Kathy Valentine
CFA Institute - North America
434-951-5348
kathy.valentine@cfainstitute.org
Jeffrey Diermeier Named to Succeed Thomas Bowman as CEO of Global Investment Association CFA Institute (Formerly AIMR)
DENVER, Colo, May 9, 2004 – The 70,000-member, worldwide Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR) not only has a new name – “CFA Institute” – but also will have a new president and CEO effective Jan. 1, 2005, it was announced tonight at the organization’s annual meeting in Denver, Colo.
Jeffrey J. Diermeier, CFA, has been unanimously selected by the professional association’s Board of Governors to fill the position that will be vacated Dec. 31, 2004, by the retirement of Thomas A. Bowman, CFA, who has served as president and CEO since 1994. Bowman announced his retirement plans in December.
Diermeier, 51, most recently was global chief investment officer at UBS Global Asset Management. In that role, he oversaw the management of more than $400 billion in assets, covering asset allocation, equities, fixed-income, real estate and currencies, and a staff of 435 investment professionals in 10 countries. He had been with UBS and its predecessors since he joined the former First National Bank of Chicago in 1975.
At CFA Institute – known as “AIMR” until tonight’s membership vote to change the name of the organization – Diermeier will oversee the global management of the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) Program, a world-renowned study and credentialing program that requires passage of three rigorous examinations over at least two years. More than 97,000 candidates from 145 countries are currently enrolled.
He also will oversee the association’s many other programs and services – including its Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct, its advocacy and standard-setting initiatives, its conferences and Web-based training seminars, its highly regarded Financial Analysts Journal, and its Global Investment Performance Standards, or GIPS®, and other performance-measurement standards.
CFA Institute has members in 116 countries. Most are investment managers, securities analysts and private-client investment counselors. It also has 129 affiliated local or national professional societies in 50 countries or territories. Diermeier will manage a staff of 240 working in London, Hong Kong and Charlottesville, Virginia.
Diermeier has served the non-profit association in various volunteer capacities for 18 years, including six years on the CFA curriculum committee. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Governors, having been elected to the board in 2002. He currently chairs the board’s planning committee, and in that capacity played a leadership role in the development of a five-year strategic vision for the organization. He is a member of the Investment Analysts Society of Chicago (one of four societies that in 1947 co-founded the original forerunner to CFA Institute) and served on the IASC board of directors from 1990 to 1992.
“I am thrilled to be stepping into the leadership of such a vital organization at this critical juncture in the investment profession, when our industry has been so challenged by issues of professionalism and ethics,” Diermeier said. “No other organization has as its core mission to advance the skills, knowledge, ethics and standards of investment professionals around the world – a mission that is more relevant now than ever. I look forward to working with all our constituencies – our societies, our individual members, our candidates and staff – to help create a better investment environment overall.”
In announcing Diermeier’s appointment, Ted R. Aronson, CFA, chair of the CFA Institute Board of Governors, and head of the board’s ad hoc search committee, said, “Jeff brings an awesome array of talents and experience to his role of CEO. His knowledge of the issues and opportunities facing not only CFA Institute but the global investment environment will be invaluable as we enter the next stage of our development as a worldwide professional association. Moreover, the timing is charmed – it is fortuitous indeed that Jeff's availability coincides with Tom's retirement.”
Current President and CEO Thomas A. Bowman, CFA, said, “I couldn’t be more pleased with the board’s selection. My 18 years as an executive with this organization, including 10 years as CEO, have truly been a labor of love, so I have a great deal vested in seeing a successor build on all we’ve accomplished to date. Jeff brings a wealth of global management skills at a time when we are experiencing unprecedented international expansion, with all the attendant opportunities and challenges that brings with it. I can tell the members and staff unequivocally that this organization will be in great hands.”
“I have big shoes to fill,” Diermeier said. “When Tom Bowman took over as president and CEO 10 years ago, AIMR had 25,000 individual members and fewer then 20,000 candidates in the CFA Program. We had member societies in just six countries, where today we have societies in 50. The organization has more than tripled in size and scope since then. But even more impressive than growth in numbers, Tom has led the organization to become a much more visible and influential leader and advocate for high standards of competence and integrity throughout the profession.”
Diermeier graduated in 1974 from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a bachelor’s of business administration and in 1975 with a master’s of business administration from the same institution. He earned the CFA charter in 1979. He began his career in 1975 as an equity analyst at First Chicago and rose to become head of asset allocation in 1980. When Brinson Partners was formed in a management buyout from First Chicago in 1989, he was head of its U.S. equity division. Later, when Brinson Partners became UBS Brinson (now UBS Global Asset Management), he became deputy chief investment officer and co-head of global equity. With the retirement of Gary Brinson, CFA, in 2000, he became global chief investment officer.
Diermeier has received two Graham and Dodd “Scroll Awards” for research articles he has contributed to the Financial Analysts Journal, published by CFA Institute. He also has received a Roger Murray Award from the Institute for Quantitative Research in Finance. He has received the distinguished Business Alumnus Award from the University of Wisconsin, where he served on the dean’s advisory board of the business school and endowed the Jeffrey J. Diermeier Chair in Finance. He is a member of the investment committees of both the University of Chicago and the University of Wisconsin Foundation.
About CFA Institute:
CFA Institute is the global, non-profit professional association
that administers the CFA curriculum and examination program worldwide and
sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting
standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has 70,000
members in 116 countries. Its membership includes the world’s 57,000 CFA
charterholders, as well as 129 affiliated professional societies in 50
countries. CFA Institute is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with
additional offices in London and Hong Kong. It was formed as the
Association for Investment Management and Research in 1990 from the
combination of the Financial Analysts Federation (formed in 1947) and the
Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts (formed in 1962). More
information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org or by
calling 1-800-247-8132 or 1-434-951-5499.