Walex

Randy Wesson is a research analyst for a large brokerage company following the chemical industry. Wesson receives a phone call from his nephew who works part-time in an airport hospitality center for an airline while going to business school. Many meetings take place at the center on any given day. The nephew tells Wesson that while bringing some faxes into a conference room, he overheard executives of Hunt Chemical talking about the likely divestiture of one of their subsidiaries. His nephew wants to know whether that will be good for Hunt. Wesson should:

A) not use the information.

B) write a research report describing that he learned about the likely divestiture from his nephew who works at the hospitality center.

C) write a research report describing the possibility of a divestiture, but not mention how he learned about it.

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The information is material and nonpublic; therefore, Wesson cannot trade or cause others to trade on the information. Any action concerning the information would violate the Standard on material nonpublic information.

Walex

Lee Roth, who is an investment advisor, is riding in a taxi and finds a file of information labeled "Genco Valuation." The folder contains a great deal of financial data, projections and nonpublic information concerning the food products industry that lead Roth to believe that Genco will be worth 50% more than its current stock value. Roth also finds some correspondence that leads him to believe that the file belonged to Tom Hagan. Roth tries to find out where Hagan works so he can return the file. Roth can recommend Genco to his clients unless Hagan works for:

A) Roth cannot recommend Genco to his clients at this time.

B) the corporate finance department for Genco.

C) the equity research department for a brokerage firm.

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The information is material and nonpublic; therefore, Roth cannot act or cause others to act at this time.

Walex

Jack Stevens is employed by a company to provide investment advice to participants in the firm's 401(k) plan. One of the investment options is a stable value fund run by the company. Stevens' research indicates that the fund is far riskier and less liquid than the typical stable value fund and has a fundamental asset value lower than book value of the assets. He tells Jessica Cox, the head of employee benefits, about his research, and indicates that he will advise new employees to not invest in the fund and will advise employees who already own the fund to reduce their holdings in the fund. Cox points out that the fund is not in any current danger because there are very few redemptions requested of the fund. Cox also states that a sell recommendation may become a self fulfilling prophecy, causing investors to redeem their shares and forcing the fund to liquidate, which in turn will cause the remaining investors to receive less than their promised value. Stevens agrees with this assessment and feels his fiduciary duty is to all employees. Stevens should:

A) tell investors he cannot give advice on the fund because of a conflict of interest.

B) continue to recommend that new investors do not invest in the fund, but not advise existing investors to reduce their holdings.

C) continue to recommend that new investors do not invest in the fund and existing investors reduce their holdings.

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The employees to whom Stephens owes fiduciary duty are the ones who are seeking his advice, even if acting on that advice hurts other employees who might eventually become clients.

Walex

Travis Brown is a partner in a money management firm. He recently attended a seminar and learned about a quantitative model presented by Dixon. Upon returning to his office, Brown began testing the model and making a few minor alterations. He showed the model to his partners who were impressed and decided to promote the model as proof of the firm's value added. In the firm's next newsletter, Brown included a discussion of the model, the results, and financial data on several stocks selected by the model. These factual data were taken from Standard and Poor's publication. According to the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct, which of the following actions is Brown required to take?

A) Brown must credit S&P, no need to credit Dixon.

B) Brown must credit both Dixon and S&P.

C) Brown must credit Dixon, no need to credit S&P.

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The Standards require members to acknowledge the author of a model, but members are not required to acknowledge information from a recognized statistical and reporting service.

Walex

Randal Brooks is the chief economist for a large brokerage firm. In the aftermath of a national tragedy, Brooks feels that it is very possible that the stock market will drop significantly and not recover for several years. However, he does not believe that this is the most likely scenario but merely that the risk of investing in equities has increased. He decides to write a market commentary to the brokerage clients that discusses the reasons why the market will remain stable and talks about why he, as a private citizen, feels patriotic. He does not mention the increase risk in equities. Brooks has:

A) violated the Standards by not including all of the relevant factors in the research report and making patriotic statements.

B) violated the Standards by not including all of the relevant factors in the research report, but not by making patriotic statements.

C) not violated the Standards.

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By not mentioning the increased risk of the market, Brooks has violated the Standard on using reasonable judgment in a research report. However, the patriotic statements do not violate the Standards.

Walex

Which of the following statements about a member's use of client brokerage commissions is NOT correct? Client brokerage commissions:

A) should be commensurate with the value of the brokerage and research services received.

B) should be used by the member to ensure that fairness to the client is maintained.

C) may be directed to pay for the investment manager's operating expenses.

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Brokerage commissions are the property of the client and may only be used for client benefit

Walex

Anna Nichols is a research analyst preparing a report on Enterprise Company. In order to ensure accuracy in her report, she sends portions of the report to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Enterprise to allow him to check for factual errors. The CFO makes some corrections, which Nichols checks and agrees with. The CFO also sends Nichols several pages of market analyses that appear favorable for Enterprise. Nichols checks the analyses for accuracy and includes a summary of them in her report, pointing out that the data came from Enterprise. Nichols has:

A) violated the Standards of Professional Conduct by including the data from the CFO in the report.

B) not violated the Standards of Professional Conduct but may have violated Research Objectivity Standards.

C) violated the Standards of Professional Conduct by sending the report to the CFO before sending it to her clients.

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It is acceptable to send the report to management to check for factual errors and to use careful judgment in including the data provided by Enterprise (note that this was disclosed). Although Nichols has not violated the Standards of Professional Conduct, the Research Objectivity Standards would prohibit Nichols from sending the full report to the CFO. To comply with the Research Objectivity Standards, Nichols should only send the sections of the report containing facts about the company for verification.

Walex

Scott Andrews, CFA, is a stockbroker selling an oversubscribed stock issue. Which of the following best describes Andrews' actions regarding this sale? Andrews:

A) can offer this security on a prorated basis to all clients for which the security is appropriate.

B) cannot offer an oversubscribed issue of stock to any clients.

C) can only offer this security to clients for which it is appropriate on a first come first serve basis.

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Standard III(B), Fair Dealing, applies. When new issues or secondary offerings are available or are being offered by the firm or if the firm is part of a selling syndicate, all clients for whom the security is appropriate are to be offered a chance to take part in the issue. If the issue is oversubscribed, then the issue is to be prorated to all subscribers.

Walex

Denise Weaver is a portfolio manager who manages a mutual fund and has pension clients. When Weaver receives a proxy for stock in the mutual fund, she gives it to Susan Griffith, her administrative assistant, to complete. When the proxy is for a stock owned in a pension plan, she asks Griffith to send the proxy on to the sponsor of the pension fund. Weaver has:

A) violated the Standards by her policy on mutual fund proxies, but not her policy on pension fund proxies.

B) not violated the Standards.

C) violated the Standards by her policy on mutual fund and pension fund proxies.

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Proxies should be taken seriously, and although it is likely that Griffith can understand some of the issues, it is likely that she is not capable of making responsible decisions on all potential proxy issues. Proxies for a pension plan should be voted in the best interests of the beneficiaries, not the plan sponsor. The sponsor's interests will not always be the same as the beneficiary's interest.

Walex

A company has a defined benefit plan that is currently under-funded. The plan sponsor has instructed the portfolio manager of the plan to invest more aggressively to bring the funding level up to an adequate amount. Which of the following statements best describes the course of action the portfolio manager should take? The portfolio manager should:

A) not invest more aggressively because this is not the method used to increase the funding level of a plan.

B) not invest more aggressively since this may expose the plan to too much risk and may not be in the best interest of the plan's beneficiaries.

C) invest more aggressively because his fiduciary duties lie with the plan sponsor.

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Standard III(A), Loyalty, Prudence, and Care, applies in this situation. According to this Standard, investment actions should be carried out for the sole benefit of the client and in a manner the manager believes to be in the best interest of the client. Here, the client is the plan beneficiaries, not the manager or the entity that hired the manager.