FIXED INCOME ANALYSTS’ SOCIETY, INC.
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, May 3 2023
PRESENT: Monica Aggarwal, Jessica Broughton, Joyce Chang, Ralph DeCesare, Mark Howard, Gregg Lemos-Stein, Erin Lyons, Pawel Mosakowski, Henry Shilling, Robert Slowko, Mariarosa Verde, Diane Vazza, Lauren Nauser
Welcome Remarks made by Monica Aggarwal:
Monica Aggarwal made opening comments and briefly outlined the agenda for the meeting.
Acceptance of Minutes from 1/23/23:
Lauren Nauser asked for a motion to waive reading of the minutes; Joyce Change did so; Mark Howard 2nd. A second motion was made by Joyce Change to accept the minutes; Mark Howard 2nd. The minutes were approved as written.
New Member Report (Lauren Nauser)
Thirteen (13) new members have joined, several because of ESG Event. As of the end of April, current membership at 357.
Treasurer’s Report (Pawel Mosakowski)
Review of the P&L statement:
Approximately $10K outstanding in receivables, however Lauren Nauser has credit card info for BNP Paribas, and Joyce Chang noted that JP Morgan payment in process; so those will be current shortly
Membership dues up approximately +$2.5K vs. last year at $14.4K
CSM up significantly vs YAG from $25K to $52K
Sponsorships down slightly vs. same time YAG
Total income this year vs. last $105K vs. $64K
The $10K in restricted funds are donation from Fordham for cash awards for ESG papers
F&B expenses stand out at $43K vs $2.2K last year, however that is due to reinstatement of in- person events + inflation (Year End Holiday Party, WIFI & ESG). Does not include any deposit for HOF, which will hit next month
Total assets relatively flat vs. YAG $516Kà$508K
Joyce Change made a motion to accept the report; Robert Slowko 2nd; approved as presented.
Board Transitions (Monica Aggarwal & Mark Howard)
As outgoing President, Monica Aggarwal thanked the BOD for their support over the past two years. She presented the slate for the upcoming year, and said that the BOD will be asked to complete self-appraisals, and stated that the Nominating Committee would be vetting potential new members
As outgoing, VP, Mark Howard recapped the progress made over the past few years on the Strategic Plan, Implementation, Committee work and strong financial position of FIASI. While there is more to do as FIASI heads into its 50th Anniversary year, the new leadership will take over and solidify that position going forward. The self-appraisals will help FIASI take stock of what we can expect from current BOD members. Monica and Mark will be working on developing an advisory group to keep past leadership involved, and allow others to step up in an equitable way to share responsibilities and identify new people to support the 3 key pillars. Outreach will be made with possible expansion into areas not fully represented on the board.
Robert Slowko thanked Monica for her contributions. He expressed support for Erin Lyons’ Presidency and Jessica Broughton’s new VP role. He has great confidence in her based on the energy and contributions she made to the marketing committee over the past year
Joyce Chang reiterated the importance of understanding what board members can offer going in—some will have more time than others; each member should be honest about their ability to contribute as part of the vetting process
Erin Lyons thanked Monica and Mark for their leadership and supporting her of the past few years with the merger of Fitch and Credit Sights. Her goal as President is to act on the Strategic Plan, increase membership, grow the brand, expand corporate membership, continue to build committee teams and make them more cohesive. She offered her help and expertise to Lauren Nauser with the new website, as she has spent the last 18 months building one.
Hall of Fame Update (Mark Howard)
Hall of Fame date confirmed as 9/26/23 at the Union League Club.
Three (3) Honorees accepted:
Stephen Berkley-Bloomberg (he removed himself from committee once he was formally nominated as an inductee)
Bob Michele-JPMAM FI CIO
Barbara Novick-Retired, Co-Founder and Advisor, Blackrock
Darrell Duffie, Professor of Management and Finance at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, declined the honor as he could not work out his calendar to align with any of the September dates
Pawel Mosakowski and Lee from Incursion have offered to help with the marketing
Have received inquiries and already reached out to honoree firms regarding Top Tier Tables Since May is “gala” season did not want to compete with that, so will begin heavy promotion in June to get sponsors before the summer lull
Room can hold approximately 260 (26 tables of 10). In addition to selling tables, we need sponsors, selling ads, etc. Hoping to net $70K: will need revenue of approximately $220K to break even for the event
CSM, Event & Individual Membership Fee Structure & Committees (Monica Aggarwal)
Monica confirmed that Corporate Sustaining Membership was strong this year with new pricing
Need to work on event sponsorships; WIFI was quite successful; ESG has room to grow
As individual members don’t pay for events, and we make limited income from non-members, it is recommended to move to a one-tier membership of $200; in line with other organizations
Send votes to Lauren via e-mail regarding this change in pricing structure
Seven (7) to eight (8) people have shown interest in joining committees
Ralph has decided to move off as head of Programming—if interested reach out to Monica or Erin—understanding that we have big shoes to fill
Erin Lyons noted that Alina Golant would be stepping into the replace her and lead on the Membership committee
Technology Update (Lauren Nauser):
Aspire was not as smooth a transition in website build as Lauren and Robert would have desired. Lauren took a wait and see attitude before moving forward with next phase. They have hired a new developer to work on FIASI, and Lauren is now more confident and has given them the go ahead to begin the front-end building phase, which should not be a long process. The back-end data base management is more challenging to integrate, and she is still looking for a more optimal solution than what they originally proposed. Lauren and Erin to discuss offline, as mentioned earlier in the meeting.
Annual Meeting (Lauren Nauser):
Looking for good BOD participation—currently 6/14 is preferred date–with Cornell Club as the most geographically desirable location of the available venues.
Henry Shilling will be out of town that week
Lauren suggested getting a speaker if possible; Monica will get back to her
Need updated info for board slate bios
Robert Slowko has a candidate for board consideration that he will share with Monica and Erin
Monica has reached out regarding the self-assessment tool that was discussed earlier. If anyone else has suggestions, please share with Lauren
Having no further business items, the meeting was adjourned.