August 4, Paul Nowak, founder of Iris Reading LLC, presented a webinar: “Speed Reading for Business Professionals” to CFA Society Chicago members. The 90-minute session covered practical techniques to read faster, remember more and boost...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Roy Swan, Ford Foundation
On July 16, 2020, members of CFA Society Chicago, among others, gathered on Zoom to hear Roy Swan, director of Mission Investments at the Ford Foundation, speak about the Ford Foundation’s Mission Investments strategy as well as Mission Investments broadly. Swan...
Investment Trends Through A Diverse Lens
How to create a more equitable, inclusive environment for employees and clients was the topic of a recent virtual panel discussion hosted by CFA Society Chicago’s CFA Women’s Network on July 14, 2020. Originally planned to help celebrate Women’s History Month in...
Job Search Strategies: Your 2020 Career – Becoming a VictOR rather than a VictIM
Up-to-date advice and tips on conducting a job search were the subject of the CFA Society Chicago’s recent virtual presentation for members. Hosted by the Society’s Professional Development Advisory Group, this was the latest event specifically targeted at members in...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Cathie Wood, ARK Invest
On June 8th CFA Society Chicago’s Distinguished Speaker Series Advisory Group welcomed Cathie Wood, CIO/CEO of ARK Investment Management, to provide her thoughts and insights on the impact of rapidly changing market dynamics, breakthrough innovations, and the...
Fixed Income Management—Navigating Risks to Bond Markets from COVID-19
On June 10, 2020, CFA Institute hosted a webinar entitled “Fixed Income Management—Navigating Risks to Bond Markets from COVID-19.” Christopher Vincent, CFA, president and chief executive officer of CFA Society Chicago, was the moderator and welcomed the attendees to...
Distinguished Speaker Series: Kristina Hooper, Invesco
Kristina Hooper, CFP®, CAIA®, CIMA, CHFC®, chief global market strategist at Invesco, joined CFA Society Chicago on June 2, 2020, for a webinar on the economic outlook for the coming months, including various scenarios given fiscal, monetary and public health policy...
The Impact of the Fed on the Corporate Bond ETF Market
In early March the financial markets were struggling with the impact of the pandemic on the economy. On March 23, 2020, the Federal Reserve Board (“Fed”) took the unprecedented action of announcing that it would directly purchase corporate debt and corporate bond...
Time Management: Locking Down Goals
How to use our time most efficiently was the subject of a presentation to the CFA Society Chicago on May 14, 2020, by Tom Lemanski of Chicago Executive Coaching. The subject matter was especially “timely”, coming while many people are confined to home by the Covid-19...
Equity Market Outlook: Gina Martin Adams, CMT, CFA
As the pandemic rages on, the equity market continues to be turbulent and possibly disconnected from economic reality. On May 20, 2020, the CFA Society Chicago Women’s Network hosted an event featuring Gina Martin Adams, CFA, CMT, chief equity strategist with...
POWER Series: President Loretta J. Mester
On May 12, 2020, CFA Society Chicago’s CFA Women’t Network hosted Loretta J. Mester, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, for its POWER Series webinar. President Mester began with opening remarks and then participated in a Q&A session...
Managing Wealth Through A Pandemic
Insights from the Front Line CFA Society Chicago’s Women’s Network hosted a virtual discussion on Managing Wealth Through a Pandemic on May 7, 2020. Panelist included Jenifer Aronson, CFA, managing partner of Mosaic Fi, Sunitha Thomas, CFA, senior vice president and...
The Path to Recovery in a Covid-19 World
The Covid-19 pandemic has inflicted a serious wound on the US economy. It will necessitate that a choice be made between a continued shelter-in-place lockdown and the re-opening of economic activity. There is little doubt that shelter-in-place has slowed the spread of...
Modern Monetary Theory
Historic Monetary and Fiscal Stimulus: Savior or Destroyer? The very current topic of Modern Monetary Theory–and especially it’s application to the present economic environment related to the COVID-19 pandemic–was the topic of discussion on April 22, 2020,...
POWER Breakfast: Stephanie Braming, CFA, William Blair
On February 4, 2020, CFA Society Chicago welcomed a packed audience at the Palmer House to hear from two of Crain’s top women in finance in a fireside chat featuring Stephanie Braming, CFA, partner and global head of investment management at William Blair. The...