Financial Markets Program - University of Minnesota

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“ Graduates from FMP have a broader and more in-depth skill set than peers coming in from other undergraduate/graduate institutions.” – JULY ELIASON-JOHNSON – Piper Jaffray, Minneapolis were not throwing students into the ocean to see if they could swim,” said Dean Knudsen. “We built in oversight and checks and balances.” During the integration process in the spring semester, teams are established. According to student interest, these teams are assigned different sectors of the S&P 500. All 10 S&P sectors are covered. Weekly discussions attended by all the participants allow each student to learn about the other sectors. This allows them to gauge how other sectors may or may not impact the performance of their sector that week, and jointly, students decide what action would be best for the Bulldog Fund, LLC. The strategy the students utilize employs a “portable alpha” component. Based on their research, each team chooses a “relative value” opportunity from within � Employers Take Notice of Graduates Going “Above & Beyond” EMPLOYER: Nate Bullard, Merchandise Planning Manager, Target Corporation, Minneapolis, MN Program Director Joe Artim in the new Wells Fargo Financial Markets Lab, opened in fall of 2008. FMP GRADUATES EMPLOYED: Joelle Hero ‘06 “Two traits that set Joelle apart are her drive to understand root causes and her ability to get at those root causes by synthesizing data from multiple sources. By monitoring our vendor and competitor financial and market performance, Joelle offers the team unique insights. By tracking customer opinions via their online shopping comments, she is able to discover and communicate why product is selling differently than expected. And by delving into the immense amounts of data we have available on historical sales, Joelle was able to identify patterns and recommend when new product should be set to maximize our financial performance. These characteristics make Joelle a very effective Sr. Business Analyst.” 8 UMD LABOVITZ SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS – FINANCIAL MARKETS PROGRAM its sector. Teams seek to identify opportunities to arbitrage value from likecompany stocks; in essence, they recommend going “long” and “short” on certain stocks based on their analysis. Students are exposed to three forms of investment analysis widely using in the industry today: fundamental, technical and quantitative analysis. Students are required to incorporate all three forms of analysis into their research and recommendations made during a rebalance event. Finance students are often limited in their learning regarding investment strategies. They may only be taught to look at a company’s financials or understand its strategy. The LSBE Financial Markets Program at UMD is far more comprehensive in its approach. “We consider our approach very nontraditional in respect to the way we look at every aspect of a company before making a play,” said Artim. “The market may apply a valuation to a company that we need to investigate. For example, why is there a difference in its valuation versus its closet competitor, even if there is not a substantial difference in their respective market share?” By studying the many aspects of a stock’s performance, students learn to recognize when it is in play. IOC member Bryan Amundson says student performance during the formal
ebalance events is consistently strong. “The amount of detail they incorporate into their analysis and overall quality of their work is at a Master’s degree level,” said Amundson. “These students are well prepared to enter the financial services industry.” Alumni play an extremely viable role in the program. Throughout the program year, they serve as guest speakers, members of the Investment Oversight Committee and are instrumental in organizing practicum experiences. They also often open doors to job opportunities for new graduates. Future plans for the program include creating a formal mentoring program in which alumni work one-on-one with students in managing the “fund”. With the start of the 2008-2009 school year, the LSBE Financial Markets Program has come a long way from its days without a dedicated classroom or completed learning lab. UMD has just unveiled a new building for the Labovitz School of Business & Economics and located prominently on the first floor facing the front entry is the new Wells Fargo Financial Markets Lab. The new lab features more instructional and conference space. As stated by its founding fathers, such as Mr. Dean Knudsen and Mr. Phil Rolle, the program has met and exceeded its initial goals. When first proposing the program to the University, those goals were outlined as: “An education relevant to the financial services industry and students graduating prepared to make an immediate impact in their positions, diminishing the need for long costly training programs.” In the next section of this report, testimony from alumni and their employers will verify the impact this program has made on personal careers and company performance. � Fund Performance Graph All program members joined 2,300 other students from across the world for the RISE (Redefining Investment Strategy Education) Symposium at the University of Dayton, OH in 2008. Panel discussions included investing, economics, regulation, political and governance issues and leadership in the finance industry. UMD LABOVITZ SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS – FINANCIAL MARKETS PROGRAM 9
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Financial Markets Program - University of Minnesota

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