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NEWSLETTERSummer 2018

Dear Member,

As my two-year term as President of CFA Society Ireland comes to an end in August, I can only reflect on what an exciting and fulfilling period in my life that two-years has been, during which time I have had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know many of you along the way. Leading CFA Society Ireland has been a huge honor and a real privilege and I have really appreciated all the joys and challenges that came with it. During my two years at the helm, we have seen our society grow consistently, with membership now reaching more than 550 – and that number seems set to increase significantly in the years ahead given the rise in candidates undertaking the CFA Program each year.

One initiative we have taken to signal the value of becoming a CFA charterholder was the publication in late 2017 of a Careers Guide which illustrated the variety of rewarding and fulfilling careers that a CFA qualification can lead to. I would like to thank all those CFA members who contributed their personal histories to this Careers Guide, which has been very well received both in academic and business circles with over 2,000 copies already having been distributed!

Personal highlights of my tenure as President include our Society’s hosting of the EMEA Finals of the CFA Institute Research Challenge in the Convention Centre in April, for the first time in our history. This was a huge success and hopefully it will act as a precursor to us being chosen to host a future international CFA Institute Investment Conference that would be easily accessible to all of our members. We also undertook major brand awareness campaigns to increase the recognition and visibility of the CFA brand in our local market and to enhance awareness of our Society among policymakers and the wider financial services industry and we will be continuing our efforts in this regard.

FROMTHE PRESIDENT

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CFA SOCIETY IRELAND LEADERSHIP

Francis Carter, CFA President Dexia

Rebekah Brady, CFA Treasurer Acuvest

Linda Duffy, CFA, Secretary Mercer

Caitriona MacGuinness, CFA Vice President Mercer

Joe Kavanagh, CFA KB Investors

Samantha McConnell, CFA Willis Towers Watson

Joseph Harrigan, CFA Independent Director & Consultant

Noel Friel, CFA ESB

Olwyn Alexander, CFA PwC

Martina Walsh, CFA ILIM

Niall McDonnell, CFA Mercer

Mary MacNamara, CFA NTMA

I am only too aware that it is the time and efforts of all the board members and volunteers, all of whom act in a voluntary capacity to manage the society and deliver membership value, that maintains the Society in its current healthy position. Our Society simply could not function without their significant contributions. Thank you very much to one and all. I would also like to publicly thank the society’s Development Officer, Claire Paul whose hard work and overall assistance has been a tremendous support to me throughout.

I have hugely enjoyed the past two years as President of the society, and while I will remain on the board it is now time to extend a warm welcome to my successor, Noel Friel. Noel was awarded the CFA Charter in 2006, has been a member of the CFA Society Ireland board for ten years and is Pensions Investment Officer with the ESB Pension Fund. I have no doubt that, with your continued engagement, Noel can lead the Society to even greater heights and I wish him every success.

On behalf of the board, we hope you all enjoy the summer months and we look forward to seeing you in the autumn at our next programme of events.

Francis Carter, CFAPresident - CFA Society Ireland

FROMTHE PRESIDENT

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PROGRAMMING AND EVENTSDuring the first part of 2018 we co-promoted a number of

events with Sustainable Nation. These have included topics

such as responsible investment strategies; environmental,

social and governance factors and their relevance from

an investment perspective and in particular relating to the

revised EU Directive in Pensions (IORP II). Our thanks to

Sustainable Nation in bringing these topics to our members.

In March, we brought you a Global Economic and

Investment Update. Ian Wright, Global Macro Strategist with

Goldman Sachs and Seth Birnbaum, Portfolio Strategist

with Bridgewater covered issues such as the current global

economic environment, the challenges within investment

markets, where the risks are and how to structure an

investment portfolio. The speakers engaged in lively Q&A

with an audience of over 120.

Peter Hopkins, Chief Operating Officer at Style Research

was our guest in May. During his presentation on the

benefits of Factor Analysis for Investors, Peter covered

how factor investing has evolved, which factors have

established themselves and gave advice and supporting

case studies on constructing factor portfolios.

In March we hosted a soft skills event in conjunction with

CFA Institute and the Royal Academy for Dramatic Arts

(RADA). Places were restricted and with a full house of CFA

Society Ireland members a RADA facilitator taught a session

on Executive Presence and Storytelling. It was a session

that took everyone outside of their comfort zone but was

hugely enjoyable and the feedback on the event was

entirely positive. As it was an interactive session, it also

gave everyone an opportunity to meet other members. We

will work to bring you more soft skills sessions in the future.

We have also put in place a mutually beneficial

arrangement with the Society of Actuaries whereby we

co-promote events to each of our membership bases. To

this end you will, from time to time, receive details from us

relating to Society of Actuaries events. The benefit to you

is access to a greater range of educational and CPD events

on a wider range of topics.

To provide a calendar of events with such a diverse

range of topics takes a great deal of hard work from our

Programming Committee. Our thanks to Noel Friel, Martina

Walsh, Joseph Harrigan and Niall McDonnell. If there are

specific topics that you would like to see covered or if you

know any speakers that might be interested in an event

with our members, please get in touch through the Society

office.

Almost all of our educational events are free for local

Society members to attend and are accredited with LIA and

IOB CPD hours in addition to CFA Continuing Education (CE)

credits.

Seth Birnbaum; Noel Friel, CFA; Ian Wright at the Global Economic and Investment Update.

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THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRUST – GLOBAL SURVEY ON THE STATE OF INVESTOR TRUST

Trust is the bedrock that supports our financial markets and underpins the investment management industry. CFA Institute’s third investor trust survey examines changing investor expectations and how a new generation of investors and new investment tools are affecting the nature of trust. Investors have a strong level of trust in the financial system overall, and trust in the industry has increased slightly. Nonetheless, challenges remain. Investor expectations are high and there are gaps between what investors want and what the industry delivers.Read the report here

STACK YOUR CFA CREDENTIAL - CAIA PILOT PROGRAM

In April 2018, a pilot program launched with CAIA that provides CFA charterholders with exemption from the CAIA Level I exam. 4,000 CFA Institute members were initially invited to participate, though the pilot is open to all charterholders globally.

CAIA’s Stackable Credential Program, available initially to a limited number of participants, serves as the pathway to earning the CAIA Charter, and helps CFA members acquire continuing education credit, contributing to a journey of lifelong learning. Learn more.

IT IS TIME TO RENEW YOUR CFA INSTITUTE AND LOCAL SOCIETY MEMBERSHIPSYour CFA Institute and local CFA Society Ireland memberships are due for renewal

now.

To renew your CFA Institute membership follow this link and login, don’t forget to

select Ireland as your local Society.

To renew a local CFA Society Ireland membership only, please make your

payment on our homepage, by scrolling down to the “make a payment” icon.

If you are not a member and wish to join CFA Society Ireland, please just get in

touch by email info@cfaireland.ie

Remember, most of our events are free for members and provide you with great

opportunities to network with your peers and industry leaders.

We are delighted to have Eoin Diffley, CFA and Gabriela Stefanic, CFA assisting us

with our renewal campaign this year. Our thanks to you both.

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The CFA Society Ireland Career Guide features CFA charterholders and members of CFA Society Ireland and provides insights into the different roles they carry out in the investment industry. In addition each featured individual has highlighted the skills that they considered were key to their own success in the industry. The guide also includes an introduction to both CFA Society Ireland and CFA Institute and notes the suite of programs available to potential candidates. We have already distributed 2,000 copies of the guide – sending these to members, candidates, universities and other key stakeholders. If you would like a copy of the guide, or several copies, please contact us or access the guide via this link - https://www.cfasociety.org/ireland/Linked%20Files/CFA%20Ireland%20Career%20Guide%20web.pdf

CFA INSTITUTE RESEARCH CHALLENGE, EMEA REGIONAL, DUBLIN

CFA Society Ireland was delighted that Dublin was selected, for the first time, as the location of the CFA Institute Research Challenge EMEA Regional Final. We welcomed almost 40 teams from countries all over the region, their industry and faculty mentors as well as a large number of the CFA Institute Research Challenge team, CFA Society Representatives and CFA Institute EMEA staff. The day-long event saw our local team from UCD Smurfit Graduate Business School make it to the final round, fighting off stiff competition. At the final round they lost out to the teams from BI Norweigian Busness School and the University of Lausanne, who went on to win the Global Competition in Kuala Lumpur!

It was a pleasure to see so many international visitors enjoy our great city and sample our famous hospitality. It is our hope that CFA Institute will bring more international events to Dublin in the future.

EXAMS AND REGISTRATIONSWe are continuing to see growth in the number of candidates sitting the CFA Program exams. If you are considering undertaking the CFA Program you will find a huge resource of information, including details on the curriculum, registration dates, registration process, fees etc. www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram.

JUNE 2019 CFA PROGRAM EXAM DATES

Similar to the 2018 CFA Program exam, the June 2019 CFA Program exams will not take place on the first weekend in June, as was the case historically. The date change was made to maintain accessibility for our global candidates and to avoid testing during Ramadan.

The June 2019 exam dates are as follows:• Saturday, 15 June - AMER

and EMEA: all levels• Sunday, 16 June - AMER

and EMEA: Religious Alternate Date (RAD) all levels

CFA SOCIETY IRELAND CAREER GUIDE

The regional winners of the CFA Institute EMEA Research Challenge, BI Norwegian Business School and University of Lausanne.

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Brendan Simeson, Senior Consultant, Robert Walters

A VIEW FROM THE FRONT OFFICEFront office candidates can rejoice as Dublin continues to benefit from an influx

of new firms establishing themselves in the capital and existing firms expanding

recruitment budgets to hire. Recruitment activity within the financial services sector

continues to increase at a steady pace as firms increase their appetite to lend and

become well positioned to hire across all areas. Ireland has witnessed a rise in the

demand for front office professionals over the last 12 months, however, most new

entrants are still in the early stages of finalising hiring plans for Ireland. There was a

noticeable increase in the volume of hires across investment management, sales &

trading, product specific roles in corporate banking and corporate finance.

A summary of activity in the respective industries:

Banking• Corporate banks have been active hiring product specific roles across trade

financing, cash management and risk solutions groups. The level of deals

involving Irish clients continues to increase which has created demand for

candidates in relationship management and those having sector specific

expertise. A few new entrants are ready to start hiring in the second half of

2018 which should create competition for candidates and drive salaries higher.

Wealth & Investment Management • Professionals with a CFA designation or accountancy background remain the

most sought-after candidates in this market. Investment management firms

are expanding in Dublin and have already begun hiring heads of function and

oversight functions as they establish themselves here. It is still difficult to tell

what scale these firms will achieve in Ireland but strong prospects for growth

remain intact.

• From a candidate perspective, career progression and salary increases are still

sited as the main motivators to change employment for many professionals.

Corporate Finance • Deal flow remains steady for corporate finance firms and career prospects

remain very strong from a candidate perspective. The majority of hiring in this

market was at the analyst/executive level (0-3 years), however, the market is

candidate short, making it challenging to hire under time pressure.

Albeit small in comparison to the overall financial services market in Ireland, a

noteworthy increase in front office hiring is beginning to gain momentum. It is

becoming more competitive for high calibre candidates in this space as new

entrants are seen in a particularly positive light.

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CFA ACCESS SCHOLARSHIPSThe CFA Institute offers scholarships to those undertaking the CFA Program. The CFA Institute scholarship application can

only be made online via the CFA Institute website. The scholarships are awarded on a “need” basis. Please read the rules

carefully as CFA Institute will void any application that does not comply.

Applications are now open for scholarships for June 2019 and Dec 2019 CFA Program exams. The application deadline is

15th September 2018.

Full details are available on www.cfainstitute.org/programs/cfa/scholarships/access

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR WOMENIn support of the CFA Institute Women in Investment Management initiative, CFA Institute offers scholarships to women

around the world. If you are eligible to enrol in the CFA Program, are interested in earning the CFA Charter and have not

yet enrolled for the exams, this may be an option for you. Women working in the investment management industry are

encouraged to apply.

The application deadline is 1st September 2018 for the December 2018 exam and 1st February 2019 for the June

2019 exam.

For more details follow this link: https://www.cfainstitute.org/programs/cfa/scholarships/womens.aspx

JOURNALISTS BRIEFINGIn February, CFA Society Ireland hosted a briefing session for business journalists on the topic of MiFID2. The session was

to de-mystify the complexities of the directive – it literally runs to thousands of pages - and its effect on how financial

markets operate. For this seminar we specifically looked at the how the directive applies to the relationship between

investment managers and analysts.

We were delighted that Rhodri Preece, CFA, the MiFID expert from the CFA Institute, was available to come and present

to members of the Business Journalists Association. We were pleased that representatives from all of the relevant

newspapers and broadcasters took the time to attend.

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CFA PASSPORTCFA Society Ireland is pleased to be part of the CFA Society Global Passport Program, giving members of any CFA Society worldwide the opportunity to attend local society events and extend their network.

CFA Society Ireland members will be able to attend eligible events organised by participating local societies in other countries under the same conditions as the local members.

Whenever you are traveling in Europe or further, check the local societies’ web site and look for eligible events, identified by the logo:

CORPORATE SPONSORSIn order to maintain the quality of our events program and other initiatives such as the Investment Research Challenge, CFA Society Ireland relies on the support of our corporate sponsors. We wish to extend our thanks to those businesses that offer us continued support.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a corporate sponsor or sponsoring a one-off event please contact Claire at info@cfaireland.ie

PUBLICRELATIONSAs part of our ongoing commitment to building increased awareness for CFA Society Ireland and for the CFA Charter, we are continuing to seek PR coverage for Society events and initiatives. You can view an up to date range of PR by following the link below. We will continue to look for PR opportunities through our events and other contacts.

link to : http://www.cfasociety.org/ireland/Pages/PR.aspx

SOCIAL MEDIAWe have active social media accounts on Twitter and LinkedIn platforms. Be sure to follow us, be our friend or link in with us to receive updates on events, interesting articles and research papers.

Twitter @cfaireland

LinkedIn : CFA Society Ireland

VOLUNTEER AT CFA SOCIETYIRELANDThe CFA Society Ireland board is made up entirely of volunteers and we are always seeking additional manpower to assist us, so if you feel you can add value do please let us know. We have been fortunate to continue to benefit from the skills of volunteers in the following areas:

Investment Research Challenge – Mary MacNamara, CFA Candidate Representatives - Thomas Plunkett and Keith ConnollyQuant Awards – Eoin Diffley, CFA

If you would like to get more involved with your CFA society please contact us. Your involvement can be as little as a once off or ad hoc basis.

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CFA INVESTMENTRESEARCH CHALLENGECFA Society Ireland runs an annual research competition in conjunction with CFA Institute, called the Investment Research Challenge. This is aimed at finance masters students at global universities where they write and present a research note on a publicly traded company. We are in the 10th year of the competition in Ireland and have just completed the 2018 competition. Six Irish universities attended a launch meeting last November for the 2018 challenge, namely Trinity, UCD, NUIG, UCC, DCU and Queens University Belfast, with a team of 3-5 students per university. The target company this year was CRH plc, who presented to all the teams at the launch meeting. Each team was required to prepare a research report on CRH plc with a buy, sell, or hold recommendation and presented and defended their analysis to a panel of judges comprising industry

professionals. Our thanks to Frank Heisterkamp, Head of IR, Tom Holmes, IR Manager and Conor MacCarrick, CFA, IR Manager at CRH for their engagement and the positive comments throughout the competition. The students take on this challenge in addition to their normal classes and coursework, highlighting their eagerness to succeed in the financial industry.

Each team is provided with the support of two mentors, namely a faculty mentor and one from industry. These mentors provide guidance, direction, suggestions and feedback to their respective team throughout the competition but may not conduct any analysis or contribute any research or content to either the team’s written report or presentation. The mentors to the teams this year were:

University Faculty Advisor Mentor

Queens University, Belfast Aine Gallager David Boyle, CFA, GSO / Blackstone

National University of Ireland, Galway Cian Twomey Noreen Griffen, PwC

Trinity College Dublin Student Managed Fund

Martha O’Hagan LuffJoseph Harrigan, CFAIndependent Director & Consultant

University College Cork John O’Brien Killian Buckley, CFA, Davy

University College Dublin Smurfit Graduate Business School

Cormac MacFhionnlaoich Mark Prentice, State Street Global Advisors

Dublin City University Ruchira Sharma Robert Stokes, CFA, SIG

In addition, we had the support of four industry professionals to grade all the research reports submitted by the teams and a team of judges. The Irish final was held on March 8 in Dublin. Our congratulations to the team from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School – Conor Dwyer; Qi Sheng Lee; Kevin Lukito; Richard Marrano and Lochlann Robertson. Congratulations also to their mentors Cormac MacFhionnlaoich, who has been a long time supporter of the Research Challenge and Mark Prentice, CFA of SSgA. CFA Society Ireland is very grateful to have had the support of Davy in the running of this event since inception. Davy very generously has hosted a number of events relating

to the competition and has provided additional support over the years. Finally, we would like to thank Kaplan who are a global sponsor of the CFA Institute Research Challenge and S&P Capital IQ who provide each student with access to their Cap IQ system.

The feedback we receive from the students who participate is overwhelmingly positive and it is great to see so many of these students join the ranks of CFA Program candidates over time.

If you would like additional information on the Research Challenge or would like to volunteer for any of the roles, please contact us at info@cfaireland.ie.

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ARE YOU CURRENTLY REGISTERED FOR A MASTERS DEGREE? Enter the QuantAwards competition. You are required to submit an innovative research report in quantitative finance for a chance to win one of the 3 prizes below. The QuantAwards competition has been running for 4 years at a European level and we would love to see a student from an Irish university win one of the prizes!

1st PRIZE: €2,000 + CFA Program Exam registration

2nd PRIZE: €1,000 + CFA Program Exam registration 3rd PRIZE: €500

The 2018 QuantAwards will be the 8th edition of QuantAwards, and the 4th European edition with the participation of CFA Society France, CFA Society Ireland and CFA Society Netherlands.

Follow us on LinkedIn to join the conversation and learn tips.

SCHEDULE• Registration deadline: 29 June 2018• Final dissertation must be submitted by 13 August 2018 • Results will be announced end of September 2018• Award Ceremony will take place in October/November 2018

COMPONENTS• Dissertations should focus on a portfolio management issue. The subject covered must include a strong practical element that has relevance to finance practitioners as well as academics• Marking criteria are: Presentation, Accuracy and Completeness, Applicability and Relevance, and Innovation.• Submissions must be between 5 and 7 pages and be written in English• The dissertation can be accompanied by appendices that the candidate considers appropriate• Entry is free

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PHOTO GALLERY - CFA INVESTMENT RESEARCH CHALLENGE

The winning team from the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School with Tom Holmes, IR Manager, CRH.

Team from NUIG Team from DCU

Team from QUB Team from UCC

Team from Trinity College

Tom Holmes, IR Manager, CRH