Semi-Annual Marquette FMA Student Club Visits Included: William
Blair & Company, Capital One, and Morningstar
On Friday, November 16th Dr. David Krause and 47
Marquette finance students braved the snowy conditions to travel to Chicago to
visit three financial firms located in the Loop. Departing at 6:30 am during
the second snow event of the season, the bus trip to Chicago took nearly three hours.
Spirits remained high and the students were treated to a wonderful day in Chicago.
The first visit was at William Blair & Company - a
financial services firm focusing on investment banking, investment management,
and private wealth management.
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| William Blair & Company |
Our host, Robert Duwa, arranged for an agenda that
provided the students with insights into the functions and culture of this independent
and employee-owned investment bank that operates in more than 20 offices worldwide.
The new headquarters building located at Wacker Driver and Randolph Street in
Chicago is an amazing structure. The students enjoyed the tour of the building
and the amazing views from the 46th floor of the structure overlooking
the Chicago River and Loop.
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| Bob Duwa |
Bob Duwa, CFA, Partner, and Head of Institutional Client
Relationship Management served as the event host. Dan Niswonger (Marquette alumnus and an Associate
in the Investment Banking function) provided an overview of Blair’s
capabilities – he also offered excellent career advise to the freshmen, sophomores
and juniors about classes they should consider taking at Marquette.
The next
speaker was Tyler Glover, Director of Consulting Services, who talked about Blair’s
Private Wealth Management business.
Corey Tobin (Partner, Research Analyst and Director of
Research) talked about Blair’s Investment Management career path. He provided
the students with excellent insights about where the profession is headed –
with a strong emphasis on the need to understand and embrace technology.
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| Dave Kucera, Capital One |
Bob Duwa wrapped up the morning session with further insights
into a career in Investment Management along the client service and sales path.
The students left with a highly favorable impression of William Blair &
Company – each of the speakers emphasized the firm’s emphasis on ethics and
hiring people who fit the culture of this nearly 90-year-old financial
institution that is embracing the changing occurring in the global economy.
The next stop on the field trip was to Capital One where the
students met Marquette alumni who oversee Capital One’s Securities Financial
Institutions Group (FIG). The students heard from Dave Kucera, Head of FIG
& ABS Banking, Chicago Market President – and Kevin Gibbons, Head of FIG
Lender Finance, Managing Director. |
| Digital Lab |
Capital One is one of the largest financial services firms in the U.S. with nearly 48,000 employees and revenues in excess of $27.2B – and they are the 6th largest lender in the country. It would be unfair to think of Capital One as only a credit card company (3rd largest) – they are the largest U.S. direct bank and 2nd largest bank auto lender in the U.S.
Dave Kucera pointed out that Capital One is a leader in the
FinTech revolution occurring within the industry. Lending by less traditional financial
institutions has been growing rapidly and innovative technology-driven firms
are taking share from old-style banking institutions in many sectors (i.e. Quicken
Loans - Rocket Mortgage). He concluded by talking about the firm’s strong data
analytics and underwriting capabilities in the non-traditional lending space –
setting the stage for the students’ tour of Capital One’s Digital Lab.
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| Morningstar |
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| Colin Plunkett, Morningstar |
The tour was eye-opening and
inspiring for many of the students who had an opportunity to see the people
behind Capital One’s innovative banking and retail financial products and
services. The Marquette finance students had an opportunity to see that FinTech
is more than just a tag line – it is real and occurring within some of the
leading financial firms in the U.S.
The third and final visit of the day took the students to
another technologically innovative financial firm – Morningstar. This firm is a
leader in global investment research and investment management, which has been headquartered
in Chicago since it was founded by Joe Mansueto in 1982. Our host, Colin Plunkett
(Marquette 2015), provided an interesting array of speakers (all Marquette
alumni) to talk about various products and services Morningstar provides.
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| Marquette students at Morningstar |
Colin Plunkett provided the students with an interesting
session on the excess cash margin, a metric that he uses when evaluating the relationship
between a company’s operating income and its operating cash flow. He gave concrete examples of how the excess
cash margin can provide an early warning to analysts that a company may soon
experience earnings troubles.
The students were also provided a brief tour of
the facilities, which are also highly innovative and supportive of a diverse
and youthful workplace.
While the trip back to campus again took nearly three hours,
the students enjoyed the day and appreciated the efforts of all Marquette
alumni who opened their doors. We are looking forward to our spring trip to
Chicago – hopefully with better weather!
