What We Stand For

 

Our Guiding Principles

 

For more than 40 years, CFA Institute has advocated for efficient capital markets that are ethical, transparent, and provide investor protections.

 

We believe:

 

• Investors come first. The interests of the investing client must always take precedence over the interests of investment professionals and their employers
• Investment professionals must act ethically and in accordance with the highest professional standards. They must:
  • Act with integrity in all their dealings
  • Maintain independence and objectivity
  • Continuously strive to maintain and improve their professional knowledge and competence
• Investors need complete, accurate, timely and transparent information from securities issuers
• Financial statements should be reported from the perspective of the shareholder who bears the ultimate risk, and with the shareholder’s best interests held paramount
  • Financial statements should be fully transparent and report the fair values of all assets, liabilities, exchanges and transactions that could potentially impact the investor  
  • All assets and liabilities should be included in the balance sheet, with no hidden assets, hidden debt or hidden obligations
• Markets should move toward one set of global, high-quality standards for reporting financial information
• Self-regulation is generally the preferred method for promoting fair and efficient markets. However, we recognize that some circumstances require additional regulation in order to ensure adequate investor protection