During the 2012-13 school year, Marquette AIM students pitched stocks to over 10 groups of investment professionals during their 'road trips'

AIM ROAD SHOWS

Utilizing our many connections within the Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison, and New York investment communities, the AIM students have had numerous opportunities to enhance their skills both inside and outside the classroom. AIM students are afforded the opportunity to participate in “road shows” to help to refine their analytical and presentation skills. Marquette alumni and other supporters have arranged opportunities for the AIM students to make equity pitches at area investment companies, giving students the chance to present in front of a panel of investment professionals.

During these presentations the investment professionals ask questions and offer critiques of the students’ analyses and presentations. During the past year there were ten separate AIM road shows (the participating firms are listed below). We are sincerely thankful to these organizations for hosting our students – these are excess examples of the ‘applied’ learning element of the AIM program.

Heartland Funds:  The Heartland Value Fund was founded in 1984 with an investment process centering on the ideas of Benjamin Graham.  Heartland Funds is based in Milwaukee and is managed by founder, Bill Nasgovitz, and his team of experience portfolio managers and analysts.

 

Robert W. Baird:  Robert W. Baird & Co. is a Milwaukee-based employee-owned, middle-market investment bank.  Founded in 1919, Baird has worldwide presence and expertise, and is consistently ranked among Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For and is recognized as one of the top research firms in America. They offer wealth management, capital market, asset management and private equity firm services with client assets totaling more than $87 billion.   

 

Madison Investment Advisors:  Madison Investment Advisors is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, and was founded in 1974. The firm has served investment management clients with a sound blend of investment philosophy and process. The employee-controlled firm has a well earned reputation for its commitment to excellence.

Timpani Capital Management:  Timpani Capital, an institutional investment manager focused on small cap growth investing, was founded in 2008 and is located in Milwaukee. Timpani has approximately $125M in assets under management.  The investment team is comprised of Brandon Nelson, CFA, Ryan Isherwood, CFA, and Michael Klenn (AIM ’10). 

 

New York and Chicago Circles:  Marquette University’s CIRCLES is an alumni program which connects alumni, parents, and friends doing business within the financial services, real estate, manufacturing, health care, advertising, and technology industries. Twelve AIM program students pitched stocks before groups New York and Chicago area alumni in October and November at the New York Yacht Club and the Union League of Chicago. 

Mason Street Advisors:  Mason Street Advisors is a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual.  The company manages equity and fixed-income assets for Northwestern Mutual from their downtown Milwaukee campus. The firm managers 34 accounts with estimated assets under management in excess of $100B.   

Wells Capital Management:  Wells Capital Management was formed in 1996, and today has more than $325 billion in assets under management ($63B in equities).  The company is based out of San Francisco, CA, but has hosted AIM program road shows several times out of their Menominee Falls office.

Cortina Asset Management: Cortina Asset Management specializes in small cap long-only equity investment strategies.  The company was founded by Tom Eck and John Potter in 2004, and is based out of Milwaukee. They manage in excess of $2B for corporations, foundations, and pension plans.

 

Ziegler Lotsoff Capital Management:  Ziegler Lotsoff is headquartered in Chicago, IL, and manages approximately $4B in assets across portfolios of fixed income, equity, and alternative investments. Scott Roberts serves as the President and CEO.

Cleary Gull:  Clearly Gull is a Milwaukee-based financial services firm, offering wealth management, institutional advisory, and investment banking services.  The company’s institutional advisory arm advises clients managing a total of over $5B in assets.

 

Geneva Capital Management: Geneva Capital is an investment advisory firm offering portfolio management services to institutions and high-net worth individuals. Founded more than 25 years ago Geneva is employee owned and is located in Milwaukee. Geneva specializes in Mid and Small Cap Growth equity investments and has about $2B assets under management.

1492 Capital Management: 1492 is a multi-strategy, small cap investment manager located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that serves institutional and private clients. Their unique, bottom-up thematic approach to small cap investing allows them to focus on absolute returns and to align their goals with those of their clients. 

In the fall semester of the 2013-2014 school year, the AIM program already has 10 road trips scheduled. Students will be presenting stock recommendations in Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago beginning in September.

Marquette University's AIM students participated in the CFA Research Challenge for the Fifth Year in 2013

2013 CFA INVESTMENT RESEARCH CHALLENGE TEAM

The above five undergraduate students in the AIM program’s Class of 2013 competed in the Wisconsin CFA Institute Research Challenge that was hosted by the CFA Society of Milwaukee. The group analyzed and presented Harley Davidson (ticker: HOG). The team did a solid job and placed second in the competition. The students invested many hours into their research and were highly dedicated to the challenge of producing a professional investment report. This was Marquette University’s fifth year participating in the prestigious CFA competition and it was again an outstanding learning experience.

 

AIM Program and Finance Professional Alumni Conference and Ins and Outs of Wall Street

On Friday, April 12th, the 6th annual finance alumni/AIM forum was held at Marquette University. The event featured a panel of finance and economics experts who discussed macro-economic issues before a group of about 50 alumni and students. Following the panel discussion, 9 newly enrolled students in the AIM program pitched stocks before a group of about 100 students, faculty, and guests (go to: AIM website for a pdf of the write-ups).

Dr. David Krause, AIM program director, served as the forum moderator. As in previous events, this year’s panel discussion was conducted in a format similar to the Davos World Economic Forum. Dr. Krause engaged the special guests in an open conversation about major financial and economic topics. 

                                                                            The panelists included:   

                                 

• Jim Bianco, Bus Ad. ’84, President, Bianco Research, Chicago

• Joe Daniels, Ph.D., Professor of Economics, Marquette University

• Kevin Gibbons, Bus Ad. ’93, Managing Director, Commercial/Specialty Lending,    Capital One, Chicago

• Tom Eggers Comm ’73-77, Lead Director, Calamos Investments, Chicago

 
 

The topics discussed included: contributions of Margaret Thatcher; Cyprus/Europe financial situation; Bank of Japan actions; U.S. Federal Reserve policy; U.S. jobs and housing outlook; North Korea; China fiscal policy; U.S. regulatory environment; and financial market activity. 

The topics were wide ranging and members of the audience were able to interact and ask questions of the panelists.  A reception followed the forum where students had an opportunity to network with the panelist and guests. It was another successful event that brought major thought-leaders back to Marquette’s campus.

The 6th Annual “Ins and Outs of Wall Street” Was Again a Success

The Applied Investment Management (AIM) program and the Marquette finance alumni sponsored  and facilitated the 6th annual ‘Ins and Outs of Wall Street’ event. The gathering was held on Saturday, April 13th, at Marquette’s College of Business Administration.  Over 40 alumni and 140 students attended the event – which was the most successful event to date, according to Dr. Krause.  

 Following a welcome by Dr. Krause and an invocation by Father Bieganowski S.J., the event was turned over to the alumni who provided the students with information about the various functional areas of finance. Students learned about career opportunities in the following functional areas:       

1.     Investment Banking

2.     Sales & Trading

3.     Wealth Management

4.     Investment Research & Asset Management

5.     Alternative Investments (Private Equity & Hedge Funds)

6.     Risk Management and Compliance

The second part of the Ins and Outs event was a series of breakout sessions which provided students with an opportunity to engage in a more in-depth discussion with alumni.  The breakout sessions focused on the six functional areas – as well as a special session conducted by Tom Eggers that was entitled “So You Want to be in Asset Management?”

Following lunch, various alumni provided real world advice on how to prepare for a career in finance. The session included specific advice on interviewing skills, recommended business apparel, and mock interviews.  The event concluded with a networking session with alumni.  Dr. Krause stated, “We are very thankful for the involvement of our alumni in organizing and supporting this event. Networking is the key to job search success and this Ins and Outs event provides an excellent opportunity for our students to interact with leading experts from the financial industry.  This was just an outstanding day for our students - the alumni were again generous with the time they spent with our students." 

Marquette AIM and FMA Students Visited Chicago This Past Semester

Over 50 Finance Students Enjoyed the Field Trip to Chicago 

 Dr. David Krause, Applied Investment Management program director, led a group of over 55 Marquette finance students to Chicago on Friday, April 19^th. The event, which was a joint effort of the Financial Management Association and the AIM program, was a success.  Krause said, "thanks to the efforts of Marquette's alumni and staff in the Chicago area, the students had a wonderful experience.  This was a highlight of the spring semester."

Following a 6:30 a.m. bus ride to Chicago during a late April snowstorm, the students first had an opportunity to visit Goldman Sachs. Thanks to the efforts of Ted Neely (MU Bus Adm ‘83), Managing Director, Goldman, Sachs, the students had the chance to learn more about the firm’s operations in Chicago. They also heard from several equity and fixed income analysts who had recently joined Goldman’s Chicago team.


The group then trekked through the Loop to the Chicago Board of Trade / Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Our host was Lou Morgan, a member of the CME/CBOT and past CEO of SLS Securities. John Hogan (MU Bus Adm ‘83) of Cedar Creek Securities helped arrange the visit and accompanied the students during the tour. Another MU Business Administration alumnus, Joe Cusick, Sr. VP of Education at OptionsExpress, greeted the students and explained the inner working of the trading floor to the students. Because of the inclement weather, the planned meeting with CNBC’s Rick Santelli was postponed to a future visit.  Mike Gurka (MU Bus Adm ’87) also joined the students in the CME visitor’s center to talk about the history of the commodities and financial futures exchanges in Chicago. He is a Managing Director of Spectrum Asset Management in Chicago.

The group then split up into two groups – with one set of students heading to BMO Harris and the other setting sights for the Marquette Building to pitch stocks before a group of Marquette alumni. The first group had an opportunity to tour the impressive trading floor at BMO Capital Markets. The host of the visit was Marquette alumnus, Steven McManaman, Managing Director, Financial Products, BMO Capital Markets. The students enjoyed viewing one of the largest and busiest trading floors in Chicago.

The other group of students attended a luncheon with group of Marquette alumni and associates who work in the Loop. The guests included Jim Bristol (SM Capital), David Kucera (Capital One Bank), Kevin Rice (Moloney Securities Asset Management), Mark Ziehr (Frontier Partners), Joe Cusick (Options Express), Raullo Eanes (WinTrust), and others. Five AIM students pitched stocks before the group and then answered questions about their recommendations. The student presentations were well received by the alumni and about 30 minutes of networking following the student stock pitches.  A copy of the students' write-ups can be found at:  Marquette/AIM.

The final event of the field trip was a visit to Northern Trust, an international financial services company headquartered in Chicago. Several Northern Trust alumni were present and the networking event provided an opportunity for the students to learn more about the firm as a potential employer. The host of the gathering was David McHugh (MU Bus Adm ’78), CFA, Chief Investment Operating Officer of Northern Trust. Several AIM students made their stock pitches before the assembled group and answered questions from the audience.  A 30 minutes networking session followed and by 3:15 p.m. the students were back on the bus and headed to campus.

Dr. Krause concluded, 'The entire day was a success and we would like to thank all of the Marquette alumni and staff in the Chicago-area for providing these opportunities to the students. It was a high-point of the spring semester and the students are appreciative of these opportunities."

U.S. News 2012 Ranking Placed Marquette's Undergraduate Finance Program 17th Nationally

Marquette's Finance Program Ranked 17th Nationally

 The U.S. News “Best Colleges” rankings for 2012 include the Best Undergraduate Business Programs.  The U.S. News ranked Marquette University 83rd among national universities. Similar to the University, the College of Business Administration was ranked 87 among Best Undergraduate Business Programs; a drop from last year’s ranking of 81.

The Applied Investment Management (AIM) program at Marquette University is a part of the Department of Finance. Marquette's College of Business Administration was also recognized for top specialty programs in accounting, finance and supply chain management. Finance is ranked 17th, up one spot from 2011, and supply chain management is ranked 16, the same as last year. Accounting is ranked for the first time at 23.

Business school rankings are based solely on a peer assessment survey of deans and senior faculty at each U.S. undergraduate business program accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

  

The top finance specialty undergraduate programs were:

1. University of Pennsylvania

2. New York University

3. University of California - Berkeley

4. MIT

5. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

6. University of Texas - Austin

7. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill

8. Carnegie Mellon

9. University of Virginia

10. Indiana University

11. Ohio State University

12. University of Florida

13. Boston College

13. University of Illinois

15. Creighton University

15. University of Southern California

17. MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY

17. University of Maryland

17. University of Washington

17. Emory University

17. Loyola University - Chicago

22. Fordham University

22. Loyola University - Maryland

23. Washington University

26. University of Georgia

26. University of Notre Dame

26. University of Wisconsin

AIM International Equity Fund as of 6/7/2013

AIM Equity Fund as of 6/7/2013

Marquette University AIM Fixed Income Fund

AIM Fixed Income Fund (as of 5/31/2013)

Click on Charts to Enlarge