L.A. Society of Financial Analysts Installs New Board of Governors; Professional Organization Manages Unprecedented Growth.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 3, 2002

The Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts installed the newly elected board of governors in June 2002. The 11 members are drawn from the group of active volunteers in the local society, as well as from recognized leaders in the profession. "Our expansion from 9 to 11 members reflects the diversity of the overwhelming increase in people gaining the designation of chartered financial analyst," says newly installed board president, James M. Lyon, CFA, CIC, Managing Principal & Senior Vice President, Senior Portfolio Manager for Oakwood Capital Management LLC.

The CFA is a globally recognized standard for measuring the competence and integrity of financial analysts. The benefits of completing the difficult 3-year program and pledging to uphold the ethics of the profession are driving professionals with broader job responsibilities to seek the designation. Traditionally, most who sought the CFA program and designation were investment analysts and portfolio managers.

"Membership is not just larger but far more diverse than in years past," says Lyon. "Now securities traders, advisers to individual investors, and investment consultants that choose and monitor asset managers are completing the rigorous study and exams."

LASFA's increase from 1100 to over 1550 members in the last five years mirrors the global growth of membership in the Association for Investment Management and Research of which LASFA is a member society. AIMR administers the chartered financial analyst program. In 2002 over 100,000 professionals sat for the CFA exam, more than double the current number of 45,000 charter holders.

LASFA's board of governors works to expand recognition of the benefits of the CFA charter, as well as presenting topical programs to forward professional development and promoting the understanding of finance and economics in the community as a whole. To fulfill this mission, the board oversees activities like informative presentations about the CFA charter at local universities, colleges, and employers. LASFA sponsors a full calendar of events for members' professional development, on cutting edge topics like the quality of financial reporting and valuing Internet companies today. The Society educates the community as a whole through its highly regarded "Financial Training for Journalists" seminar and the newsletter The Financial Journalist. Senior investment professionals also fill the newly created board positions. "Professionals like Donald Straszheim joined the board in this capacity and will be able to help the society expand its mission further by their leadership," says Lyon. Straszheim is President of Straszheim Global Advisors in Westwood, Calif.

2002-2003 LASFA Board of Governors and Officers

President
James M. Lyon, CFA, CIC
California State University, Northridge, BS, MBA; Past Co-Director of
the USC/LASFA CFA(R) Review Program. Recipient of the 1995-96 Emerging
Leadership Award and the 1999-2000 Outstanding Society Member Award.
Presently, Managing Principal & Senior Vice President, Senior
Portfolio Manager for Oakwood Capital Management LLC.

Vice President
David M. Ward, CFA
Pomona College, BA and Cornell University, MBA; Member of LASFA and
AIMR since 1993. Coordinator of the USC/LASFA CFA Review Program at
Level II since 1997. Currently, Vice President-Portfolio Manager
for Northern Trust Bank.

Treasurer
Jeffrey B. Anderson, CFA
University of Arizona, BS, Mechanical Engineering; University of
Colorado, MBA. Member of the Placement Committee and serves as Level I
Coordinator of the USC/LASFA CFA Review Program. Currently with Trust
Company of the West.

Secretary
Doug Achtemeier, CFA
Washington University, BA; Economics, Drake University, MBA. Chair of
Technology & Communication Committee, Presently Vice
President-Investment Counselor for Philip V. Swan Associates, LLC.

Past President
Michael D. O'Brien, CFA
University of Southern California, BS; Joined LASFA in 1989. Currently
Co-Chairman of the Charter Luncheon Committee. Active on the Program
and Education Committees and Speakers' Bureau. Recipient of the
1995-96 LASFA Outstanding Committee Member Award. Employed as a First
Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager at Mellon.

Governors: 3-year term (2002 to 2005)

Donald H. Straszheim, Ph.D.
Purdue University, Ph.D; Presently, President of Straszheim Global
Advisors and Vice Chairman of the Milken Institute. Was Chief
Economist for Merrill Lynch & Co. from 1985 to 1997. Ten times voted a
member of the Institutional Investors All Star Team. Previously, ran
U.S. operations at Wharton Econometrics, chief economist at
Weyerhauser Company, senior economist at Investors Diversified
Services (IDS) and an economist at Flour Corporation.

Berkeley G. Harrison, CFA
Duke University, A.B. and University of Southern California, MBA;
Joined LASFA in 1995. Active in Placement Committee. Active in, and
currently Chair of, the Education Committee. Recipient of the 2000-01
LASFA Outstanding Committee Member Award. Member of the Association of
Investment Management and Research (AIMR). Employed as a Senior Vice
President and Treasury Manager at California Commerce Bank, a
subsidiary of Citicorp.

Governors: 2-year term (2002 to 2004)

Wade T. Winter, CFA
Franklin & Marshall College, BA and University of Southern California,
MBA; Joined LASFA in 1995. Active in, and currently Co-Director of the
USC/LASFA CFA Review Program. Member of the Association of Investment
Management and Research (AIMR). Currently, Senior Vice President &
Senior Portfolio Manager Four Corners Capital Management, LLC.

Saeid Hamedanchi, CFA
Hope College, BA (Accounting), University of Southern California, MBA
(Management), MS, (Finance, with distinction). Joined LASFA in 1997
and the San Francisco Society (SASF) in 2000. Recipient of the LASFA
Emerging Leadership Award in 1998. Member of the Topical and
Accreditation Committee of the LASFA and the continuing Education
Committee of SASF. Member of the Technology Advisory Committee of the
Association for Investment Management and Research (AIMR). Most
recently, Equity Research Analyst (Technology) Credit Agricole
Indosuez Securities.

Returning Governors: Term expiring in 2003

Victor F. Hawley, CFA
Harvard University, MBA; University of Notre Dame, BA Economics, with
honors; Boards/Community Activities: 1990-present Kelsey National
Corporation (private insurance company) Director; 1991-present
Catholic Big Brothers of Los Angeles Director (past Treasurer);
1998-present ACCESS Center (Math & Science educational program for
disadvantaged children) National Advisory Board; 2000-present Kilby
Awards Foundation (awards prominent researchers who in turn teach
children who tend to be underrepresented in the sciences)
International Council. Presently employed by Reed, Conner & Birdwell,
LLC, Principal, Senior Vice President, Portfolio Management and
Research.

Marie A. Beerens, CFA
University of Leuven, Belgium, BA and MBA; University of California,
Los Angeles, Professional Designation in Print Journalism. Joined
LASFA in 1998. Chair of the Public Awareness and the Inside
Information Newsletter Committees. Recipient of the LASFA Emerging
Leadership Award in 2000. Currently employed by Payden & Rygel
Investment Counsel, Associate Vice President and Portfolio Manager.

For more information or for media invitations to LASFA education events call Marie A. Beerens, LASFA Public Awareness, 213/830-4224.