Welcome to the CFA Institute Research Foundation Review 2018. As I reflect on my five years as president and CEO of CFA Institute, I see much that we can be proud of. Over the course of our long history, we have been steadfast in our mission to lead the investment profession globally by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence for the ultimate benefit of society.
I take the reins of the CFA Institute Research Foundation at a particularly productive period in its history. In addition to the numerous publications discussed in these pages, the Research Foundation has produced two award-winning monographs: David Chambers and Elroy Dimson’s Financial Market History: Reflections on the Past for Investors Today (2016) and Ronald N. Kahn’s The Future of Investment Management (2018). (It is fun to note that both volumes reside on my bookshelf next to Roger G. Ibbotson and Rex Sinquefield’s Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation, another Research Foundation publication from 1977—the year I earned my CFA charter!)
Continuing its five-decade tradition of producing relevant, practitioner-focused research, the CFA Institute Research Foundation had another strong year in 2018, publishing three monographs, a literature review, and six briefs. Content topics ranged from alternative investments to sustainable investing and included such areas as risk tolerance, quantitative equity investing, high-yield securities, and popularity of investments. This year also included the superb publication of a multiyear project on the future of investment management by BlackRock’s Ronald N. Kahn.
In 2018, the CFA Institute Research Foundation published three research monographs, a literature review, and six briefs. We also posted video of an exceptional conference, “2008 Financial Crisis: A 10-Year Review,” on our website.