Please visit www.cfaphilippines.org for more details and for the registration form.
Chartered Financial Analyst Society of the Philippines (CFAP)
Review Courses
December 2009 CFA Level 1 Examination
“Build Your Network While Enhancing Your Learning”
Registration fee : Php 35,000.00
Venue : Room 502 (5th floor)
College of Business Administration
University of the Philippines - Diliman
Quezon City
Time : 1:00pm to 4:00pm
The package includes:
CFA Level 1 review materials
Mock-exam to be administered two (2) weeks before the date of the actual exam
One (1) complimentary entrance to three (3) CFA Philippines Continuing Education (CE) events worth Php 1,500 each
One (1) free affiliate membership to CFA Society of the Philippines worth Php 1,000 IF you pass the CFA Level 1 exam in December 2009
There will be sixteen (16) review sessions to be handled by various CFAP Members and industry practitioners according to the following schedule (all dates are Saturdays):
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
WANTED: CFA Philippines Executive Director
CFA Philippines is currently searching for an Executive Director.
Please view details of the requirements for this position at the Job Listings section of http://www.cfaphilippines.org/
Please view details of the requirements for this position at the Job Listings section of http://www.cfaphilippines.org/
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Scams and Failures in the Finance and Investment Industry of the Philippines
BW Resources, Dewey Dee, Royal Manchester, Legacy, FrancSwiss, G7 Bank, Multinational Telecom Investors Corp. (Multitel), MMG Holdings, Performance Investment Corp. (PIPC), Glasgow and Maria Theresa Santos Trading
There is a crisis of confidence in the Philippines! One that is brought about by numerous scams and financial industry failures that go on without corresponding penalties.
Share your thoughts and suggestions on why our Investment environment is conducive for scams and schemes in the Philippines. More importantly, what can we do to positively change our investment environment.
There is a crisis of confidence in the Philippines! One that is brought about by numerous scams and financial industry failures that go on without corresponding penalties.
Share your thoughts and suggestions on why our Investment environment is conducive for scams and schemes in the Philippines. More importantly, what can we do to positively change our investment environment.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Marc Faber turns bullish
Marc Faber, a renowned investor and a frequent speaking guest at CFA Philippines' seminars, has switched from his gloom-and-doom stance regarding the US equity market, and gave an upbeat interview to Bloomberg recently. Marc Faber has correctly predicted the current crisis two years ago. See his interview here, and also read the other articles in this very educational site for investors interested in macro environment, aptly named : http://themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com/
Monday, February 9, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Why they sold CDS that destroyed their companies
The current financial crisis is more about Credit Default Swaps than housing prices. The losses incurred from CDS (on the seller side) on the financial sector is far greater than losses from direct mortgage loans. It is estimated that as of end of 2008, the nominal value of CDS is about $50 trillion.
Why did the banks (and companies like AIG) sell this product, when the upside is much smaller than the downside? unlike an insurance, the loss on a CDS contract cannot be shared by a pool of policies. It is a gamble, pure and simple. If the seller wins, he gets to keep the premium. If he loses, he loses big.
I got the answer while reading an article called "Twenty Five People at the Heart of the Meltdown". The first part of the article lists the major characters responsible for the global financial crisis, with a British focus. The second part lists those who saw it coming. Meredith Whitney was one of them, and she said that Citigroup was in big trouble back in October 2007. She credited her insight to an ex-colleague Stephen Eismann.
The path that Eismann took to reach the conclusion that the financial system was heading to a disaster was detailed in an excellent article by Michael Lewis, author of a book called "Liar's Poker", in portfolio.com. Here is the answer:
"when I sit down with Eisman, the very first thing he wants to explain is the importance of the mezzanine C.D.O. What you notice first about Eisman is his lips. He holds them pursed, waiting to speak. The second thing you notice is his short, light hair, cropped in a manner that suggests he cut it himself while thinking about something else. “You have to understand this,” he says. “This was the engine of doom.” Then he draws a picture of several towers of debt. The first tower is made of the original subprime loans that had been piled together. At the top of this tower is the AAA tranche, just below it the AA tranche, and so on down to the riskiest, the BBB tranche—the bonds Eisman had shorted. But Wall Street had used these BBB tranches—the worst of the worst—to build yet another tower of bonds: a “particularly egregious” C.D.O. The reason they did this was that the rating agencies, presented with the pile of bonds backed by dubious loans, would pronounce most of them AAA. These bonds could then be sold to investors—pension funds, insurance companies—who were allowed to invest only in highly rated securities. "
"His dinner companion in Las Vegas ran a fund of about $15 billion and managed C.D.O.’s backed by the BBB tranche of a mortgage bond, or as Eisman puts it, “the equivalent of three levels of dog shit lower than the original bonds.” FrontPoint had spent a lot of time digging around in the dog shit and knew that the default rates were already sufficient to wipe out this guy’s entire portfolio. “God, you must be having a hard time,” Eisman told his dinner companion.“No,” the guy said, “I’ve sold everything out.” After taking a fee, he passed them on to other investors. His job was to be the C.D.O. “expert,” but he actually didn’t spend any time at all thinking about what was in the C.D.O.’s. “He managed the C.D.O.’s,” says Eisman, “but managed what? I was just appalled. People would pay up to have someone manage their C.D.O.’s—as if this moron was helping you. I thought, You prcik, you don’t give a fcuk about the investors in this thing.”
The incentive system encourages bankers to focus on short term returns. As long as CDS lasts longer than the housing boom, the bankers would receive bonus before the party is over.
Why did the banks (and companies like AIG) sell this product, when the upside is much smaller than the downside? unlike an insurance, the loss on a CDS contract cannot be shared by a pool of policies. It is a gamble, pure and simple. If the seller wins, he gets to keep the premium. If he loses, he loses big.
I got the answer while reading an article called "Twenty Five People at the Heart of the Meltdown". The first part of the article lists the major characters responsible for the global financial crisis, with a British focus. The second part lists those who saw it coming. Meredith Whitney was one of them, and she said that Citigroup was in big trouble back in October 2007. She credited her insight to an ex-colleague Stephen Eismann.
The path that Eismann took to reach the conclusion that the financial system was heading to a disaster was detailed in an excellent article by Michael Lewis, author of a book called "Liar's Poker", in portfolio.com. Here is the answer:
"when I sit down with Eisman, the very first thing he wants to explain is the importance of the mezzanine C.D.O. What you notice first about Eisman is his lips. He holds them pursed, waiting to speak. The second thing you notice is his short, light hair, cropped in a manner that suggests he cut it himself while thinking about something else. “You have to understand this,” he says. “This was the engine of doom.” Then he draws a picture of several towers of debt. The first tower is made of the original subprime loans that had been piled together. At the top of this tower is the AAA tranche, just below it the AA tranche, and so on down to the riskiest, the BBB tranche—the bonds Eisman had shorted. But Wall Street had used these BBB tranches—the worst of the worst—to build yet another tower of bonds: a “particularly egregious” C.D.O. The reason they did this was that the rating agencies, presented with the pile of bonds backed by dubious loans, would pronounce most of them AAA. These bonds could then be sold to investors—pension funds, insurance companies—who were allowed to invest only in highly rated securities. "
"His dinner companion in Las Vegas ran a fund of about $15 billion and managed C.D.O.’s backed by the BBB tranche of a mortgage bond, or as Eisman puts it, “the equivalent of three levels of dog shit lower than the original bonds.” FrontPoint had spent a lot of time digging around in the dog shit and knew that the default rates were already sufficient to wipe out this guy’s entire portfolio. “God, you must be having a hard time,” Eisman told his dinner companion.“No,” the guy said, “I’ve sold everything out.” After taking a fee, he passed them on to other investors. His job was to be the C.D.O. “expert,” but he actually didn’t spend any time at all thinking about what was in the C.D.O.’s. “He managed the C.D.O.’s,” says Eisman, “but managed what? I was just appalled. People would pay up to have someone manage their C.D.O.’s—as if this moron was helping you. I thought, You prcik, you don’t give a fcuk about the investors in this thing.”
The incentive system encourages bankers to focus on short term returns. As long as CDS lasts longer than the housing boom, the bankers would receive bonus before the party is over.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Team CFA Philippines - off to Singapore!
4 men and a lady will represent the Philippines in the upcoming Regional competition in Singapore on March 6-7, 2009.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Introducing TEAM CFA PHILIPPINES - Winner of 1st IRC - University of the Philippines! Congratulations!
Team CFA Philippines will be composed of students from the University of the Philippines.
Team CFA Philippines will be flying to Singapore in March 2009 to compete in the Regional Competition!
Let's all support Team CFA Philippines!
Team CFA Philippines will be flying to Singapore in March 2009 to compete in the Regional Competition!
Let's all support Team CFA Philippines!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Investment Reseach Challenge Finals on Jan. 23, 2009
The Finals of the 1st Philippine Investment Research Challenge will be held at the PSE Tektite Auditorium, Ground Floor, on the afternoon of January 23, 2009.
2PM - 6PM, Friday.
The members of Team CFA Philippines will be announced on this day! There is no charge for attending this event. Please register with the Secretariat if you intend to attend.
More details to be announced.
The members of Team CFA Philippines will be announced on this day! There is no charge for attending this event. Please register with the Secretariat if you intend to attend.
More details to be announced.
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