The reason why John Rogers resigned

Water Cooler
#1

Apparently, he was banging a staff member…

http://online.wsj.com/articles/cfa-institute-chief-departs-after-disclosing-relationship-1402427710

#2

I never gave two shits about the guy before, but now I kinda like him.

#3

Given the comp package that he lost, hat’s some expensive vajayjay.

#4

Can someone paste the text or is this a BSD-wannabe-filter?

#5

haha atta boy john

#6

from FT

CFA Institute forced to answer own tricky ethics questionLisa Pollack

Lisa joined FT Alphaville in September 2011 after a tour of duty through the guts of the financial industry, having worked as an analyst at a bank and for a financial data company. She’s now the Head of New Projects for FT.com.

Learn more | Subscribe to Lisa’s posts | Jun 11 14:58 | 2 comments | Share Share this on

With tens of thousands of CFA candidates hoping that you’d forget they sat an exam on Saturday, this WSJ headline from Tuesday could not have been written at a worse time:

Oh dear.

Here’s a quick run down:

  • On March 19th, CFA Institute announces President John Rogers, CFA will step down in August.
  • On March 28th, Rogers discloses a “personal matter that represented a potential conflict of interest” to Charles Yang, CFA, who’s Chair of the Board of Governors. A committee is formed to discuss the matter over biscuits.
  • The full board is informed on April 27th.
  • On June 3th, Rogers leaves CFA Institute. According to the WSJ: “Mr. Rogers’s departure followed an investigation by board members into his relationship with the senior staff member, said the people with knowledge of the situation.”

After getting wind of the shocking revelation that employees of CFA Institute are fallible humans too, FT Alphaville went out into the field picked up the phone to get reaction from CFA charterholders, posing the tough questions: “Do you, as a CFA charterholder, give a damn that the president of CFA Institute may have had a relationship with a senior staff member?”

A representative charterholder working in the financial industry responded with:

heh? hehehe… I don’t think anyone does, right? hehe…

Another one — and you’ll never guess he’s German — made reference to the Institute’s policies, noting that Rogers himself is a charterholder:

Wait. Does the Code of Conduct say anything about office relationships? It does. Well, actually, does it or doesn’t it?

Judging from CFA Institute’s own messaging around Rogers’ early departure, it possibly comes down to this (which is one of the Standards of Professional Conduct):

VI(A). Disclosure of Conflicts. Members and Candidates must make full and fair disclosure of all matters that could reasonably be expected to impair their independence and objectivity or interfere with respective duties to their clients, prospective clients, and employer. Members and Candidates must ensure that such disclosures are prominent, are delivered in plain language, and communicate the relevant information effectively.

“Prominent” disclosure that’s “in plain language” concerning a relationship… Come to think of it, Tom Cruise gave a good example of this once…

But, to be serious for a moment (don’t worry, it’ll be fleeting), this is a common conundrum — namely, when to disclose an office relationship. Is it a fifth date sort of thing, or after meeting the close friends but before changing one’s Facebook status to “in a relationship”?

If there’s a reporting line between the two individuals involved, or if one is already in another relationship (as FT Alphaville thinks Rogers is or has previously been, but we haven’t confirmed it and frankly — whatever), then that’s more complicated.

Putting the ‘cheating’ question to one side, in the office changing the reporting line by one person moving departments is often the way to go. But with the effect this can have on one’s career trajectory, it’s arguably a big relationship development. Getting a cat together can have fewer consequences than moving jobs.

Banning workplace relationships isn’t an answer, given the impact it would have on the world’s population. Too many people meet their partner at work, which is hardly surprising given the amount of time people spend in the office.

Whether or not CFA Institute was overreacting with this, we’ll probably never know. But choosing the right time to disclose a workplace relationship is hard. And if there’s a partner who hasn’t been in on said disclosure, that’s gotta be even harder.

Tricky one. Not sure how we’d answer if it ever came up on an exam.

#7

is his charter revoked???

#8

Love is dangerous stuff. At least when there’s lust involved…

#9

2012

Base Salary - 600k

Incentive - 604.8k

Retention Incentive - 59.6k

Retirement Restoration - 121.7k

Retirement Plan Contributions - 30k

= 1.4mio, that was one expensive long lunch.

#10

Are we really to believe that John Rogers volunteered this information to CFAI? With this compensation package hanging in the air, how could someone not report the affair if they knew they could later place themselves or a candidate of their choice into that seat? I doubt that this could have remained a secret; if your boss was banging your coworker, I’m sure you will notice something.

#11

“Love is the death of duty.”

#12

Coming next year to Level 1: 1. You catch your supervisor in an intimate moment with a coworker. It appears that the boss did not fully consider the impacts on his compensation package. Further, you felt you were making “progress” with her before the boss became involved. Which of the following standards has the boss most violated: a) Loyalty, Prudence, and Care b) Independence and Objectivity c) Diligence and Reasonable Basis

#13

^ Respect.

#14

Is she hot?

#15

More like CFA ambiguity:

a) There was one Standard violated

b) There werethree Standards violated

c) No standard was violated

#16

Hard to determine whether the “relationship” was worth the sacrifice without seeing a picture of said senior staff member.

#17

i bet bromion was the one that got the dirt on j rogers

#18

I guess his PI was pretty good afterall.

#19

I didn’t but I should have. You know it wasn’t me because I would have leaked a picture so that inquiring minds everywhere could answer the question, “This chick, is she hot?” The key variable here is missing, that’s just not consistent with the level of work I produce.

BTW my money is on “not that hot”. Let’s be honest, no hot chicks work at CFAI.

I did find a PI though. This could get pretty interesting.

#20

that is pretty fucking ridiculous compensation