Question
Thomas Whitman, CFA, is the senior portfolio manager for Red Tree Capital, a large independent investment advisor that has $2 billion under management comprised of
Thomas Whitman, CFA, is the senior portfolio manager for Red Tree Capital, a large independent investment advisor that has $2 billion under management comprised of corporate pension accounts and family trusts.The firm has adopted CFA's Code and Standards and all newly hired employees are given a copy of the code and asked to sign a document stating that they have read the code. Thomas is responsible for all junior portfolio managers and the trading staff as part of his duties.
One of his traders recently received a block trade order given to him by portfolio manager Jeff Johnston, CFA.The following quote is Jeff speaking to the trader:
"I just got off the phone with our biotech analyst, Frederica Fortune.She said that Genetime is ripe to be bought by a large pharmaceutical company and that it is a bargain at any price below $12!She also said that even though she has only been covering the stock a short period, her meeting with management yesterday was upbeat and she is confident that management is going places.The fact that it is a single product company in early trial phase did not temper her views because she believes the product has the potential to be a blockbuster.The stock is at $11, go ahead and buy $10 million dollars worth- up to a price of $12.I am putting it in all of my accounts and will get the account numbers to you as the orders fill."
The trade takes several days to complete and then Jeff decides which portfolios will get each day's order fills at the end of the trading session.Since the large pension accounts require more shares, he has directed the majority of the first trades to these pension accounts to fill the appropriate allocation. Has Jeff Johnson violated any CFA institute or other applicable finance ethics policies? Please elaborate.
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