CFA Institute’s deputy chief executive officer is leaving amid the group’s search for a CEO.
Bjorn Forfang, who has held the deputy CEO role since 2017, said Wednesday in a LinkedIn message that he will step down from the nonprofit group of investment professionals in early April. CFA Institute, which offers the chartered financial analyst designation, says on its website that it began searching last year to replace CEO Paul Smith.
When Smith became chief executive about five years ago, he said his last day would be December 31, 2019, according to Forfang. That’s why the CFA Institute has set up a committee set up to find his successor, the deputy CEO said.
“Because of this transparency the board of governors has conducted a very orderly process that started about a year ago,” Forfang said. “I’ve been considering a couple of interesting external opportunities and I didn’t think it was right to pursue those while remaining a CEO candidate.”
CFA Institute was supposed to submit its recommendations for CEO by the end of 2018, according to the committee charter. A spokesman for the group said no decisions have been made for replacing Smith.
Forfang “leaves an important legacy on which we will continue to build,” Smith said in an emailed statement. “He has made significant contributions in the area of stakeholder engagement, including greater impact with employers and our member societies.”
[II Deep Dive: CFA Institute Cuts Staff in an Effort to Pivot Strategy]
Forfang, who has worked for the CFA Institute since 2016, said he is now seeking a role in asset management.
He previously spent 14 years as a managing director in UBS Group’s investment banking unit, according to the CFA’s website. Before that, Forfang held senior roles at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Greenwich Associates. He started his finance career in fixed-income sales at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
“After three years in a not-for-profit I wanted to return to the commercial end of the financial services industry,” Forfang said.
