Travelling salesman pushes importance of ethics

Bob Johnson of the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute. Picture / Kenny Rodger

Bob Johnson - of Charlottesville, Virginia - is no media virgin.

Just as well.

You would want a veteran to publicise a topic as worthy but dry as the finance industry qualification of "chartered financial analyst".

The former professor is on a four-day visit to New Zealand to pump up some publicity and to celebrate the 98 people who passed CFA exams in New Zealand this year.

He is in charge of the curriculum and exams for the qualification, intended to lift professional standards.

The CFA dates back to 1963 and is partly the creation of Benjamin Graham, known as the father of modern securities analysis.

In New Zealand, just 82 people - including analyst Jeremy Simpson at Forsyth Barr and Andrew South at Brook Asset Management - are CFA charter holders. Around the world there are 63,000.

The Virginia-based CFA Institute is a non-profit organisation and disclosure and ethics appear to be its buzzwords.

"In the internet boom no one wanted to hear about ethics," said Johnson. "Now they're willing to listen."

Johnson talked last night to the annual meeting of the New Zealand Society of Investment Professionals.

At the meeting, the society changed its name to the CFA Society of New Zealand.