A large manufacturing company is seeking help finding a fund manager for its pension plan. After a comprehensive but unsuccessful search, Brett Arun, CFA, is hired to solicit proposals from various fund managers. The client pays Arun a lump sum fee for his services. The search concludes with Ramport Investments being hired as the pension plan’s manager. A year after Ramport is hired, the pension administrator sends Arun a letter telling him how satisfied the pension trustees are with the services provided by the fund manager. Subsequently, without the plan sponsor’s knowledge, Arun accepts a payment from Ramport for successfully introducing it to the pension plan under an agreement Arun entered into with Ramport when the initial contact with the fund manager was made. With regard to the payment received, did Arun most likely violate the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct by accepting the introductory fee?
A No.
B Yes, because he did not disclose his acceptance of the introductory fee to the client.
C Yes, because he should have refused payment of the introductory fee from the fund manager.
Solution
C is correct because Arun shouldn’t accept the introductory fee because he didn’t disclose his arrangement with Ramport prior to Ramport’s appointment by the client. By refusing the fee, he effectively voids the agreement with Ramport thus removing the conflict of interest.
A is incorrect because Arun has violated Standard VI(C)–Referral Fees because he did not disclose the fee paid by Ramport.
B is incorrect because by disclosing to the client that he accepted an introductory fee as part of his agreement with Ramport he made before their appointment would not meet the requirement of Standard VI(C) to disclose prior to the client making the appointment of the firm making the introductory fee.
这题目的意思是，时隔一年以后，即使disclose也不能再接受这笔介绍费了是吗？
