On
Friday, September 30th, Robert Organ. Director,
and Mike Stankovsky. Analyst, Private Debt & Equity of Northwestern
Mutual Capital visited the AIM program.
 |
| Bob Organ, Northwestern Mutual Capital |
Mr.
Organ joined Northwestern Mutual Capital in 1997. Prior to joining Northwestern
Mutual Capital, he was a consultant for Hewitt Associates. Bob received an MBA
from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and a BS from
Marquette University. Bob is a CFA charterholder. Mike joined Northwestern
Mutual Capital in 2015. Mike received his
BSBA from Marquette University and was a member of the Applied Investment
Management (AIM) program.
 |
| Mike Stankovsky, AIM alumnus |
Mike
Stankovsky joined Northwestern Mutual Capital in 2015. Mike received his BSBA from Marquette
University and was a member of the Applied Investment Management (AIM) program.
Northwestern
Mutual Capital (NMC) is a key part of the firm’s overall investment portfolio. While
NMC’s investment-grade assets represent the majority of their total Assets under
Management (AUM; it is the private equity assets that generally occupies the
majority of NMC’s evaluation time. Bob
and Mike mentioned that NMC’s portion of the firm’s overall assets is roughly
equivalent to Harvard’s endowment. Additionally, Northwestern Mutual’s total
assets are more than half of CalPERS, the nation’s largest pension fund.
 |
| Richard Bernard, Dr. Krause, and Mike Stankovsky |
As
Dr. Krause, AIM program director pointed out, “This is an incredibly large
portfolio and the opportunity to work on the NMC team as an undergraduate is
almost unprecedented. We truly enjoy our excellent relationship with
Northwestern Mutual.”
Mike
helped the AIM students understand the private equity and debt analysis that he
performs and give them career advice. He talked about the positive culture at
NMC and the experience he is gaining in working with different business models
and financing structure. Mike indicated he especially enjoyed the exposure he
has been receiving to view all areas of the LBO/investment banking deal process.
Mr.
Organ’s presentation focused on “Digitalization and its Disruptive Potential.” “He
provide the students with much to consider – for example, they should think about
the how nearly every business should be viewed as a technology business – and to
consider how algorithms are increasingly guiding nearly every function in the
modern enterprise.
 |
| Donald Smiley and Bob Organ talk after the lecture |
Using
numerous examples of how technology has disrupted industries and companies (i.e.
Kodak), he was able to help students think within a framework about how to view
technological disruption. Identifying inflection points (or ‘knees of the curve’)
is essential for analysts…. Looking around corners and thinking about how major
industries might be transformed (i.e. taxis vs. Uber) is a vital skill for the
young analysts to develop.
Dr.
Krause commented, “I love to bring Bob Organ into the classroom because he
stimulates creative and critical thinking. He pushes students to think about
change and how to evaluate in advance who is likely to thrive or fail. The
discussion about Unicorns and global trends with technology forces students to
think about the future and to assess how the investment process will continue
to evolve. Bob has helped me create an assignment that requires the students to
identify a disruptor within their sector and to evaluate how existing holdings
in the AIM fund might be helped or hindered by disruptors within their
industries.”
