AIM Road Trips Begin Again!
Yesterday Marquette AIM students went to Chicago. We're moving away from the virtual Zoom world and going back on the road to visit financial firms and pitch stocks. We have returned to presenting stocks in the AIM Room on Friday afternoons in-person and we will continue to conduct road trips to financial firms. We are going (safely) back to normal…
The onsite visit to the
Chicago-based investment bank, William Blair & Company,
was the AIM program’s first external road trip since February 2020. Krause said,
"Our host, Bob Duwa, again set up an outstanding program for the students.
He has been an important partner of the AIM program during the past two years
hosting numerous virtual and now in-person sessions. We are extremely thankful
and have a great appreciation of the William Blair culture.
At Blair, Mr. Duwa (CFA, Partner, Head
of North America Distribution) and Cori Martindale (Head of Product Management)
talked about career opportunities in investment management including the areas
of distribution and product management. Krause said, “We tend to focus heavily
on research and analysis, so it was useful for the students to see other career
paths within other areas of asset management.” The students also heard from Bo
Kim, Senior Manager of Campus Recruiting, about Blair’s internship and career
recruiting process.
The students were treated to a FinTech research update from Dan Hill (CFA, Global Equity Research Analyst). Dr. Krause, who teaches Marquette’s undergraduate and graduate FinTech courses, was like a kid in a candy shop. “Dan was amazing. I could have spent the remainder of the day hearing him talk about the companies and emerging trends within FinTech. The students and I were thankful for the opportunity to hear from Dan, Bob, and the rest of the Blair speakers.”
Additionally, Marquette alumnus Jack
Senft (AIM ’19), who works as an Equity Research Associate, and Dan Ptacek (AIM
’20), an Investment Banking Analyst, were able to join the students and talk
about their roles at Blair. “It was really good to see our Jack and Dan,”
Krause said. “They have great jobs and I know they will prosper at Blair.”
In the afternoon, the students heard
from the keynote speaker of the day, Jim Bianco. A Marquette graduate, he is the
President, Founder, and Macro Strategist at Bianco Research in Chicago. Since
1990, his data-driven commentaries have offered a unique perspective on the
global financial markets. Krause said, “Just like when he was my student, Jim
is not shy about expressing his opinions. He commented on the job report and expects
inflation's intensity to catch up with central bank policymakers worldwide,
including the Federal Reserve.” Bianco
also had some amazing insights into cryptocurrencies, other digital assets, the
emergence of Net 3.0, metaverse, gamification, government regulation, and other
cutting edge topics related to the changes coming in the financial services
industry.
Following Jim Bianco, the students
heard from Keith Preloger (Portfolio Manager at Janus Henderson), as well as Tim
Liston, and Dan Bennett of Big Shoulders. Krause said, “Following three AIM
student equity pitches, we were able to meet several Chicago-area middle and
high school students who are a part of the Big
Shoulders Stock Market program. It was good to hear from the supporters
of the Big Shoulders organization, who talked about Marquette AIM student efforts
this semester to help deliver curriculum to those participating in the Big
Shoulders program,” Krause commented. “Additionally, we had four AIM alumni
join us for the afternoon session – it is always a pleasure to catch up with
our former students who work in Chicago.”
It was back on the train and the
students were on campus by 5:00. Thankfully, they have an extra hour of sleep
this weekend!
