Is the use of client brokerage to make the $25,000 educational contribution to the Hoover Study Center of Unions a violation of the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct?

For the past 15 years, Susan Luna, CFA, Kyle Lawson, CFA, and Matt Miller. CFA, have worked together as equity analysts and then equity portfolio managers in the investment management division (BIMCO) of the Broadway Life Insurance Company. For the past five years, the three associates have worked together managing the BIMCO Aggressive Growth Fund (BAGF). During their management tenure the BAGF had excellent performance and was well recognized in the financial press.

Just over one year ago, Broadway Life was acquired by a larger company, Gobble Insurance, and as part of the consolidation process BIMCO was closed. The closure allowed Luna, Lawson and Miller to start their own investment management firm, Trio Investment Management LLC (TIM). TIM focuses on the small capitalization growth equities area. This is the same investment focus as the BAGF, but TIM will have individually managed accounts. Several cases have arisen calling for interpretation as to consistency with CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct.

Case 1

TIM markets its investment management services by contracting with small, local bank trust departments. One of the newest bank trust clients for TIM is Shadow Mountain Bank and Trust. Judy Sampson, CFA, the trust officer for Shadow Mountain, has scheduled a meeting with a potential client. When Lawson arrives for the client meeting, he finds that all of the TIM marketing material, including biographies of TIM portfolio managers, has been relabeled by Sampson as the Shadow Mountain Wealth Management Team. Sampson has also added the performance of BAGF into the current TIM Equity Composite Index portfolio and relabeled the resultant combined graph, the Shadow Mountain Equity Composite Index. Sampson states that making such changes would probably please clients and improve the chances of acquiring additional trust management accounts for Shadow Mountain and TIM. Lawson goes along and makes the presentation to the potential client using the Shadow Mountain marketing material and the relabeled BAGF/TIM equity performance record.

Case 2

Susan Luna of TIM is meeting with Sol Wurtzel, an institutional salesman for Turn Byer, a large national brokerage firm. Luna complains that TIM*s technology costs are too high, especially their outside software services costs. TIM currently subscribes to two investment-related software services. The first software vendor is StockCal Software Services (StockCal), which provides valuation and stock charting capabilities TIM uses in their equity research and selection process. The other vendor is Add-Invest Software (Add-Invest), a software program providing account management and performance evaluation reporting which TIM uses in developing monthly reports for all clients. In response to Luna, Wurtzel suggests that Turn Byer has an excellent soft dollar trading desk and would be willing to offer to cover TIM’s StockCal and Add-Invest expenses through soft dollar commissions. Luna then reviews TIM’s projected commission dollars for the year and decides there are more than enough soft dollars to pay the StockCal, AGF and Add-Invest Software bills combined. Luna believes she can be assured of excellent trade execution from Turn Byer and improved profitability for TIM because of the increased use of soft dollars. Luna then directs that the StockCal and Add-Invest software services be paid for with soft dollar or client brokerage dollars.

Case 3

Sol Wurtzel, the equity salesman for Turn Byer, has referred several clients to TIM over the past year. In fact, Wurtzel referrals currently account for almost 20% of the assets managed by TIM. The principals of TIM decide to reward Wurtzel, either by doubling the commissions paid on trades executed through Turn Byer on Wurtzel’s referral accounts, or by paying Wurtzel a cash referral fee for each additional TIM account opened by a Wurtzel referral. The principals agree that any cash referral fee would need to be disclosed to clients in advance.

Case 4

Luna notes that her clients have become increasingly aware of the directed client brokerage / soft dollar commissions issue. At a recent meeting with one of her large pension clients. Service Workers Union Local #1418, the subject of directed commissions came up. Upon learning of the commission dollars available to their account, the Union trustees directed Luna to use their client brokerage of approximately $25,000 to donate to a think lank called the Hoover Study Center of Unions at Samford University. Service Workers trustees believed the Hoover study will increase the public awareness of the benefits unions offer to their members and increase union membership. Luna concurs with the trustee’s judgment on increasing union enrollment as a great goal, and follows the client’s instructions and makes the $25,000 contribution to the Hoover Study Center. Another client, Rosa Lutz, has asked Luna to credit the soft dollar client brokerage proceeds from her personal retirement accounts to Roswell Academy, to update their computer lab. Luna agrees that a new computer lab for Roswell Academy is greatly needed and she allocates 510,000 of Lutz’s commission dollars to Roswell Academy.

Is the use of client brokerage to make the $25,000 educational contribution to the Hoover Study Center of Unions a violation of the CFA Institute Standards of Professional Conduct?
A . Yes, because TIM must assure that client brokerage fees are directed to the benefit of the client.
B . Yes, because client brokerage must only be used to pay for goods and services directly related to the investment decision making process.
C . No, because the client brokerage has been spent at the specific direction of the client.

Answer: A

Explanation:

Standard 111(A). In making a $25,000 contribution to the Hoover Study Center of Unions, Luna has violated Standard 111(A) Duties to Cliencs – Loyalty, Prudence, and Care, which states that Members and Candidates must act for the benefit cf their clients and place their clients’ interest before their employer’s or their own interest. In relationship with clients, Members and Candidates must determine applicable fiduciary duty and must comply with such duty to persons and interests to whom it is owed. The contribution to the Hoover Study Center of Unions, authorized by the trustees of the union, brings into question acting for the benefit of the client. Despite providing guidance and governance for the union, trustees are not the client of the union fund; rather, the members of the union and their beneficiaries are the clients of the fund. By making a $25,000 contribution from the client brokerage, Luna and the trustees have used funds that rightly belongs to the members of the union and they have done so without direct compensation to the Union members. Luna should not have authorized the pension account to make the contribution and having done so violated her duty to loyally guard the assets of her clients as a fiduciary. Luna has an obligation to follow not only the Code and Standards, but also adhere to the CFA Institute Soft Dollar Standards, which stress that the client brokerage is property of the client, not the trustee or fiduciary representing the client. (Study Session 1, LOS 2.a)