CFA Institute’s message left a bitter taste in charterholders' mouths
The CFA Institute’s former Chief Marketing Officer, Michael Collins, embezzled nearly $5m from the firm between 2016 and 2022. That was known three weeks ago. But the CFA Institute only responded last week, and CFA charterholders are not happy with its response.
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“This is tone-deaf,” CFA charterholder James Dowd said on social media. “An apology is in order, not a list of mitigating factors,” said Dowd, the CEO of North Capital, a Utah-based fintech.
Other charterholders agreed with Dowd. “CFAI has lost its way under the current administration,” said Matthew Malone, former MD at private equity firm FS Investments. “One thing they are never late on is asking for your membership renewal,” added Les Stelmach, portfolio manager for the Canadian Management Employees Pension Plan.
In a Reddit thread, others were even less forgiving. “Failure to spot the CMO's alleged theft is forgivable,” one user wrote. But the "radio silence" once it was revealed was not; the user pointed to CFA Institute CEO Margaret Franklin's $1.4m pay package in 2024 as endemic of a wider issue. Franklin's tenure (since 2019) has overlapped with a significant decline in CFA enrollments: the Institute is in decline.
You would never know this. Despite the decline, CFA Institute’s own headcount and compensation has been increasing steadily. Between 2022 and 2024 it hired 50 people. In 2024, it paid $195k per head, down 6% from the $208k it paid in 2022.
“This is a membership organization WE are the victims and your complete lack of communication is as offensive as the claim that somehow you are the one that has been wronged,” another Reddit poster said.
The consensus among CFA members is to take action at the group’s proxy vote on the 21st of July. “In the communication, the CEO once again fails to take any responsibility or apologise,” said CFA charterholder, incoming MBA student, and former UBS graduate trainee Tom Jaussi. “This attempt at spin betrays a lack of respect for both the intellect and capacity for moral judgement of CFA Charterholders the world over.” In a separate post, Jaussi said that the CFA’s board “does not merit the additional power and lack of accountability to us members that proposed changes entail.”
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