Ask An FEI Researcher about... The FEI Research Foundation.

• Position: Resources - Financial Executives International

Each issue of Financial Executive features a Q&A from Ask an FEI Researcher (ASK), a service designed to help busy senior financial executives and their staffs find information ASAP. ASK alerts them to resources they may be unaware of and that are aimed to make their jobs easier.

ASK itself is such a resource, and is part of an FET affiliate that is an important source of practical, timely information: the FEI Research Foundation.

The Foundation (known for years as FERF) is an independent, educational nonprofit organization that is supported by voluntary contributions, not FEI dues. Since 1944, it has developed independent research to advance the financial management profession. Before today's 24/7/365, deliver-it-to-my Palm-Pilot[TM] pace, the Foundation published primarily full-length books. Its offerings now include electronic downloads of reports, online newsletters such as PrivateNet (for private companies) and Treasurers, as well as services such as ASK, with its virtual library, the Knowledge Center.

Its seven-person staff includes EVP & COO Marla Bace; Development Director Nora Peyton; Research Managers Cheryl Graziano and Bill Sinnett; Researcher Tiffany McCann; Finance Manager Lorna Raagas; and Development Associate Susan Cully. The Foundation also has a nine-member independent board, with representation from the public, private and academic sectors of FEI's membership.

An important goal of the Foundation, says Bace, is to increase member involvement. To that end, the Research Council was developed with the hope that with this prestigious group of senior financial executives, "we will bring the right product to our members."

The Foundation surveys FEI members on the topics of high interest. Reports incorporate interviews with practitioners and input from technical committees. An Issue Alert on information security was a collaborative effort between the Foundation and the Committee on Finance and Information Technology (CFLT). The Foundation worked with the Committee on Benefits Finance (CBF) on a retirement savings plan study that became a resource for FEI's dealings with Capitol Hill on pension plan regulation.

The Committee on Corporate Reporting (CCR) works regularly with the Foundation. Two recent projects include assessing the use of SPEs and determining MD&A best practices. The CPC (Committee on Private Companies) joined with the Foundation to develop the first annual Private Companies Forum.

Joan Netzel, a vice president at...