Join us in Madrid for the WFI Annual Meeting September 24-26. We have reserved rooms at the Gran Hotel Conde Duque for the three nights of 24, 25, 26 September. Participants should reserve individually by referring to our organization, WFI, for special rates. In addition to our working sessions and commerce, we will have adequate time for socialization, tours, and cultural events.

Madrid is located on the Manzanares River in the center of both the country and the community of Madrid (which comprises the city of Madrid, its conurbation and extended suburbs and villages); this community is bordered by the autonomous communities of Castile and León and Castile-La Mancha. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic and cultural center of Spain.

Registration information and meeting details will follow.

It seems we are always hearing that another company is implicated in some manner of illegal or unethical activity. But there's another side to the corruption story as well. The New York-based Ethisphere Research Institute looks for companies that put their high-minded slogans into action. Ethisphere scours the corporate universe for businesses that walk the talk, and each year it compiles a list of what it calls the World's Most Ethical Companies (WMB). In 2012, the list included 145 businesses from 48 industries (including five banks) and 22 countries.

Notably, 101 of those corporations are domiciled in the United States. You can access the honor roll by clicking on Rankings and Ratings from the banner across the top of the site's home page www.ethisphere.com. The default setting presents the WME by industry group. Click Browse Alphabetically to see them in that format.

As an investor, of course, you'll want to know whether businesses that aspire to ethical conduct do more than merely soothe the consciences of their shareholders. It appears they do. Shares of the 159 companies in the 2011 WME index returned an average of about 42% since 2007, compared with just 10% for the Standard & Poor's 500 index. Though the time frame is limited, an out-performance of that magnitude shouldn't be dismissed out of hand. Investors wanting to feel good about their portfolio earnings might consider Ethisphere's WME companies list as a starting point for additional research.

(Permission granted and based upon an article by Thomas D. Saler in BetterInvesting magazine, November 2012.)

Opening Ceremonies in Ljubljana From left: Host Kristjan Verbič (President, PanSlovenian Shareholders Association), Jean-Pierre Paelinck (President, WFI), Roger Ganser (Chairman, WFI), Jella Bennerheinacher (President, EuroFinuse), Guillaume Prache (Managing Director, EuroFinuse)	Members Participating in WFI Annual Meeting
EuroShareholders Support Team. From left: Marcelina Grabowska (Intern), Maria Bause (Communications Officer), Roger Ganser, (Chairman, WFI), Frank Kaneko (Vice-President, WFI)	WFI member Mouiche Moise presenting one of his cultural gifts from Cameroon to our Slovenian host Kristjan Verbic

The World Federation of Investors joined with EuroFinuse, EuroShareholders Association, and the PanSlovenian Shareholders Association in sponsoring the International Investors' Conference on Financial Education in Ljubljana, Slovenia, September 19-21, 2012. More than 30 people attended WFI's Annual Meeting, Executive Committee, and Advocacy Committee meetings on September 20-21. The new WFI Member Directory was distributed to members in attendance. Members unanimously approved the Education Curriculum and the Advocacy Committee Charter. Based on experiences among member organizations, it appears that the education program should focus on basic investor literacy.

Panel discussion topics included: Revitalizing EU capital markets (through pensions and other reforms); education and protection of financial services user; the Euro and Eurobonds in the global context - the role and perspective of banks and financial systems; barriers to shareholders engagement - report on cross-border proxy voting (Eurovote 2012); and best practices for cross-border investments - why and where to invest.

Aleksandra Palinska will join EuropeanIssuers as Policy Advisor in January 2013. We will certainly miss her support, skilled work, and refreshing presence, but we will continue to have exchanges as we all strive to enhance the position of individual investors and insure a flow of capital for businesses.

Washington, D.C., April 9, 2012 – The USA Security and Exchange Commission today announced that Roger H. Ganser, Chairman of the World Federation of Investors and NAIC/Better Investing (USA) was appointed to the new Investor Advisory Committee required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Section 911 of the Dodd-Frank Act established the new committee to advise the Commission on regulatory priorities, the regulation of securities products, trading strategies, fee structures, the effectiveness of disclosure, and on initiatives to protect investor interests and to promote investor confidence and the integrity of the securities marketplace. The Dodd-Frank Act authorizes the committee to submit findings and recommendations for review and consideration by the Commission.

Members of the newly formed committee were nominated by all five sitting Commissioners and represent a wide variety of interests, including senior citizens and other individual investors, mutual funds, pension funds, and state securities regulators.

"The SEC's new Investor Advisory Committee is made up of individuals with a broad range of backgrounds and experiences," said SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro. "I look forward to their insight and recommendations as to how we can further the SEC's critical investor protection mission."

To simplify our name and better characterize our purpose in all future marketing and promotional relations activities, we will use the name WORLD FEDERATION OF INVESTORS (WFI). Officially, our name remains the same and all financial and legal records of the corporation shall continue to use World Federation of Investors Corporation.

The WFI Advocacy Committee was unanimously approved at the WFI Annual Meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The Committee held its organization meeting with Advocate Hachem Boulos accepting the role and responsibility of Chairman of the Committee. WFI President Dr. Jean-Pierre Paelinck will serve as Secretary to the Committee. Also serving on the committee are Advocates Fausto Bongiorni, Paolo Brambilla, Maria Brandsdtetter, Antonia Marsaglia, Cristi Preda, Wilfried Hubscher, Rajko Maric, and Lawrence Sucharow.

The primary focus of the Committee will be on international, regional and national legislative and regulatory issues that concern the rights of individual investors. To fulfill that responsibility, the Committee will work cooperatively with other organizations that also support the interests of individual investors. The Committee will identify any current issues affecting individual shareholder interests and rights and submit their recommendations to the WFI Executive Committee.

WFI Chairman Roger Ganser

Increased involvement and interest in listed companies and the economy, participation in wealth building, and a reduction of the concentrated ownership in the listed companies are important aspects that argue in favor of increased direct individual share investment. Individual shareholders contribute to building a sustainable market economy through prioritizing companies that both take a financial responsibility and a societal responsibility. Personal investment in equity is of benefit to the individual, companies and society.

Successful shareholders are a prerequisite for a broad individual investment in stocks. Knowledge is fundamental to investment success. Therefore WFI and its member organizations promote investment education, based on proven investment principles and methodology. Fundamental Analysis and WFI Investing Principles provide valuable guidelines for more successful investment in stocks.

As an international organization WFI must try to understand and respond to a wide range of investor education needs. Consequently, our first course materials will be based on basic investor literacy and broad stock selection guidelines. Because some of our members have very advanced stock analysis methods and tools, we will also offer their valuable experiences. Both will be discussed at our annual meeting in Madrid in 2013.

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Personal investing in equity as a way of forming wealth should be promoted, since it enables individual investors to participate in the growth of business and thereby in the progress of nations and the world economy. Access to their own investment capital in stocks increases individuals' freedom of action and improves their chances of weathering financial difficulties. Private share ownership thus enriches the individual in a number of ways.

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