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Thomas B. Welch, CFA, to Chair CFA Institute Board of Governors

 

Charlottesville, Va., September 1, 2009 – Thomas B. Welch, CFA, has been elected chair of the Board of Governors of CFA Institute, the global association for investment professionals that administers the CFA and CIPM curriculum and examination programs worldwide and advocates for high standards of practice within the global investment industry. Welch begins his one-year term today, on September 1, 2009.

 

Welch is a managing director and regional manager of the institutional client service team at Wells Capital Management in Minneapolis, MN, United States. Prior to this, he spent 13 years at Bank of America Capital Management and its predecessor organizations, serving as an equity portfolio manager for several years before moving into management roles. Margaret E. Franklin, CFA will serve as vice chair of the Board. Franklin is a partner at KJ Harrison & Partners in Toronto, Canada where she works with high-net-worth families and their investments.

 

Welch heads a 16-member Board of Governors composed of investment professionals from seven countries: Canada, China, Japan, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. He succeeds Brian Singer, CFA, founder and chief investment officer of Singer Partners, LLC. 

 

Singer will continue to serve on the Board as immediate past chair.

 

“Events of the past two years remind us of the importance and amount of work that remains in fulfilling the vision of CFA Institute,” said Welch. “CFA Institute members have always understood that investors’ interests come first, and they live out their commitment to this fundamental principle each day through countless client-focused decisions. In the year ahead, we will continue to seek those who share our commitment to excellence in professional education and ethics. We will be relentless in our support of free markets, rigorous professional standards, and the ideal of primacy of investor interests over the interests of all others.”

 

Welch added that, “in the past year, 200,000 people who aspire to be the best in our field showed their commitment to our mission by participating in the CFA Program. They join more than 85,000 CFA charterholders in 132 countries who adhere to our mission and values every day. This is a powerful statement about the future of our profession. CFA Institute, under the leadership of CEO John Rogers, will play a key role in strengthening the foundation of the financial services industry. On behalf of the Board of Governors, I thank our members for entrusting to us this organization’s governance at such a crucial period for our industry.”

 

Welch is past chair of the CFA Institute Board of Governors’ Planning Committee. For more than a decade, Welch was extensively involved in the CFA exam grading process, concluding with a three-year term as chair of the Council of Examiners. He is the founding president of the CFA Society of Arkansas and also served as president of the CFA Society of St. Louis. Welch is also a recipient of the CFA Institute C. Stewart Sheppard Award for his outstanding contributions to fostering professional investors’ education and the CFA Institute Donald C. Tuttle Award for CFA Grading Excellence, which recognized his commitment to excellence in the CFA Program grading process.

 

Welch holds an undergraduate degree in business administration from Southwest Baptist College. He received the CFA designation in 1988.

 

One new governor, Charles J. Yang, CFA, chief investment officer of T&D Asset Management in Tokyo, Japan, has been elected to serve a three-year term that commences on September 1. T&D Asset Management is the asset management arm of T&D Holdings, the only listed company in Japan that focuses on the life insurance business.

 

Pierre Cardon, CFA, who is responsible for external fund management activities within the Banking Department of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel, Switzerland, and Daniel S. Meader, CFA, founder and managing partner of Trinity Advisory Group, LP in Southlake, Texas, were re-elected to serve a second three-year term commencing on September 1. 

 

“I am honored to work with Tom, Margaret, and the other members of the Board of Governors as we continue the tradition of using strong, thoughtful governance to manage our global organization,” said John Rogers, CFA, president and CEO of CFA Institute. “Our members and CFA candidates are experiencing unprecedented and challenging times. In this environment, CFA Institute has a rare opportunity to solidify its leadership and to fulfill its mission − to lead the investment profession globally by setting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence. I look forward working with the Board of Governors to achieve the goals set by our Vision 2012 strategic plan.”

 

Nine other governors from four countries continue to serve the remainder of their three-year terms on the Board: Kay Ryan Booth (New York, U.S.); Alan M. Meder, CFA (Illinois, U.S.); Jeffrey D. Lorenzen, CFA (Iowa, U.S.); Saeed M. Al-Hajeri, CFA (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates); Mark J.P. Anson, CFA (Illinois, U.S.); Samuel B. Jones, Jr., CFA (Massachusetts, U.S.); Stanley G. Lee, CFA (New York, U.S.); Jane Shao, CFA (Beijing, China); and Roger Urwin (Reigate, United Kingdom).

 

Rogers serves on the Board in his full-time responsibility as CFA Institute president and CEO. Each year the CFA Institute membership votes at its annual meeting to elect new Board members.

 

CFA Institute
CFA Institute is the global association for the investment profession. It administers the CFA and CIPM curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has nearly 100,000 members, who include the world’s 85,000 CFA charterholders, in 134 countries and territories, as well as 136 affiliated professional societies in 57 countries and territories. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org.