Honoring Excellence: IWI's Prestigious Awards for Investment & Wealth Management Industry

Denver, CO — May 8, 2018 — The Investments & Wealth Institute^® (formally IMCA) presented five prestigious awards at its 2018 Annual Conference Experience—ACE Nashville recognizing outstanding contributions to the Investments & Wealth Institute and the investment and wealth management industry.

Matthew R. McArthur Industry Pioneer Award
Richard Thaler, Ph.D., is the 2018 recipient of the Matthew R. McArthur Industry Pioneer Award for his outstanding contributions to investment consulting. Thaler is the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics. He studies behavioral economics and finance as well as the psychology of decision-making, which lies in the gap between economics and psychology. He investigates the implications of relaxing the standard economic assumption that everyone in the economy is rational and selfish, instead entertaining the possibility that some of the agents in the economy are sometimes human. Professor Thaler is the director of the Center for Decision Research and is the co-director with Robert Shiller of the Behavioral Economics Project at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He is the co-author with Cass R. Sunstein of the book, Nudge and the author of Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics.

J. Richard Joyner Wealth Management Impact Award
The J. Richard Joyner Wealth Management Impact Award honors individuals who have contributed exceptional advancements in the field of private wealth management, embodied by the Investments & Wealth Institute Certified Private Wealth Advisor^® (CPWA^®) program. The award recognizes key innovations and thought leadership in any of the following CPWA knowledge domains: human dynamics, wealth management strategies, client specialization, and legacy planning.

The 2018 recipient of the J. Richard Joyner Wealth Management Impact Award is John Nersesian, CIMA^®, CPWA^®, CIS, CFP^®. Nersesian is founder of Nersesian Wealth Education, LLC, providing advanced wealth management and investment consulting education to financial professionals. Previously, he served as managing director of wealth management services for Nuveen. An active volunteer and former chairman of the board of the Investments & Wealth Institute, he is a faculty member for both the Certified Investment Management Analyst^® (CIMA^®) and CPWA education programs offered through The University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Yale School of Management.

Richard J. Davis Ethics, Legal, Regulatory Insight Award
The Investments & Wealth Institute Richard J. Davis Ethics, Legal, Regulatory Insight Award honors the author of an article that has made a significant contribution to advancing the understanding and knowledge of investment consulting and/or private wealth management in the area of ethics, and/or the fiduciary, legal, or regulatory issues that affect these professional practices.

The 2018 recipient is The Pew Charitable Trusts, for “Basic Legal Protections Vary Widely for Participants in Public Retirement Plans.”

One author also received a Davis Honorable Distinction Award. Duane Thompson, AIFA^®, president, Potomac Strategies LLC, was recognized for his article, “Five Traps for the Unwary: Due Diligence and the DOL Fiduciary Rule,” published in the September/October 2017 issue of Investments & Wealth Monitor.

Edward D. Baker III Journal Research Award
Aron Gottesman, Ph.D., professor of finance, Lubin School of Business, Pace University, and Matthew Morey, Ph.D., professor of finance, Lubin School of Business, Pace University, received the 2018 Edward D. Baker III Journal Research Award. The award honors the author(s) of an original article that represents the best writing for the previous year, is germane to investment consulting and/or private wealth management, and was published in the Journal of Investment Consulting. Professors Gottesman and Morey were recognized for their paper, “Active Share and Emerging Market Equity Funds.”

Stephen L. Kessler Writing Award
The Stephen L. Kessler Writing Award honors Investments & Wealth Institute members for their excellent editorial contributions to the Investments & Wealth Monitor during the previous year. The Investments & Wealth Institute honored Bob Rice, managing director, Tangent Capital Partners and Rice Partners, for his two articles, “The Upside of the Downside of Modern Portfolio Theory,” which appeared in the January/February 2017 issue and also “Private Equity for Individual Investors: Historical Impediments and New Opportunities,” which appeared in the July/August 2017 issue.