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MEMBERS ONLY

Letter from Daryl Dennis, President, CFAW

February 2009

Dear Fellow CFA Society of Washington Member,

We have completed the first half of year and realized numerous accomplishments along the way. When we began the year the officers and board members adopted three key themes for the fiscal year:

1. Improve upon previous year accomplishments
2. Improve outreach in the community
3. Give back to our membership

I believe it will be useful to share with you what we have accomplished in each of those areas.

We have significant strides in our outreach efforts with universities, and public and private sector organizations. Our university outreach committee has established relationships with seven different local universities and identified academic liaisons with most of those institutions. As well, we are well on our way to conducting our first “investment research challenge” with local universities with whom we have established relationships.

In addition to university outreach, we have established relationships with similar types of organizations in the financial services industry. As well, we are establishing long-term relationships with corporations and quasi-government or government agencies that have a large number of employees as CFA charter holders. We plan on building these relationships so that we may have permanent partners from different segments of our industry.

Our Society recently held a successful Annual Winter Dinner on February 11, with best selling author Roger Lowenstein, as the keynote speaker. Despite the difficult economic times that we are encountering, especially in the financial services industry, the success of the dinner is attributed to the corporate sponsors with whom we have established relationships with through our outreach efforts and our membership.

Over 170 people turned out for the event which was held at the Four Seasons Hotel. In recognition of the challenging economic times, we decided to hold event prices at last year’s levels, resulting in our Society subsidizing over one half the cost of the event. We are pleased that so many members had the opportunity to enjoy a fine meal and one another’s company. We are especially grateful to our table sponsors for the support they provided to us this year.

Finally, we were able to provide a robust program and event schedule for the first half of the fiscal year and we will continue to do so in the future. Although attendance has declined, a few of the more popular events were—strategists Tobias Levkovich and Jason Trennert, Hot Topics in the Hedge Fund Industry and our first ever financial modeling class. Look for more interesting event topics for the remainder of the year.

Best regards,

Daryl

Press Release

This section has been established to inform the membership about local Society news.

Distressed Commercial Property Selling Slowly, Learsy Says
2009-05-05 21:11:49.207 GMT By David M. Levitt
May 5 (Bloomberg) -- Distressed commercial real estate assets may sell slowly because a federal program will be of limited help to investors, said Serge Learsy, a director of J.E. Robert Co.
“Currently the approach the government has to ending the crisis is much less defined,” Learsy said today on a panel sponsored by the Chartered Financial Analyst Society in Washington. J.E. Robert is a McLean, Virginia-based real estate investment firm.
The Federal Reserve on May 1 authorized longer-term loans for investors buying securities backed by commercial mortgages in a $1 trillion emergency credit program, taking a step the industry said was needed to avert defaults. Under the current structure, mortgage holders have the option not to sell to the highest bidder, which doesn’t create enough of an incentive, Learsy said.
“You’re going to have to see big portfolios of commercial real estate trade in absolute auctions” before the market starts to recover, he said.
No comparable institution to the federal Resolution Trust Co., which took over foreclosed real estate from failed banks during the 1989-1993 pricing slump, yet exists, Learsy said.
Without the government forcing failed institutions into such a clearinghouse, there’s no one building portfolios for investors to bid on, he said.
About $318 billion of funds raised to buy commercial real estate are in investor accounts waiting for loans to become available and affordable again, said Scott Price, managing director of Robert Charles Lesser & Co. Real Estate Advisors of Bethesda, Maryland, a market strategy consultant.
CMBS Due
About $1.8 trillion of commercial mortgage-backed securities come due by 2012, which is keeping lenders from financing new acquisitions, he said.
Financial institutions are reluctant to sell assets below the prices they have on their books because regulators and investors would see those institutions “are technically insolvent,” Learsy said. This is what drove fourth-quarter U.S. transaction volume down by over 90 percent, he said.
--Editors: Alan Mirabella, Rob Urban To contact the reporters on this story: David M. Levitt in Washington at +1-212-617-4765 or dlevitt@bloomberg.net.

PODCAST
Click Here to listen to the podcast posted: Tue, 05 May 2009 14:39:48 on www.marketwatch.com/podcasts
VIDEOS
A video of the panel discussion, Serge Learsy speaking on Louis Rukeyser’s blog: Real Stress Tests from the CFA Society of DC. (first video on left or scroll down to the middle of the page).
Click here to watch the YouTube Video: Distressed Real Estate Estate Panel: Challenges & Opportunities for Investors. Hosted by the CFA of D.C..

June 15, 2008

Dear CFA Society of Washington, DC Member:

The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Daryl C. Dennis, CFA has been elected President of the Society and that the following individuals also have been elected as Officers and Directors (with a majority of votes cast as indicated) to serve during the 2008– 2009 fiscal year (July 1 – June 30), as follows: More details...

July 08 2009
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Event: Beginner Golf Lessons for Members Only
Location: Reston National Nike Golf Learning Center ~ 11875 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191
Registration: To sign up for lessons, please call Reston National Nike Golf Learning Center at 703-620-9333 and ask for Cindy Skilton. Payment will be made to the Reston Golf Learning Center.

Pricing Structure: $185
Network with fellow CFAW members as you sharpen your golf skills. Includes 4 weeks of lessons (90 minutes per class) for beginner, intermediate and advanced level golfers. No worries if you don’t already have clubs, equipment will be supplied.
Also included for Reston National students:
•5 free rounds of off-peak golf
•Unlimited Play with the Pro sessions: 1/2 hour instruction followed by one hour of playing on the course. $10 fee covers instruction, balls, cart and green fee
•5 free Practice with the Pro Sessions: Supervised practice with instructor to help you and other students progress
•Range Discount Voucher: Half priced range balls

Discount pricing for members and their families applies to all classes offered at Reston National Nike Golf Learning Center. Please click here for more information.

If you should have any questions, please do not hesistate to call CFAW at:
888-718-3893.

July 11 2009
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Event: Intermdiate Golf Lessons for Members Only
Location: Reston National Nike Golf Learning Center ~ 11875 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, VA 20191
Registration: To sign up for lessons, please call Reston National Nike Golf Learning Center at 703-620-9333 and ask for Cindy Skilton. Payment will be made to the Reston Golf Learning Center.

Pricing Structure: $185
Network with fellow CFAW members as you sharpen your golf skills. Includes 4 weeks of lessons (90 minutes per class) for beginner, intermediate and advanced level golfers. No worries if you don’t already have clubs, equipment will be supplied.
Also included for Reston National students:
•5 free rounds of off-peak golf
•Unlimited Play with the Pro sessions: 1/2 hour instruction followed by one hour of playing on the course. $10 fee covers instruction, balls, cart and green fee
•5 free Practice with the Pro Sessions: Supervised practice with instructor to help you and other students progress
•Range Discount Voucher: Half priced range balls

Discount pricing for members and their families applies to all classes offered at Reston National Nike Golf Learning Center. Please click here for more information.

If you should have any questions, please do not hesistate to call CFAW at:
888-718-3893.