Current Question

February
Should the independent external auditor's report provide specific information about how the auditors reach their unqualified opinion indicating that a company has fairly presented its financial statements in accordance with the required financial reporting standards?

January
Would you or your firm be interested in having the CFA Centre develop a model IPS?

2007

December

Is it ethical for financial firms to sell a particular financial instrument, such as subprime CDOs, while at the same time establishing a short position in the market for that instrument and/or distributing investment analysis to other clients suggesting that such an investment should be avoided?

November
The U.S. subprime mortgage implosion is having far-reaching implications, particularly in global credit markets. The situation has brought to light the role of CFA Institute in such matters — the subject of this month's question. Should CFA Institute shoulder some of the responsibility?

October
Are the SEC's new executive compensation disclosures beneficial in your position?

September
Would you prefer one quarterly combined release from companies, containing the information from the earnings release along with the 10Q, even if it meant a delay in reporting to investors?

July/August
Would pension fund trustees benefit from a code of conduct?

June
What is the appropriate model for corporate officials?

May
Approximately how many hours a year do you spend on continuing education beyond the direct learning obtained in the course of performing your job?

April
Are you or your firm* engaged in managing any hedge fund products? (*Firm defined as your direct legal entity.)

March
Do you support proposals calling for non-binding advisory shareholder votes on executive compensation plans as part of the annual proxy process?

February
As noted, our member value research indicated a fairly high interest in customized product offerings in personally selected topics of interest. We would appreciate your guidance on how to best categorize the content if CFA Institute were to develop such offerings.

January
Are you obligated to report to the PCP violations of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct by other members and candidates?

2006

December
As part of public company auditing, should the auditor perform the procedures needed to detect material fraud?

November
As the Nominating Committee begins deliberations on putting forth a slate of candidates for FY 2008, please rate — on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being not important and 5 being extremely important — how important it is that nominees — as a whole — represent the following:

October
To make the proxy process easier for shareholders to voice their views, reforms should address which of the following?

September
Does your firm currently offer ethics training? Do you think it's a good idea for CFA Institute to offer our ethics training program to firms? Would you be willing to encourage your firm to use our ethics training program?

August
If you could take US$25 of your US$225 CFA Institute member dues and reallocate those dollars to enhance the value of your membership, which of the following would you choose?

July
Should the practice of using client commissions to pay for research and execution services be banned, or are the FSA and SEC protections on proper use and disclosure adequate to protect investors?

June
At what frequency would you prefer to see a letter from me?

May
Will XBRL assist with your evaluation and analysis of publicly-traded firms? Should CFA Institute support the development of XBRL taxonomies and their application in financial reporting?

April
Should registered investment fund managers be required to disclose proxy voting guidelines and voting records?

March
Should companies move away from focused quarterly earnings guidance? Should companies provide additional information on the fundamental, longer-term drivers of the business?

February
If a corporation is faced with making an investment decision for long-term growth prospects of the company that will negatively impact short-term earnings anywhere from 1% to 25%, what should the management team do?

January
How would you characterize your relationship as a member of CFA Institute? Do you support the type of awareness outreach exemplified by recent "new charterholder congratulations" announcements in the world media?

2005

December
Do you believe that brokerage houses have sufficient safeguards in place to prevent their proprietary trading desks from taking advantage of orders made through their agency trading desks?

November
Nearly 1,100 members responded to the November Question of the Month, in which Jeff Diermeier, CFA, asked for volunteers to serve on special survey teams so that their collective voice may be heard on industry issues.

October
What do you believe should be the top agenda item for the Board's strategic planning retreat?

September
Do you believe that companies hide bad news about earnings from investment professionals in their quarterly releases?

August
Have you experienced retaliation from corporate issuers?

July
Should the global hedge fund industry develop its own code of ethics and professional standards or should there be formal government regulation?

June
Do you think the amount of regulation stemming from SOX has been too little, about right, or too much?