Theodore R. Aronson, CFA
Chair
CFA Institute Research Foundation
It is my privilege to lead the CFA Institute Research Foundation. Together with my colleagues on the Board of Trustees, we govern the mission of the enterprise. The day-to-day operations of the Research Foundation are led by an enthusiastic triumvirate: Bud Haslett, CFA, executive director; Laurence B. Siegel, director of research; and Luis Garcia-Feijóo, CFA, CIPM, associate director of research.
As I commented last year, research is the lifeblood of what financial analysts do: Fundamental research reveals security values, market research makes (some!) sense of market behavior, economic research uncovers macroeconomic forces, and quantitative research marries them all. From Ben Graham’s “intrinsic value” and “margin of safety” to Robert Shiller’s “irrational exuberance,” from Paul Samuelson’s re-introduction of the “random walk” of security prices to Bill Sharpe’s capital asset pricing model—progress advances as a result of research.
The Research Foundation lies at the nexus of all these activities. I am honored to lead a team of volunteer trustees dedicated to our profession. On behalf of those colleagues, thank you for consuming our intellectual output and contributing financially to further the cause. (Every single penny supports those efforts; thus, it is fair to say that voluntary donations to the CFA Institute Research Foundation pay substantial dividends!)