Earlier today, the CFA Institute released the results of a recent survey of its members on the topic of what has now become known simply as “The Bailout”.  Headlines suggest that the CFA charter holders overwhelmingly support the bailout (e.g. “Investors support bailout…”, “Investment Pros Like Bailout…”).  Indeed, the CFA Institute’s own press release is entitled, “Investors Overwhelmingly Agree: Fair Value Should Not be Suspended and the Bailout Plan Will Help the U.S. Economy.”

But according to the results contained in the Institute’s press release, there doesn’t seem to be “overwhelming” agreement on much at all.  And even if there were, it’s not clear whether the survey represents “investors” beliefs or those of “investment professionals” – a very different group.  Understanding this difference is critical to interpreting the survey’s results.

Despite being described as “investors” in the press release, the CFA website says that only 15% of its members work for pensions, foundations, insurance companies or private wealth management firms.  The rest work at mutual funds, I-banks, hedge funds, commercial banks, or in academia or consulting firms.  The press release appropriately reverts to the term “investment professionals” in the text itself, but the headline still suggests that respondents are predominantly investors and not members of the investment financial services industry itself.

More…