FIXED INCOME ANALYSTS’ SOCIETY, INC.

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

PRESENT: Monica Aggarwal, Jessica Broughton, Joyce Chang, Mark Howard, Gregg Lemos-Stein, Erin Lyons, Pawel Mosakowski, Henry Shilling, Robert Slowko, Mariarosa Verde, Diane Vazza, Lauren Nauser

EXCUSED: Ralph DeCesare

Welcome Remarks (Monica Aggarwal):

Monica Aggarwal made opening comments and briefly outlined the agenda for the meeting. She reported the following:

President’s/HOF Member Dinner held in mid-July was a success, with 16 people in attendance
Shared information on strategic vision, dialogue on expanding corporate membership and events, attracting younger members,
Mark Howard brought up topics for discussion including the upcoming 50th Anniversary, need for an endowment to insure FIASI’s future, potential candidates and new categories for HOF consideration in the future
Acceptance of Minutes from 5/2/23:

Since meeting minutes were just sent out, Lauren Nauser asked that board members review and send any comments or changes by end of day Friday, Sept 22. If no changes received, they will be assumed to be approved as written.

Treasurer’s Report (Lauren Nauser)

Review of the P&L statement:

Total income YTD $223K
$69K related to HOF; Total cost of event expected to be ~$130K. At this time anticipate profit of ~ $70K. Trying to get revenue collected before end of fiscal year (9/30)
Board members to send list of prospective people who can fill in seats at HOF should companies not be able to fill their tables. Names due by EOD Wednesday. Lauren will circulate list back to Monica/Mark/Erin
Erin Lyons made a motion to accept the report; Pawel Mosakowski 2nd; accepted as presented.

Hall of Fame Update (Mark Howard)

Mark Howard thanked Lauren Nauser for her hard work on making the Hall of Fame a success. He saw no evidence of “rust” despite a three-year hiatus.

He expressed some disappointment that as of now we had not reached 200 guests
He stated that all 3 HOF inductees were wonderful and helpful during the entire process
He shared that Robin Wigglesworth of the Financial Times would be the Emcee for the event. Robin has been supportive and wants to continue to work with FIASI in the future
Despite initial request, FIASI was able to get Robin to host without paying for his travel and other expenses as he was coming from Norway
Robin arranged with the NYSE to have 400-year-old Dutch interest-bearing bond brought to the event for people to view at the gala
Slightly different format than in the past
Mark to kick off and introduce Robin, who will speak for ~10 minutes
Robin will introduce each nominee; Monica will present the Diamond Tower Crystal Award, and make closing remarks
Mark suggested that in the future the BOD should not rely solely on the HOF as money makers, but should consider other marquee events (i.e., WIFI, ESG, etc.) to produce income through sponsorships; the BOD should start the process as early as possible
Need to find ways to get the Banks more involved in supporting FIASI events; this year was a challenge because the HOF was not a line item in most company’s budget, but the groundwork has been laid for 2024, so it should be a little easier. From a compliance standpoint the banks require a significant amount of paperwork, information and documentation.
Mark asked all Board members who will be attending the HOF to reach out to the honorees personally to get them to stay involved and to become FIASI champions
BOD members also need to reach out to contacts at the banks to help gain support internally at those firms. Other than Joyce and Jessica we do not have a strong presence at those institutions. If you know people, it’s not too late to get them to attend the HOF to initiate interest in FIASI
WIFI Update (Joyce Chang)

Joyce confirmed that the NY Fed has agreed to host the entire event, including use of their large auditorium, and provide the cocktail reception at no cost to FIASI. Tours of the museum and gallery will be available to attendees
In return we expect that someone from the Fed will be the keynote speaker and have one person represented on each panel
Since the Fed is “underwriting” the event, we should not be looking for outside sponsors; but Joyce has had discussion with and hopes to invite Mary Daly (of SF Fed) to host another program in the future that can serve as a fundraiser/sponsored event
Joyce suggested that BOD members should send in their top choices for speakers to Monica/Jessica/Erin for vetting. She noted that it is unlikely that any firm would have more than 1 panelist at the event
Monica Aggarwal suggested that female candidates should not be limited to WIFI, so if there are women who are right to speak at other events that would be another avenue for speakership opportunities
Technology Update (Lauren Nauser):

Lauren, Erin and Arash have been working closely with Aspire to finish the new website.

Next appointment with Aspire is on 9/29.
Lauren shared FIGMA of the site so that the BOD could get the look and feel; as part of the revamp, she previewed a few potential options for a new FIASI logo. Logo will have ability to brand Individual key events
The website will be completed by the end of the year
Feedback from the BOD was all positive, with agreement that it looks more modern and functionality appears interactive. There will be less manual work necessary for Lauren on the back end, with the ability to link and post automatically to social media

Meeting Wrap Up (Monica Aggarwal):

She thanked the BOD for their support over the last two years and welcomed the new officers. In turn, the BOD thanked Monica for her hard work and accomplishments during her tenure as President
Lauren Nauser concluded with a brief highlight of the ESG event on 9/18 which had 144 live participants and 103 attending via Zoom. The event brought 500 new people to the FIASI mailing list
Having no further business items, the meeting was adjourned.