Applied Investment Management (AIM) ProgramWinter 2015 Update
Prepared by Dr. David Krause, AIM Director
Click to access a pdf version of this report:
Introduction
This
report on the AIM program reflects the continuing effort to support Marquette
University’s mission in seeking to achieve academic excellence. The AIM program
looks forward to continuing its partnership with Marquette alumni and leading financial
services and investment firms.
Accomplishments
Under
the direction of Dr. David Krause, AIM remains one of the top undergraduate
programs in Finance. As of the end of the 2015 Fall semester, the program and
its students achieved the following:
- For the seventh consecutive year, five AIM students participated in the Wisconsin Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Investment Research Challenge held in February 2015. The Marquette students won the local event and participated in the Americas Challenge in Atlanta Georgia, advancing to the finals (finishing in the top six of the 350 teams globally).
- For the first time, Marquette’s AIM Program has entered two teams into the 2016 CFA Challenge.
- For the second year, four students in
the AIM Program’s Private Equity & Banking track, are representing
Marquette University in the National Investment Banking Competition.
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| 2015 AIM CFA Challenge Team |
- Marquette’s economics team, which included three AIM students, ranked third in this year’s Fed Challenge Competition in Chicago.
- Eight AIM alumni who took the Level III CFA exam in June 2015 passed, bringing the total number of AIM alumni to nearly 50 who have passed all three levels of the CFA exams.
- The AIM program has entered a five
student team in the Chicago Quantitative Alliance Investment Challenge for
2015-2016.
Curriculum/Teaching
The program’s sustained level of excellence is due to the ongoing efforts of Dr. Krause and his colleagues to enhance the curriculum and seek applied learning opportunities, to upgrade available technologies, and to reach out to alumni and industry partners across the country.
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| AIM Class of 2016 CFA Challenge Teams |
The program’s sustained level of excellence is due to the ongoing efforts of Dr. Krause and his colleagues to enhance the curriculum and seek applied learning opportunities, to upgrade available technologies, and to reach out to alumni and industry partners across the country.
- AIM students are encouraged to complete the Bloomberg Essentials training program and obtain certification. FactSet technology also was added in 2015 to the collection of real-world industry tools available to the students.
- More than 15 AIM field trips were conducted at investment companies in Milwaukee, Chicago and Madison.
- Over 40 professionals visited and presented
in AIM classes during the past year.
Outreach Efforts
AIM’s success has generated a great deal of interest among students, alumni and the business community, as well as within the academic community. The following list contains a few of the major activities in 2015:
AIM’s success has generated a great deal of interest among students, alumni and the business community, as well as within the academic community. The following list contains a few of the major activities in 2015:
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| Class of 2015 with Warren Buffett |
- Over 20 AIM Investment Board meetings occurred during the school year including “road shows” that were held at Milwaukee and Chicago investment firms.
- In October, 30 students traveled with
Dr. Krause to New York City to tour ten investment firms and meet with
Marquette alumni and AIM supporters.
- In January 2015, Dr. Krause and 15 AIM students attended the CFA Society of Milwaukee’s luncheon featuring Dan Fuss (Vice Chairman of Loomis Sayles). Mr. Fuss, a prominent Marquette alumnus, has spent four decades in the investment industry and is widely acknowledged as one of the top fixed income managers of the past quarter century.
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| New York City Trip |
- Class trips were held throughout the academic year to various investment firms including: Robert W. Baird, Wells Capital Management, Cortina Asset Management, Timpani Capital Management, Geneva Capital Management, Heartland Funds, and others. During their visits, the AIM students met with management and made equity presentations before groups of investment professionals.
- In March, 20 AIM students had the remarkable opportunity to spend a day in Omaha with legendary investor and business magnate Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
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| Dr. Krause |
- In the spring semester, the AIM
program hosted its eighth annual “Ins and Outs of Wall Street” event. The
applied learning experience included more than 50 alumni interacting with
nearly 200 Marquette undergraduate students.
- AIM hosted its Tenth Anniversary Celebration. The gathering provided a great networking opportunity for alumni, faculty, and current AIM students.
- Dr. Krause chaperoned over 40 AIM and FMA students to Chicago in the spring. They visited the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Grosvenor Capital Management, and Driehaus Capital Management. The students also had an opportunity to meet with Jim Bianco of Bianco Research and Rick Santelli of CNBC.
