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Member Ad: |
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MENTORS WANTED! |
CFA Minnesota is looking for volunteers willing to mentor new members and candidates in the CFA program. This entails just a few hours of your time and helps introduce candidates to the Society. Please contact Josh Howard for more details. |
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Board Member Spotlight |
| Leyla G. Kassem, CFA MN
Leyla Kassem is a senior relationship manager at Wells Capital Management, focusing on institutional separate accounts for the firm's Fundamental Growth Equity clients. Leyla began her investment industry career in 1987. Her previous experience includes serving as a portfolio manager with Lowry Hill, a vice president in the investment banking department of Dain Rauscher Incorporated and as an associate investment manager with Prudential Investment Corporation. Leyla graduated with high distinction from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management, earning both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. She currently serves as President of the CFA Society of Minnesota, is an active member of the CFA Institute and has participated in the CFA exam grading process since 2003. Leyla also serves on the Investment Committee of the College of Saint Benedict. |
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Board of Directors Committee Updates |
Business/Financial Committee
Chair Jessica Murray would welcome new committee members.
Education Committee
Have an interest in supporting candidates or improving educational opportunities? Contact Chair Steve Hulme.
Employment Committee
Chair Kristine Mogollon is working to expand our current offerings to members seeking employment.
Membership Committee
This active committee is enhancing our new Mentor program. Contact Chair Jay Alexander with questions.
Programs Committee
Have you noticed the number of great programs we've offered recently? We always welcome suggestions. Send them to Chair Dan Aronson.
Public Awareness Committee
Coming to a TV near you: Look out for CFA MN spots on TPT! Want to help with this and other CFA MN outreach? Chair Karen Florez will be glad to chat.
Planning Committee
Vice President Robert Buss is helping oversee execution of the 2009-10 Annual Plan. |
Financial Funnies
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"They chose those two animals to represent the stock market because your broker will feed you all the bull you can bear."
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| Registering for Events |
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A note about event registration through our new website:
We are now taking advantage of the registration portal provided by CFA Institute. The new improved system includes attendance tracking, automatic application of CE credits, and an estimated savings for our society of more than $10,000 per year.
Using the system is simple. Each individual registrant must have a CFA Institute website log-in name and password. All that is required is first/last name and a valid email address. Unfortunately, at this time the new system does not allow guest registration in the same way our previous application allowed. Guests are welcome, but will need to have their own user name and password. As host, you are welcome to create this account for them. On-site registrations will be allowed as available, payable with check or by registering online on-site. |
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Recommended Reading |
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Confessions of a Wall Street Analyst: A True Story of Inside Information and Corruption in the Stock Market, by Daniel Reingold
Here is the true story of a top Wall Street player's transformation from a straight-arrow believer to a jaded cynic, who reveals how Wall Street's insider game is really played.
Click here to for more information about this and other recomended reading available for purchase through our Amazon.com Store! |
| Networking |
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Join the CFA Minnesota Linkedin Group! |
| Social Networking |
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We have recently started a Facebook Group. Click here to begin networking with colleagues through this social networking utility. |
| Join Our List |
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Greetings!
I am delighted to have the opportunity to serve as President of the CFA Society of Minnesota for the upcoming year. Your society has made many positive changes under the leadership of Tony Carideo, and we thank him for his years of service.
Our surveys indicate that many of you have noticed an increase in communication, a dedication to quality programming and events, and more opportunities to network with fellow Charterholders. These outcomes were the direct result of an extensive strategic plan your board designed and implemented during the 2008-09 fiscal year. We submitted this strategic plan to CFA Institute and were extremely proud to be presented the "Society Excellence Award" in the Planning category; marking the first time your Society has won such an award.
In this issue of CFA Connect, you'll notice several new monthly features including original member content, a job board spotlight, and recommended reading - a book available through our new CFAMN/amazon.com bookstore. These new features come directly from comments you, our members, made in our survey and we're pleased to begin our new Fiscal Year with this added content.
With CFA exam results recently released, we look forward to a special celebration for those who passed the Level III exam. We will be holding a charter ceremony for new Charterholders on October 29th, and are pleased to welcome John D. Rogers, the new CEO of the CFA Institute, as a guest speaker.
We are also pleased to announce that David Brooks will be the keynote speaker for our Annual Dinner being held on January 28th, 2010. David is a popular and engaging speaker and we expect this event to sell out early. We hope you will be able to join us for both of these special events.
Finally, I would be remiss to not mention two outstanding members of the CFA Society of Minnesota who have assumed leadership roles at the CFA Institute for the upcoming year. Thomas B. Welch will serve as the Chair of the Board of Governors and David Stevens will serve as Chair of the Disciplinary Review Committee. Congratulations to you both! We are honored to have such dedicated individuals in our Society.
Sincerely,
Leyla Kassem, President
CFA Society of Minnesota |
| FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Monthly Member Missive |
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New Monthly Feature: Showcase your work!
Attention all CFA Society of MN members: We are seeking your valuable original content!
We are looking for interesting relevant investment-related content that has been researched, written and published by local members holding the CFA designation. Articles fitting this description will be included regularly in our email broadcasts. All content will be reviewed before redistribution and not all content will be accepted. Please, no sales pitches! A brief introduction to your article will be included in our e-newsletter, along with a link to the article on either your firm's website or www.cfamn.org. A nominal fee will be charged. (Something less than a banner ad on Yahoo's homepage, but more that a cup of Starbucks coffee.) With more than 3,500 on this distribution list, this is a great way to showcase your work and drive traffic to your firm's website.
If you have written something, or would like to, please contact Maren Amdal for more details. The article below is an example of what we seek. We are very excited for this opportunity to showcase our members! |
| The Sword of Damocles |
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The Disciplined Growth Investors' investment team recently wrote a piece entitled " The Sword of Damocles." You may recall the fabled Sword of Damocles. Damocles, a young flatterer in the court of Dionysius, would comment often about what a wonderful life the king led. Dionysius, ruler of Syracuse, decided to let Damocles experience life as an emperor for a day. While sitting on the throne, Damocles noticed a sharp sword dangling above his head by a single horse hair. He decided the pressure of being king was perhaps not for him... We believe the literary reference exemplifies investor's current emotions and we hope you enjoy the article. The Investment Team of Disciplined Growth Investors Fred Martin, CFA Scott Link, CFA Rob Nicoski, CFA Nick Hanson |
| Durable Competive Advantages: 9/24/09 |
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Using Economic Moats to Improve Investment Returns
Capitalism 101 states that companies earning above-average returns on capital should face competition. However, experience shows some companies have earned high returns on capital without competition for many years - even decades. Drawing on Morningstar's extensive research into competitive analysis, Mr. Dorsey will discuss the advantages that can create an "economic moat" around a company's returns on capital and show how competitive analysis can add value to the investment process and exploit systematic market inefficiencies.  Pat Dorsey, CFAMr. Dorsey is director of equity research at Morningstar and the firm's head equity strategist. He regularly engages with CFA chapters globally to deliver insights from his experience in directing one of the largest independent equity research teams in the world. Mr. Dorsey's work has given him broad knowledge of all sectors of the market, and his passion lies particularly in addressing how competitive forces come into play within industries and sectors to benefit one company over another. He is the author of The Little Book That Builds Wealth and co-author of The Five Rules of Successful Investing, both published by Wiley, and writes a monthly column on investing for Money magazine. Mr. Dorsey also appears weekly on the 'Bulls & Bears' show on the Fox News Channel. He holds a bachelor's degree in government from Wesleyan University and a master's degree in political science from Northwestern University.
Thursday, September 24th, 2009
11:30am - Registration opens
12:00pm - Program begins
Raddison Plaza Hotel Minneapolis
Fjord IV Conference Room
35 South 7th St.
Minneapolis, MN 55402
$35/Members, $45/Non-Members |
| Financial Servies and the US Economy: 10/8/09 |
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The purpose of this special event is to provide investors, analysts and lawyers with an understanding of upcoming changes in financial services as it responds to the past year's market upheavals.
This presentation is in cooperation with
the University of St Thomas School of Law:
Law & Economics Society.
Speakers:
Bridget Sperl, Senior VP, Ameriprise Financial
Robert Schnell, Senior Partner, Faegre & Benson
Dr Heino Beckmann, Professor of Finance, University of St. Thomas
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
4:00pm - Additional details TBA
University of St. Thomas
Minneapolis, MN 55402
Registration will Open Soon
$35/Members, $45/Non-Members |
| Annual Economic Dinner: 1/28/10 |
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Save the Date!
CFA Minnesota is excited to announce American political and cultural commentator, and columnist for the New York Times, David Brooks! More information is coming soon, but be sure to mark your calendars now!
Thursday, January 28th, 2009
Hyatt Regency
1300 Nicolett Mall
Minneapolis MN 55403
Registration will Open Soon
$95/Members, $135/Non-Members
Contact Maren Amdal for information
on Sponsoring this great event! |
| ACG MN: Capital Connection 9/23/09 |
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 A unique opportunity to network with more than 600 representatives of leading corporations, private equity groups and mezzanine lenders, senior lenders, investment bankers/intermediaries, attorneys, accountants, and other M&A advisors and service providers from both the local and national M&A markets.  Keynote Speaker, Steve Forbes:
Steve Forbes, Chairman & CEO of Forbes Media, spoke at the Upper Midwest Capital Connection last year as the financial markets teetered on collapse, the stock and bond markets were in free fall, Lehman Brothers had filed bankruptcy, and the government had just offered AIG an $85 billion bailout package. He delivered a timely, insightful and thought provoking commentary. He will return to our Capital Connection in 2009 to again offer his thoughts from his unique prospective on the state of the financial markets a year later, the effectiveness of government in dealing with the crisis, what has been done, and what still needs to be done to stabilized and grow the U.S. economy.
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
11:30am - Registration opens
12:00pm - Program begins
Minneapolis Convention Center
Minneapolis, MN
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New Monthly Feature!
Attention employers, recruiters and HR Personnell
Each day, more than 100 unique visitors review positions posted on our Job Board. To raise even greater awareness of your position posting, we're excited to offer this new monthly newsletter feature. For more information on being spotlighted, click here. |
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Level III Live Course Instructors Needed |
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Employer: Stalla
Location: Minneapolis
Becker Professional Education is seeking a CFA charter holder in the Minneapolis area to deliver several of our Stalla CFA Level III lectures beginning in January 2010. Candidates should be a CFA charter holder, have excellent public speaking skills, and have a desire to teach. Interested and qualified candidates should forward a bio or resume to tvanbroeck@becker.com. Please be sure to include a daytime phone number.
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| New Charterholders Dinner 10/28/09 |
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Save the Date!
CFA Minnesota will again be recognizing new Charterholders and those candidates who have passed Level 3 of the CFA exams at a gala dinner on October 28th, 2009. Invitation letters will go out this week, meanwhile, save the date! For more information on attending or sponsoring this great event, contact Maren Amdal. |
| Scholarship Application Deadline: Dec. 31 |
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CFA Minnesota will distribute scholarships for June exams. Apply Now!
 CFA Minnesota is pleased to offer scholarships to candidates taking the CFA exams. Society scholars pay only $220; all other exam registration costs are reimbursed. The deadline to apply for scholarships for June 2010 is December 31st, 2009.
Click here for more information and application material for CFA Minnesota Scholarships. |
| Join the Marketing Committee: |
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Help promote CFA Minnesota!
As new Public Awareness Chair Karen Florez begins her term, she would love to welcome new members to her committee. This committee is tasked with Public Awareness, Marketing and Advocacy; a big job! Your skills and talents would be well utilized and impactful. Contact Karen Florez for more information and to volunteer. | |
ATTENTION LEVEL 3 CANDIDATES:
CFA Minnesota is currently planing to offer a live study course for Level III of the CFA exam in partnership with Stalla and the University of St. Thomas. Begining in January 2010, this course would continue the Levels I and II classes we've previously offered. If you are a Level III candidate, would you like CFA MN to offer this live prep course? Would you attend?
Click here to let us know! |
| Final Note: |
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Website changes:
There have been several problems on our website recently. Our event and job boards have had a variety of errors, and to resolve these issues we're rebuilding the site. Site visitors should not be greatly impacted as things will be tested in an offline environment. If you have questions, please feel free to contact CFA MN at info@cfamn.org. | |
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