Course Content
ETHICS AND TRUST IN THE INVESTMENT PROFESSION
This chapter is covered in Reading 1 of the Study Session 1, of the study material prescribed by the institute. After reading this chapter a student should be able to: a explain ethics; b describe the role of a code of ethics in defining a profession; c describe professions and how they establish trust; d describe the need for high ethical standards in investment management; e explain professionalism in investment management; f identify challenges to ethical behavior; g distinguish between ethical and legal standards; h describe a framework for ethical decision making.
0/7
CODE OF ETHICS AND STANDARDS OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT
This chapter is covered in Reading 2 of the Study Session 1, of the study material prescribed by the institute. After reading this chapter a student should be able to: a. describe the structure of the CFA Institute Professional Conduct Program and the process for the enforcement of the Code and Standards; b. state the six components of the Code of Ethics and the seven Standards of Professional Conduct; c. explain the ethical responsibilities required by the Code and Standards, including the sub-sections of each Standard.
0/3
GUIDANCE FOR STANDARDS I–VII
This chapter is covered in Reading 3 of the Study Session 1, of the study material prescribed by the institute. After reading this chapter a student should be able to: a. demonstrate the application of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct to situations involving issues of professional integrity; b. distinguish between conduct that conforms to the Code and Standards and conduct that violates the Code and Standards; c. recommend practices and procedures designed to prevent violations of the Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.
0/7
INTRODUCTION TO THE GLOBAL INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE STANDARDS (GIPS)
This chapter is covered in Reading 4 of the Study Session 1, of the study material prescribed by the institute. After reading this chapter a student should be able to: a. a explain why the GIPS standards were created, what parties the GIPS standards apply to, and who is served by the standards; b. explain the construction and purpose of composites in performance reporting; c. explain the requirements for verification.
0/5
GLOBAL INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE STANDARDS (GIPS)
This chapter is covered in Reading 5 of the Study Session 1, of the study material prescribed by the institute. After reading this chapter a student should be able to: a. describe the key features of the GIPS standards and the fundamentals of compliance; b. describe the scope of the GIPS standards with respect to an investment firm’s definition and historical performance record; c. explain how the GIPS standards are implemented in countries with existing standards for performance reporting and describe the appropriate response when the GIPS standards and local regulations conflict; d. describe the nine major sections of the GIPS standards.
0/7
Ethical and Professional Standards
About Lesson

The GIPS standards are the benchmarks for the interbank comparisons. The comparisons between investment firms become extremely difficult if there are no standards.

Without the comparisons, the firms start involving themselves in misleading practices, such as:

a.  Representative Accounts: This involves selecting the portfolio that represents the firm as a whole. Sometimes to improve their credibility, the firms present their best-performing portfolios as representing the firm as a whole.

b.  Survivorship Bias: This involves not including the failed accounts or poor performing accounts that closed that may result in termination of the firm.

c.  Varying Time Periods: This includes presenting the data only for those time periods when the performance of the firm was good and outperformed its benchmarks.

Therefore, the GIPS standards provide clients and prospective clients with comparable and representative investment performance data. It provides an industry-wide standard approach for the calculation and presentation of performance.