DECEMBER2012NEWSLETTER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE .................................................................................................... 2

CHARTERHOLDER PROFILE ...............................................................................................3

NEW CHARTERHOLDER DINNER ......................................................................................5

CFA MEMBERSHIP PRIZE ..................................................................................................5

TREASURER’S LETTER ........................................................................................................6

VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT SOCIAL ..............................................................................6

2013 FORECAST DINNER ...................................................................................................6

EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT .................................................................................................6

CFA STUDENT OUTREACH ................................................................................................. 7

PCR FOR CANADIAN CFA SOCIETIES .............................................................................. 7

LUNCHEON AND EVENT RECAP ........................................................................................8

UPCOMING EVENTS SCHEDULE ........................................................................................8

MEMBERSHIP AND CANDIDATE BENEFITS ...................................................................9

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

As the 33rd President of the CFA Ottawa Society, it is my pleasure to share with you our newly rebranded Society Fall/Winter Newsletter. As you may be aware, the CFA Institute has recently adopted a new brand identity to help further advance its mission to lead the investment profession globally by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education and professional excellence. This refreshed newsletter is the first step we have taken in our adoption of the new brand and we hope you find the new look to be engaging, inclusive and representative of the evolu-tion of the CFA Institute and CFA Ottawa Society as we strive to maintain our status as a dynamic, best-in-class Society.

This year has been off to a successful start and the Board has been working hard to deliver on the goals and objec-tives we set out for ourselves over the summer. In July we held a strategic planning session with senior members of the CFA Institute where we laid out our vision for the next five years, reflecting on how we want to be perceived within the community and identifying the appropriate course of action to deliver on this plan. Some of our recent successes will be highlighted within this newsletter.

Building on the global success of the Society last year, several members of the Board traveled to Hong Kong in Septem-ber to participate in the annual Society Leaders Conference. This was the first time the conference was held outside of North America. As the winners of the 2012 Society Excellence Award for Out-reach and Awareness, we were given the opportunity to present on this topic to our peers from over 100 countries. The conference was a tremendous success and our presentation was rated as one of the most valuable by society leaders. I believe we shared practical and valuable ideas that will be implemented in different corners of the world highlighting some of the forward thinking and innovative ideas we are cultivating locally thanks to the feedback of our members and the dedication of our volunteers.

On top of all these accomplishments, we are still pushing forward with new ideas and improvements for the balance of the year. As we have recently completed our annual business plan, we are looking at many new initiatives to roll out. Some of these include holding our first French language event, engaging a firm to conduct an audit of our financial statements and creating our first annual report to members.

Our success this year won’t be measured solely against the accomplishment of these objectives. We will be looking to you for feedback and reinforcement that our actions are aligned with what you expect from your Society.

Wishing you and yours a safe and happy holiday season,

Trevor Carson, CFA President, CFA Ottawa Society

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CHARTERHOLDER PROFILE

Benoit Daignault was appointed as Senior Vice-President, Financing and Investments in January 2012. As a member of the Executive Management Team, Mr. Daignault is responsible for the leadership and management of EDC’s global investments and debt financing operations across all product lines, including project and structured finance, commercial lending as well as corporate and asset-back lending. Prior to joining EDC in 2004 as Senior Vice-President, Business Development, Mr. Daignault spent more than 10 years with General Electric Capital, where he held increasingly senior positions in both Canada and the U.S.

Mr. Daignault has a Baccalaureate in Business Administration from l’École des Hautes Études Commerciales in Montreal and in 1992 became a CFA Charterholder. He later completed the Proteus program of London Business School and the Senior Executive Program of Columbia University.

EDC is Canada’s export credit agency that offers innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business.

BENOIT DAIGNAULT

SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT AND GLOBAL HEAD

FINANCING AND INVESTMENTS, EXPORT DEVELOPMENT CANADA

What prompted you to become a CFA Charterholder?

I attended HEC in Montreal and it was great in terms of gaining a commerce background and business mentality. Because I did not have the experience and did not spend as much time on technical skills, I felt my tech-nical skills needed to be further developed. The choices I had therefore were to do either a MBA, Masters in Finance or a CFA. In my mind, the CFA was the best option given its robust curriculum, as well as its rigorous focus on ethics and the code of professional

conduct. To me, the focus on ethics gave me a true profession with the CFA Charter.

What gives you the most satisfaction in your role as SVP, Financing and Investments, at EDC?

If you look at it from a return perspective, you have to earn a return on the deal or from operations in general. However, the difference at EDC is that given our public policy mandate, we also ensure there is a return to Canada in the form of Canadian benefits by promoting trade

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and investment. To me, this is gives me the greatest satisfaction. It’s all about making a difference for Canada. How does the CFA Charter help you in your current role?

To me, the CFA Charter becomes part of your DNA; that is, who you are and how you think. It becomes embedded in what you do. It’s part of a complete package.

From a technical perspective, the CFA Charter provides me with a more educated view, allowing me to have a deeper and broader understanding of complex issues and opportunities I encounter everyday in my current role.However, more importantly, is how the CFA Charter has helped me develop principles that guide my decision making, especially those relating to ethics and the code of conduct.

People sometimes say that regardless of where you go, and what you do in your career, you are as good as your last deal. I disagree. To me, in the end, you are only as good as your reputa-tion. The CFA program recognizes this fact given its strong focus on ethics and the code of conduct. Underlying these ethics are guiding principles which apply equally to management as they do to the investment profession.

These guiding principles have the greatest influence on my DNA and therefore my current role as an executive.

What is the most important leadership lesson you have learned throughout your career?

The most important leadership lesson for me has been the importance of values, at the individual and organizational level. This ties back to the ethics theme. Successful individuals and organizations know that, without strong values, you may sometimes get ahead in the short-run, but very often at the expense of long-term results. Strong leaders make it

their responsibility to ensure that values are non-negotiable and become part of their organization’s culture. To do this, they lead by example and thereby influ-ence behavior across the organization.

While recognizing that you have held a variety of roles in the profession, how would you describe the changes that have occurred for investment professions since you received your CFA Charter?

I have been working in the financial services industry for my whole career. It has been a fabulous ride, and probably the best career choice I could have made. Throughout my career I have seen many cycles, not just general market cycles, but cycles within markets, such as for commercial lending, structured finance as well as asset-backed lending.

However, the biggest change has been the increase in complexity impacting all markets due to the requirement to have a deep understanding of global markets, while recognizing there is no such thing as global governance. This combined with a very low real return environment has made the investment process increasingly tricky.

Also, more than before, an important requirement in the investment process is to effectively communicate to cus-tomers and stakeholders, and in doing so, take a long-term view. By neglecting the long-term, the wrong behavior may result, which can result in poor investment outcomes.

What career advice would you offer to a new CFA Charterholders in the current environment?

I would view your career as a long-term investment. That is, focus on the long-run, and don’t be afraid to take some chances. Sometimes it’s necessary to stand by your own and don’t necessary follow others. It is important to be an indepen-dent thinker. Above all, do what you like doing, and sometimes you need to experiment with career option before you really know what that is. The good news is that the CFA Charter opens many different career opportunities.

Any message you would like to give the CFA Ottawa Society?

Good talent attracts companies and opportunities. I hope or would like to think that if we have a strong Society, we will develop more talented people that could form a critical mass of talent which would be an incentive for financial insti-tutions to expand or locate in Ottawa. The CFA Society can play an important role in being an advocate for the CFA Program by encouraging people to enroll in the Program. A strong Society is good for both its members and the investment industry.

I have been working in the financial services industry for my whole career.

It has been a fabulous ride, and probably the best career choice

I could have made.

CHARTERHOLDER PROFILE CONTINUED

CFA MEMBERSHIP PRIZE

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The CFA Ottawa Society held its fourth annual new charterholder dinner on November 6, 2012. The event recognized the achievement of all new charterholders as well as candidates from the Ottawa region who passed level III of the CFA exam in June 2012. The event provided a great opportunity for new charterholders and candidates to meet other finance professionals as well as Board Members of the Society.

The event was a big success with a total of 22 people attending. This included 4 new charterholders, 8 candidates, guests, several of the Society’s Board Members, and our guest speaker. For this year’s event, we were pleased to have Bill Horton, CFA as our guest speaker. Mr. Horton is the Executive Vice-President, Investment Management & Chief Invest-ment Officer of MD Physician Services.

During his presentation, he recognized the hard work of candidates and the support of their families in achieving this coveted designation. He also discussed the importance of the CFA charter and the opportunities that it offers. Mr. Horton told the attendees that the CFA curriculum has provided them with a solid foundation for a career in the ever evolving financial industry.

NEW CHARTERHOLDER DINNER

The CFA Ottawa Society would like to extend a sincere thanks to Mr. Horton for his engaging speech.

In an effort to drive University of Ottawa Finance Society membership and further raise CFA brand awareness on campus, the CFA Ottawa Society sponsored a prize draw for all new members of the society ($250 gift certificate for Ottawa University book store). Please find above a picture of this year’s winner, Michael Levine, with the Gift Card, along with Atul Arora,

Senior Advisor, and formally a Director of Finance for the Finance Society. The University of Ottawa Finance Society noticed a significant increase in the number of new members this year and attributes much of the success to the prizing offered by the CFA Ottawa Society.

Paul Baron, Secretary

CFA Ottawa Society 2011/2012 fiscal results reveal prudent financial management of society resources. Fiscal year-end cash and equivalents balance was $141,000, up 22% year over year. The forecast dinner which represents the biggest cash outlay came in slightly better than break-even, as key partners provided table and event sponsorship helping to ensure we were able to maintain ticket prices despite the change in venue to the new Convention Center. Overall we tracked well against budgeted expense estimates posting a modest net income of $19,000.

The financial flexibility of a modest surplus built into the cash balance has allowed us the working capital to continue to take on more initiatives and reduce prices for members to programming events. As in prior years, our Society’s revenues remain a function of regular CFA Institute funding, membership dues, employ-ment postings, and programming. We are also working more closely with the CFA Institute, providing them with our annual budget as a function of their funding formula.

The year 2011/2012 saw the second year of us following a comprehensive treasury man-agement policy guide for CFA Ottawa Society, ensuring clear guidelines and policies regarding deployment and management of surplus funds going forward as well as the cadence and me-chanics of reporting to the Board. We hope to continue to seek innovative ways of improving our treasury operations in the upcoming fiscal year to be a best in class society.

As we look towards the upcoming year, we will continue our outreach to future CFA Charterholders and build our connections with local universities, as well as initiate broader advocacy and outreach in the employer community for improved aware-ness of the charter. The CFA Society has also launched a new brand and we will work in concert with them to help promote it going forward.

We welcome any questions or feedback on the current fiscal position!

Robert Pelletier, Treasurer - CFA Ottawa Society

TREASURER’S LETTER

FINANCIAL REPORT: BUDGET REVIEW & PLAN

2013 FORECAST DINNER

The 2013 Forecast Dinner will be held on April 16th at the Ottawa Convention Centre. We are pleased to announce that our moderator will be Kim Parlee, VP of Strategic Client Communications at TD, and former journalist for the Business News Network. One of the panelists will be Don Drummond, currently the Matthews Fellow and Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Queen’s School of Policy Studies, and former Chief Economist and Senior VP at TD Bank. Planning for the Forecast Dinner continues with more details to follow.

Rebecca Tam, Vice PresidentCFA Ottawa Society

EMPLOYER ENGAGEMENT: ENGAGING LOCAL HIRING MANAGERS ON YOUR BEHALF

Have you ever had to explain to friends, family or colleagues what the CFA designation stands for? Differentiate it from the slew of financial planning designations out there? Explain that it is not an accounting designation? So have we.

In the spirit of bringing greater visibility to the CFA designation in Ottawa for the coming year (2012-2013), the executives at CFA Ottawa Society have created the role of Employer Engagement. The goal of this new role is to inform hiring managers, in both the Private and the Public sector, of the value that CFA Charterholders bring to their organizations.

We will strive to convey the message that a CFA Charterholder is more than just a financial professional. A CFA Charterholder is a well rounded individual that has an extensive breadth and depth of knowledge in many key areas, both financial and non-financial.

Stevan Dostanic, Employee Engagement Chair

VOLUNTEER RECRUITMENT SOCIAL

The volunteer recruitment event is held annually with the goal of increasing participation of candidates and members in CFA Ottawa Society initiatives. The event was a great success this year, attracting more than ten new volunteers to the society. This increase in volun-teers will allow the society to further develop areas such as our social media presence as well as marketing activities. All available volunteer positions were filled, including new positions such as Marketing Coordinator and Event Logistics Coordinator.

If you were unable to make the event but are interested in volunteering with the Society, please email Paul Baron.

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CFA STUDENT OUTREACH

The CFA Ottawa Society is involved in many activities to promote awareness about the CFA designation and program to university students in the Ottawa area. Some of the recent activities include:

Similar to the CFA Ambassador role at University of Ottawa we have recruited a CFA Ambassador at Carleton University. We have also made efforts to build a relationship with the Université du Québec en Outaouais.

Board members/executives attended the Carleton University Sprott Finance Student Association Wine and Cheese and the Ottawa University Finance Society Speaker Series to speak directly with students about the CFA program and the benefits of the designation.

Delivered presentations about the CFA designation to university classes during the fall 2012 school term.

We are also involved with supporting candidates in their efforts of writing the CFA exams. Some of recent efforts include:

Awarded scholarships to 5 deserving candidates for the December 2012 exam.

Offered two options to purchase the highly popular BSAS practice exam for the December 2012 Level 1 exam.

Aaron Porter, Education Chair

EDUCATION CHAIR REPORT

PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE

Greetings to the members of CFA Ottawa Society. My name is Aaron Brown and I have been elected by the Canadian CFA societies to be your Presidents’ Council Representative.

Societies of investment professionals provided the impetus to originally create the CFA charter and have remained a driving force of CFA Institute and our profession. In 1999, by-laws of CFA Institute’s precursor created the Presidents’ Council

consisting of every society president worldwide. The current council of 137 presidents plays an important role in CFA Institute governance. Societies are further broken down into ten regions and each region elects a representative.

My primary role as PCR is to bring the Canadian society voice to CFA Institute’s Board of Governors. I attend all board meetings and I sit on one of the board oversight committees as an observer.

Whenever CFA Institute is developing major initiatives or considers major chang-es to its programs, my PCR colleagues and I are part of the process to ensure the needs of member societies are met.

The board has developed a vision around the three B’s: Bolder Voice, Broader Mission, Bigger Community.

CFA Institute wants to take a larger role in our profession. They want charterholders to be more visible and speak with a bolder voice when delivering our ethics and stan-dards driven message. The board sees an opportunity to build a bigger community of practitioners who adhere to a high standard of professional excellence whether they are charterholders or not. The board also has a mandate to bring its message to a broader audience as the investing public in general would benefit from higher standards.

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LUNCHEON AND EVENT RECAP

SEPTEMBER 18, 2012 Lunch presentation by Stephen Jonathan at the Rideau Club. As a foreign ex-change and global economics specialist with Bloomberg, Mr. Jonathan provided an overview of global markets and currencies. Using various approaches for determining long-term fair value, he specifically addressed how market participants view the Canadian dollar.

On the same day, the CFA Ottawa Society offered the opportunity to attend this year’s The Art of Leadership conference. The world class program featured five internationally renowned bestselling authors and visionaries, who shared their thoughts on current leadership issues.

OCTOBER 18, 2012Lunch presentation at the Rideau Club with Jason Taylor from TMX – Montreal Exchange. In a two part overview of the fixed income derivatives market in Canada, Mr. Taylor gave an overview of current market conditions and a detailed account of current strategies used by participants.

OCTOBER 24, 2012In conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, the CFA Ottawa Society offered members the opportunity to attend a presentation on Strategic Listening for Accounting and Finance Professionals by Anil Dilawri, Managing Director of Save it like Sully.

NOVEMBER 6, 2012 New Charterholder reception dinner at the Courtyard restaurant. Featured speaker Bill Horton, Chief Investment Officer at MD Physician Services Incorporated.

DECEMBER 6, 2012Lunch presentation at the Rideau Club with Duncan Anderson, Senior Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager at Manulife Asset Management. Mr. Anderson discussed the European recession and corresponding investment opportunities.

UPCOMING EVENTS SCHEDULE:

DECEMBER 12, 2013Christmas Social at Hy’s Steakhouse

JANUARY 23, 2013 US Housing presentation featuring Josh Anderson from PIMCO

APRIL 16, 20132013 Forecast Dinner at the Ottawa Convention Centre

APRIL 24, 2013 Efficient equity investing featuring Stephane Mauppin from Amundi Asset Management

Wesley Blight, Program Chair

I’m also responsible for coordinating national projects and facilitating com-munication between the twelve Canadian societies. Last year we did a national compensation survey. This year we are working on a five-year strategic plan for Canada to set the direction of what we as member societies want to look like in the future. Part of that is working with CFA Institute to make sure the resources are available to execute the plan and ensure societies like Ottawa continue to be able to deliver excellent service to their members.

Canadian CFA societies are regarded as the best managed and forward-thinking member societies in the world. This is because we have excellent volunteers in cities like Ottawa but also because we work together so well as a country. I’m looking forward to being part of it for the next two years as our PCR.

Aaron Brown, Presidents’ Council Representative

MORE FROM THE PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE

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MEMBER AND CANDIDATE BENEFITS

The Member Offers section found on the CFA Ottawa Society website includes offers for our members and candidates from a variety of organizations. Offers include preferential pricing on study support materials to discounts on analytical tools for analysts. We are currently working with additional organizations to expand to expand the offers available to our members and candidates. Currently, offers are available from the following organizations:

• McGraw Hill McGraw Hill • Ottawa Senators • CAA North & East Ontario • Training the Street • Elmwood Data

CFA OTTAWA SOCIETY LEADERSHIP & VOLUNTEERS

Trevor Carson, CFA ........................................................................................ PresidentRebecca Tam, CFA .................................................................................. Vice-PresidentPaul Baron, CFA ............................................................................................. SecretaryRobert Ernest Pelletier, CFA ........................................................................... TreasurerSacha Imbert, CFA .................................................................................. Past PresidentJulian M. Deschatelets, CFA .................................................... Board Member At Large

Aaron Porter, CFA ................................................................................ Education Chair Adwaite Tiwary ............................................................. Membership Committee ChairWesley Blight, CFA ................................................................................ Program ChairStevan Dostanic ................................................................... Employer Outreach ChairTrevor J. Mulligan .................................................................... Administrative SupportBernhard Eichenlaub, CFA ................................................................ Newsletter Editor

CFA Ottawa Societyc/o Trevor Mulligan174 Bank Street • P.O. Box 71047Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1W0Email: admin@cfaottawa.ca

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• Stalla • Kaplan • USC/CFALA Streaming Media Program • Canadian Capital Magazine