Research Assistant
BETA
Member Exclusive
Strengthening the Structural Resilience of the Capital Markets
More Capital Markets Content
Research Report
Private Credit Funds and the Retail Shift: Structural Vulnerabilities and Policy Responses
Private credit is expanding beyond institutional investors into wealth-management and broader retail channels. This report examines how that shift can amplify liquidity, valuation, leverage, governance, and investor-protection risks — and outlines policy responses to support more resilient growth.
Research Report
Clicks and Credibility 2.0: From Influence to Accountability, Disclosures, and Policy Impact
This report examines India’s evolving finfluencer ecosystem, highlighting gaps in registration, disclosures, and accountability while recommending stronger investor protections, platform oversight, and regulatory coordination.
Research Report
Conflicts of Interest in Continuation Funds: Part II in a Series on Ethics in Private Markets
This report is the second of a three-part series on ethics in private markets. The first report, Continuation Funds: Ethics in Private Markets, Part I, explains what continuation funds are and concisely summarizes the key ethical issues they raise.
Market Integrity Insights
Opening Public Markets Without Lowering the Bar
Public markets depend on trust. Investors need confidence that listed companies meet meaningful standards, that disclosures are timely and comparable, and that market prices reflect information available to everyone. Fan Yang explains why CFA Institute opposes broadly weakening public-market safeguards.
Enterprising Investor
Why One Stop-Loss Rule Cannot Fit Every Holding
A uniform stop-loss rule can undermine confidence in portfolio-wide discipline. Tchai Tavor, PhD, explains why exit thresholds should reflect each holding’s role, volatility, and risk.
Enterprising Investor
Muni Call Risk: Why Similar Bonds Behave Differently
Municipal bond returns depend not just on rates and credit, but issuer behavior. Financial advisors can shape call risk, liquidity, and realized returns, observe Baridhi Malakar, PhD, and Daniel Garrett, PhD.
Comment Letter
Fiduciary Duties in Selecting Designated Investment Alternatives
CFA Institute supports broader access to private market investments in 401(k) plans while urging stronger fiduciary safeguards, enhanced participant disclosures, rigorous valuation and liquidity standards, and a phased approach to integrating private assets into retirement portfolios.
Annual Meeting | 6-7 Oct 2025 | London
Capital Markets Policy Council Annual Meeting
Deep Dives on Tokenization and Retail Access to Private Markets Plus Discussion of CFA Institute Regional Advocacy Strategies for 2026
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.
Be Informed
Financial Thought Exchange Video
Exponential Wealth: Centuries of Stock and Bond Returns with Ibbotson and Siegel
Roger G. Ibbotson, PhD, and Laurence B. Siegel join Lotta Moberg, PhD, CFA, to discuss Exponential Wealth: Centuries of Stock and Bond Returns, a forthcoming CFA Institute Research Foundation book. Marking the 50th anniversary of Ibbotson’s landmark research on stocks, bonds, bills, and inflation, the conversation examines what more than 100 years of market data reveal about long-term wealth creation.
Topic Page
Private Market Investing
Private market investing is reshaping how capital flows and value is created. To keep up, investors and professionals need sharper skills, stronger insights, and strategies that work in real time.
- Private markets are reshaping modern portfolios
- Complexity and opacity are challenges across asset classes
- Independent research is critical to informed decision-making
- Investors need stronger frameworks to navigate risks and trade-offs
Curated Content Page
Geoeconomics and Financial Markets
Geopolitical and geoeconomic events — from trade wars and tariffs to pandemics and conflicts — rattle markets and stir uncertainty. Investors must understand how tariffs, deglobalization, and policy shifts can disrupt supply chains, reshape terms of trade, and fragment multinational operations. Yet, rushing to react can undermine long-term strategic objectives. The real challenge isn’t predicting the next headline but understanding the context to make disciplined investment decisions. History shows that markets absorb shocks over time, and fundamentals reassert themselves.
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.
To hear how practitioners operationalize risk intelligence and enterprise risk management in today’s environment, watch Practitioners’ Insights: Risky Business in a Risky World.