2015 ANNUAL REPORT

My Fellow Members and Friends,

With this being our inaugural annual report to members, I’d like to open it with some words of gratitude

to the people who selflessly gave their time and talents for the benefit of this society and its members,

whether it be ensuring our solid financial condition, maintaining our relationship with CFA Institute, event

planning, improving our website, or even producing this report. I’d like to specifically thank Johan Grahs

(Vice President), Will Aycock (Treasurer), and Stephen Daniels (Secretary) for their support and hard work

throughout the year as well as board members Courtenay Bloodworth, Guillermo Araoz, Kee Goostree, Adrian

Hughes, Zach Ivey, Kent Russell, Steve Smith, and Rusty Yerkes for their continued leadership and guidance.

In that spirit of gratitude I am happy to report that 2015 has been

a banner year for our society. So far this year we have lined up an

outstanding roster of speakers, increased our media presence, and

provided networking opportunities both specific to our society as

well as co-hosted events. In regard to our monthly meetings, so

far this year we have heard from Chris Verrone (Technical Analysis

- Strategas), Greg Olson (Senior Credit Analyst - First Trust), Dan

Clifton (Political Strategist - Strategas), and Fred Speece (Owner/

Partner - Speece Thorson Capital). This January we also enjoyed a

presentation from Dean Howard Finch of Samford University’s Brock

School of Business that included a tour of their new facilities. We are in the planning stages for additional

events and look forward to communicating these opportunities to members soon as we continue to strive

toward our objective of providing benefits and creating value for our members.

For this coming year we are particularly excited about our participation in CFA lnstitute’s brand awareness

campaign, which will provide additional funding and resources to member societies for the specific purpose

of promoting the CFA designation, and in another way, promoting our members within the local community.

We are working with CFA Institute and local media outlets to come up with the best way to use these

resources and hope to have our plan enacted within the next few months.

This has been an exciting year for our group and I’d like to thank our members and candidates for their

continued interest and involvement. Attendance at our monthly meetings has been stellar and we thank you

for your active participation.

Sincerely,

Adam Rogers, CFA

President, CFA Society of Alabama

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

MISSION CFA Institute, formerly known as the Association

for Investment Management and Research

(AIMR), is a global community of investment

professionals working to build an investment

management industry where investors’

interests come first, financial markets function

at their best, and economies grow.

We advocate for financial market integrity and

develop and promote ethical and professional

standards, such as the Global Investment

Performance Standards (GIPS®) and the Asset

Manager Code of Professional Conduct ™, and

our members uphold our industry-leading

Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional

Conduct.

ABOUT CFA INSTITUTE

The Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) credential is the

most respected and recognized investment management

designation in the world. The curriculum covers academic

theory, current industry practice, and ethical and professional

standards to provide a strong foundation of advanced

investment analysis and real-world portfolio management

skills. A work experience requirement and an annual ethics

statement ensure career-long professional excellence by

those who have earned the CFA Charter. To find out more about

the CFA Charter, please visit www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprogram.

CFA Institute has more than

135,000 members

in more than 150 countries, with 123,878

CFA charterholders globally

GIPS Standards championed locally

in more than 35 countries

2014 marked the first time in history

that the United States represented

less than 50% of total

charterholders

145 local societies worldwide – oldest member

society is CFA Society Chicago and

newest member society is CFA Society

Bangladesh (approved November 2015)

>1,100 firms adhere to the Asset

Manager Code of Professional Conduct

INSTITUTE STATISTICS

BECOMING A CHARTERHOLDER

Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Citigroup

Credit Suisse

Deutsche Bank

HSBC

JP Morgan Chase

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

RBC

UBS

Wells Fargo

Top employers of members globally

Portfolio Manager 22%Research Analyst 15%Consultant 6%

Chief-level Executive 7%

Risk Manager 5%Corporate FInance Analyst 5%Relationship Manager 5%

Financial Advisor 5%

Other (includes occupations such as Investment Banking Analyst, Trader, Manager of Managers, Strategist, Broker, etc.,

30%

Top occupations of members globally

Originally started as a subchapter of the Atlanta Society of Finance and Investment

Professionals, the CFA Society of Alabama became an independent society in

August of 1987. As a statewide organization, the society operates with the goals of

creating a community of investment professionals in Alabama, advancing ethics and

standards in the industry, and increasing awareness of the CFA Charter. Through the

end of 2015, the society has hosted a total of 284 events and has become one of the

most prominent and respected finance-related organizations in the state. Membership

is open to CFA charterholders and candidates enrolled in the CFA Program who are

actively pursuing the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

ABOUT US

HISTORY

OFFICERS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Guillermo Araoz, CFA

Kee Goostree

Adrian Hughes, CFA

Zach Ivey, CFA

Adam Rogers, CFA

Kent Russell, CFA

Stephen Smith, CFA

Rusty Yerkes, CFA

Courtenay Bloodworth, CFA (Immediate Past President) Adam Rogers, CFA (President)

Johan Grahs, CFA (Vice President)

Will Aycock, CFA (Treasurer)

Stephen Daniels, CFA (Secretary)

MEMBERSHIP STATISTICS

+2.81% YoYmembership growth

183 active members

Over 90% being charterholders

1) Birmingham

2) Montgomery

3) Mobile

Top 3 cities represented:

Charles S. Northen III, CFA

John H. Goff, Jr., CFA

Winfield Maxwell Baird, CFA

James G. Tatum, CFA

Valjean B. Brookshaw, Jr., CFA

Pedro Verdu, CFA

Carter E. Anthony, CFA

Brian B. Sullivan, CFA

Gary T. Partridge, CFA

Luther L. McDougal IV, CFA

John von Eschenbach, CFA

Rhonda E. Hoggle, CFA

Norman Darden III, CFA

James Lockwood Savage, CFA

Gary T. Partridge, CFA

Thomas R. Gale, CFA

John Preston Boston, CFA

Johnny R. Givens, Jr., CFA

Gary T. Partridge, CFA

Michael Thomas Lytle, CFA

Zachary Paul Turnage, CFA

John P. Maloney, CFA

Timothy E. Parker, CFA

Adrian A. Hughes, CFA

Kevin W. Gamble, CFA

Kenton L. Russell, CFA

Stephen Smith, CFA

Zach Ivey, CFA

Courtenay Bloodworth, CFA

PAST PRESIDENT’S1987-1988

1988-1989

1989-1990

1990-1991

1991-1992

1992-1993

1993-1994

1994-1995

1995-1996

1996-1997

1997-1998

1998-1999

1999-2000

2000-2001

2001-2002

2002-2003

2003-2004

2004

2004-2005

2005-2006

2006-2007

2007-2008

2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011

2011-2012

2012-2013

2013-2014

2014-2015

Top 10 employers represented

Years in industry

Top 5 job functions

Portfolio Manager

1) Regions Financial

2) Protective Life

3) Stifel, Nicolaus & Co.

4) Retirement Systems of Alabama

5, 6) Vulcan Value Partners, & Highland Associates

7, 8) Welch Hornsby, & Harbert Management

9) BBVA Compass

10) Leavell Investment Management

Research Analyst

Financial Advisor

Chief-level Executive

+20 years11-20 years

0 10 20 YEARS

Note: 3.3% not provided.

0-10 years

Consultant

30.9%

14.6%

7.3% 6.7% 6.2%

34

11

10

9

7

6

5

4

27% 29.8%39.9%

In addition to hosted events, our society

makes a concerted effort to have repre-

sentatives at the CFA Institute Annual

Conference. This flagship conference

rotates continents each year and is one

of the investment industry’s largest and

longest running educational gatherings

of investment professionals, attract-

ing as many as 1,800 delegates from 70

countries in prior years. Speakers include

top economists, legendary investors,

bestselling investment authors, and

governmental and regulatory leaders who

share insights on today’s most critical

investment issues, examine market

trends, uncover new investment oppor-

tunities, and deliver practical investment

advice. The 2015 conference was held in

Frankfurt, Germany and was attended by

Matthew Foster, CFA, of Renasant Bank

from the Alabama society.

EVENTSEach year, the CFA Society of Alabama strives to deliver a diverse line-up of high caliber

speakers and local networking events. In 2015, the society hosted 11 events, including: 9

monthly luncheons, a CFA Night at the Barons baseball game, and the Annual Forecast Dinner

at the Barber Motorsports Museum. The society also co-hosted a Birmingham Financial Alliance

Social, where other participating member organizations included: Alabama Planning Giving

Council, Alabama Profit Sharing and 401(k) Council, Alabama Society of CPAs, Estate Planning

Council of Birmingham, Inc., and Financial Planning Association® of North Alabama.

MONTHLY LUNCHEONS

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Luncheons are held at The Harbert

Center in downtown Birmingham. The

2015 line-up of speakers included

analysts, political strategists, econo-

mists, and fund managers.

Officers and Board Members (left-to-right): Will Aycock, Stephen Smith, Rusty Yerkes, Zach Ivey, Adrian Hughes, Courtenay Bloodworth, Johan Grahs, Guillermo Araoz, Kent Russell.

Dean Howard Finch of Samford University’s Brock School of Business delivers comments to society in their new state-of-the-art facilities.

Dan Clifton from Strategas speaks at The Harbert Center.

ANNUAL FORECAST DINNERThe Annual Forecast Dinner is the signature

event of the society. For the fourth consecutive

year, the 2015 dinner was held at the Barber

Motorsports Museum, a truly unique venue

that is home to the world’s largest motorcycle

collection. The keynote speaker was Jason

Trennert of Strategas Research Partners. Past

speakers have included: Jim Rogers, legend-

ary investor and founder of the Quantum Fund,

Tobias Levkovich of Citigroup, and Ed Hyman of

Evercore ISI.

Keynote speaker Jason Trennert delivers comments and mixes with attendees at the 2015 Annual Forecast Dinner.

CFA INSTITUTE RESEARCH CHALLENGE Once again, we were proud to co-sponsor the Southern Classic round of the CFA Institute Research

Challenge, a global competition presented by CFA Institute with more than 4,000 students from 865

universities around the world participating. In order to promote best practices in equity research and

company analysis, student participants in the challenge research, analyze, and report on a company

as if they are practicing analysts. Kaplan Schweser and FactSet sponsored the challenge globally.

The Southern Classic was sponsored by RidgeWorth Investments and presented by Atlanta Society of

Finance and Investment Professionals (ASFIP) and the CFA Societies of Alabama and South Carolina.

During this round, 11 teams of three to five students from the area’s leading universities and business

schools competed for a place in the regional final in Atlanta. Wofford College won the final round

against Finalists: University of Georgia, Emory University, and Clemson University. Also competing

were: Auburn University at Montgomery (2 teams), Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of

Technology, University of Alabama, University of South Carolina, and Mercer University.

STUDENT ENGAGEMENTThe CFA Society of Alabama, with support from

CFA Institute, provides financial assistance for CFA

candidates through the CFA Access Scholarship

program. This program provides support to eight

students each exam cycle by reducing the CFA

Program enrollment fee for qualifying applicants.

Additionally, our society supports students at

Auburn University, Samford University, and the

University of Alabama, all of which participate in

CFA Institute’s University Recognition Program.

More than 300 universities around the world have incorporated the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge into their own academic programs.

A Member of the CFA Institute Global Network of Societies