Strengthening the Structural Resilience of the Capital Markets

Geoeconomics and Financial Markets

Stay informed, think critically, and manage risk with insights from CFA Program curriculum and Research and Policy Center research.

Survey Report

The Dollar's Exorbitant Privilege

by Olivier Fines, CFA, and Urav Soni

This report analyzes US public finance sustainability and the future of the US dollar as the dominant reserve currency, highlighting risks from rising debt and deficits, while exploring potential global investor confidence loss.

Research Report

Capital Formation in Africa: A Case for Private Markets

Edited by Olivier Fines, CFA, and Phoebe Chan

This report examines barriers to capital formation in 11 sub-Saharan African jurisdictions, emphasizing private markets, policy reforms, fintech, and public–private partnerships to boost investment, infrastructure financing, and economic resilience.

Research Report

The Performance of the 60/40 Portfolio: A Historical Perspective

By Nga Pham, CFA, Bei Cui, and Ummul Ruthbah

This report examines the historical performance of the 60/40 equity/bond portfolio, highlighting its benefits, challenges from variable stock-bond correlations, generational differences, market-specific risks, and the role of alternative assets.

Featured Blog

Enterprising Investor

Private Capital and Systemic Risk

3 Sep 2025

Private equity’s leverage, opacity, and continuation vehicles raise systemic risks that may erode returns and complicate portfolio management, writes Sebastien Canderle.

Policy in Action

New Research

The 2025 African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings

The 2025 AfDB Annual Meetings in Abidjan emphasized strengthening Africa's capital markets to drive sustainable growth. Discussions focused on mobilizing private capital, enhancing financial resilience, and fostering inclusive development through policy reforms and regional integration.

Find new research from CFA Institute Research and Policy Center, along with author videos.

Comment Letter

To UK FRC on the Sustainability Assurance Market

CFA Institute and CFA Society United Kingdom comment on the FRC’s market study on the Assurance of Sustainability Reporting.

Policy Paper

Gold-plating in EU Capital Market Law: Regulatory Practices in Select Jurisdictions

This report examines gold-plating in eight EU member states, focusing on the implementation of capital market laws such as UCITS, AIFMD, and MIFID. It compares the occurrence, impact, and legal approaches to gold-plating across jurisdictions.

Be Informed

CFA Institute Systemic Risk Council Publishes Summer 2025 Quarterly Report

For more than a decade, the Systemic Risk Council (SRC) has provided an independent, noncommercial voice on global financial stability. By assessing vulnerabilities across markets and institutions, the Council offers nonpartisan guidance on how regulators can strengthen systemic oversight. Recent market shocks — from post-crisis stress events to new geopolitical and trade disruptions — have reinforced both the resilience of financial reforms and the limits of current safeguards, underscoring the need for vigilance, learning, and preparedness.

Enterprising Investor Blog

Blockchain in FX and Remittances: From Pilot to Portfolio Impact

Blockchain is moving from pilot to portfolio impact. Baxter Hines, CFA, shows how tokenized FX and stablecoin remittances can cut costs, speed settlement, and give early adopters a strategic edge in cross-border investing.

Video

Author Gregory Zuckerman on Jim Simons And His Unmatched Hedge Fund Returns

Jim Simons, the late founder of Renaissance Technologies, achieved a track record that surpasses Warren Buffett and all the other great investment managers – by a lot. In a beautifully written account, The Man Who Solved the Market, Gregory Zuckerman, the Wall Street Journal who previously profiled John Paulson in The Greatest Trade Ever, talks about Renaissance’s unique culture.

Curated content collection

Private Wealth Management

Explore insights on Private Wealth Management with curated articles & expert analysis from the CFA Institute's Research and Policy Center.

Building Resilience: Exploring Capital Market Structural Dynamics and Policy Development

CFA Institute Research and Policy Center addresses how changes to the structure of capital markets affect the formation of capital, the providers of financial services, and the consumers of these services.

The theme Strengthening the Structural Resilience of the Capital Markets underscores our commitment to the dynamic relationship among asset managers, asset owners, and individual investors/savers through the capital markets, given the backdrop of trends in the regulatory and policy environment.

Our research considers market developments and policy matters using our core values and principles—investor protection, market integrity, and professionalism—as our base.