Tag Archives: Volunteers

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Financial Management Association Visit

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Written by Members of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Financial Management Association 

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Financial Management Association (FMA) takes time out of their regular class schedule to go on an annual trip to visit finance professionals in the Twin Cities. This trip gives FMA members an opportunity to see a wide variety of careers within the finance industry. This year FMA partnered with CFA Society Minnesota (CFAMN) to line-up firms for the students to visit in Minneapolis and St. Paul. CFAMN put together an outstanding day filled with real-life experiences. Students attended five incredible presentations from: Wells Fargo/Wells Capital Management, Nuveen Asset Management, Royal Bank of Canada, Mairs & Power and Northwest Area Foundation. We can’t thank CFAMN enough for giving our members this experience!

Nuveen Asset Management brought the group up to their executive conference room. Below is a list of the professionals FMA had the opportunity to learn from:

Andrew Rem, CFA – Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Senior Research Analyst
Sarah Wade – Senior Vice President, Co-Portfolio Manager
Laura Starr, CFA – Senior Vice President, Senior Research Analyst
Derek Sadowsky, CFA – Vice President, Portfolio Manager
Julie Lenarz – Assistant Vice President, Operational Manager, NAM Legal and Risk
Benjamin Duininck, CFA – Vice President, Senior Research Analyst

Hearing from each one of these individuals provided our group with key insights not readily available within the classroom setting. Some of these insights included:

  • How a research analyst’s day is never the same. Some days you are diving into spreadsheets and creating models or other days you are flying around the country visiting corporate executives.
  • The role of psychology in finance and understanding the emotions of the market.
  • The retail industry and how to think about companies when researching them.
  • The importance of tools such as FactSet and Bloomberg and selling within this industry.
  • How risk management and compliance are crucial in daily activities of the industry.
  • How much larger the fixed income market is than the public equity market, which was a shock to a lot of people.

We were able to hear from professionals that are in positions we hope to be in someday. It was exciting to hear about how their day-to-day activities correlate with topics we are learning in school and gave our group a lot to look forward to!

At the Royal Bank of Canada, we had a phenomenal opportunity to have breakout sessions and discussions with different parts of the firm. We heard from these professionals:

Marcia Morgan – Vice President, Business Technology
Christy Bipes – Senior Manager, Marketing and Communications
Josh Schettle, CFA – Sr. Investment Risk Analyst
Carol Kuha, CFA – Chief Operating Officer
Tiffany Mlsna – Analyst, Portfolio Administration
Kelly Foley – Junior Credit Analyst
Mindy Frye – Associate Portfolio Manager – Impact Investing
Nick Walstrom – Director, Product Management
Craig Bishop – Vice President, Lead Strategist U.S. Fixed Income Strategies Group
Sam Renikoff – Fixed Income Portfolio Associate
Bob Dickey – Technical Analyst
Peter Kolar, CFA – Wealth Management Consultant

The breakout sessions were an extremely valuable opportunity with departments including business technology services, portfolio management, fixed income, investment risk and performance department. During this session, we broke into small groups of four to six, and had the opportunity to meet with multiple professionals from these departments for 10 minutes. Many people enjoyed the opportunity, mainly because we had the chance to get to personally know everyone in each of the departments, walk through their day-to-day lives and ask them questions. They provided career advice, what RBC has to offer and possible careers with the firm.

The next session we had was a discussion with the wealth management group. We talked with a technical analyst, a research analyst and a financial advisor consultant. Many students took advantage of the opportunity as a way to see aspects of research and advising, which  led to a very positive, interactive and educational session. We talked about aspects such as understanding risk, what technical analysis is and what it is like to be an advisor. Overall, the students really enjoyed the opportunity to go to RBC. The firm was very engaging and interesting, and we would thoroughly enjoy visiting them again.

Our speakers at Wells Fargo/Wells Capital Management gave us an overview of several different jobs within the company.

Matt Grimes, CFA – Managing Director
Jeanine Sundt – Investor Relations Manager
Jake Seltz, CFA – Portfolio Manager, LT Large Cap Growth Equity
Kashi Yoshikawa, CFA – Senior VP, Regional Investment Manager

They talked about the company’s mission, principles, and goals for their clients. We learned about short duration fixed income, investor relations, large cap growth equities, building portfolios for clients, and maintaining client relationships. They also provided us information on the CFA Charter and the importance of having that designation in the industry.

Mairs & Power provided a unique opportunity to see a firm that doesn’t operate as the traditional investment firm. Seeing the unique hands-on and interactive investment strategy that they have incorporated for the past several decades offered insight that many students would not have had the opportunity to ever experience if it was not for the visit. This opportunity showed us that there are creative ways to create profitable investments year over year, and I know many of the members of our organization walked out with a more creative insight on investing. At Mairs & Power, we had the opportunity to meet with:

Ron Kaliebe, CFA, CIC – Senior Vice President and Director of Fixed Income
Allen Steinkopf, CFA – Co-Manager of the Mairs & Power Small Cap Fund
Kelly Trevenna – Equity Trader/Assistant Portfolio Manager
Heidi Lynch – Fixed Income Trader

Each member walked us through what they do daily and provided insight into the firm. The Q & A session was filled with great questions that provided a lot of knowledge to all our members. We are thankful for the opportunity to experience such an amazing company such as Mairs & Power.

At Northwest Area Foundation, we learned about what an investment director does on a day-to-day basis. Our speaker, Amy Jensen, CFA – Investment Director, is responsible for investing the foundation’s assets to make sure they can provide grant-making in the future. We also talked about the importance of behavioral finance and how to build an institutional investment portfolio. After the presentation, we were able to compare two potential investments and decided which one would be better for the company. Amy also touched on what the CFA Charter has done for her and what it is like to be a woman in the finance industry.

CFA Institute Research Challenge: Upper Midwest Finals

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Craig Popp, CFA

On February 15, 2018, CFA Society Minnesota hosted a local finals for the CFA Institute Research Challenge at the Thrivent Auditorium in downtown Minneapolis.

If you’re not familiar with the Research Challenge, below is a bit of information courtesy of CFA Institute. Complete details can be found on the CFA Institute site.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is a global competition that tests the equity research and valuation, investment report writing, and presentation skills of university students. The first Research Challenge competition was hosted by the New York Society of Security Analysts in 2002 and involved just five teams from the New York area. Since then, the competition has grown to involve thousands of students from over 1,000 universities in more than 75 countries.

Prior to the local finals round, 13 university teams submitted written reports as part of our society’s local competition. Those reports were graded by CFA Society Minnesota volunteers based upon the following criteria:

  • Business Description
  • Industry Overview & Competitive Positioning
  • Investment Summary
  • Valuation
  • Financial Analysis
  • Investment Risks
  • Corporate Governance

Out of the papers submitted, five were selected to advance to the local finals. This year’s finalists were Bethel University, University of Minnesota (undergrad), Gustavus Adolphus (team #2), North Dakota State University, and University of Minnesota Duluth. Each team had ten minutes to present their analysis which was followed by ten minutes of question and answer from the judges. Volunteer judges scored the presentation according to the following criteria:

  • Financial Analysis: How thorough was their analysis of the industry, company, and competitors?
  • Valuation: Were the valuation methodologies appropriate and detailed?
  • Presentation: How effective/convincing was their presentation? Was it logical and did the facts support the recommendation?
  • Question & Answer: Were they able to answer the questions effectively and with confidence?
  • Team Involvement: Team involvement in the presentation/questions and answers.
  • Materials: Quality of slides.

Congratulations to University of Minnesota Duluth on their win. They will move onto the Americas Regional competition being held in Boston March 19-20.

This was my first time attending a Research Challenge event. I did so mostly out of curiosity, but was also on a scouting mission as I’ve contemplated volunteering to support this event. Below are a few of my observations.

A Strong Competition

While UMD won, two teams tied for second place. Without the benefit the seeing the final scores, I’m guessing the top three were close. “Keeping score” on my own, I thought two teams were relatively equal. Forced to choose, I would have given the nod to the eventual winner.

Presentation Skills Matter

An area where the UMD students separated themselves was their presentation delivery.

Their stage presence was noticeable—speaking with powerful voices and working the stage. This team conveyed the highest confidence of their analysis. That was particularly apparent during the Q&A when one judge asked about the team’s opinion of company management (a question given to all teams). All teams gave a formidable answer. However, most began with the phrase “We think” or “We believe.” UMD provided the following answer: “They are the perfect management team to run this company, because….”

One might consider this a bit of gamesmanship, or maybe my observation is splitting hairs. With that said, when the difference between competitors is small, it’s the little things that make the difference.

This is your Competition

I’m stealing this line from Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s Invest Like the Best podcast. Each judge noted how much farther ahead these students are compared to when they themselves were undergraduate students. I would echo that comment. Experienced professionals might not be running scared. However, if you are a graduating college student and these individuals are your competition, you should be worried.

Duluth Dynasty

UMD has won the Upper Midwest Finals three of the past four years (2018, 2017, & 2015). If this were football, the term dynasty might get used. Their success seems to have created a sense of pride among alumni as they had a large following from the audience.

If you would like another perspective about the Research Challenge, I would suggest reading Tom Brakke’s Freezing Assets post. He was a judge for the 2017 Americas finals and offers a great synopsis of the experience—and some advice for future competitors. If you would like to get involved with the Research Challenge, there are multiple volunteer opportunities as your society needs help in the form of industry mentors, report graders, and presentation judges.

 

Bio/Disclosures

Craig Popp, CFA is a Financial Advisor with Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC located at 115 Litchfield Ave SE, Willmar, MN. Craig Popp can be contacted at 320-235-1416 or craig.popp@raymondjames.com. Any opinions are those of Craig Popp and not necessarily those of RJFS or Raymond James. Expressions of opinion areas of this date and are subject to change without notice. Investment Advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Raymond James is not affiliated with CFA Society Minnesota.

A Letter From Our Society President

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Joshua M. Howard, CFA

Society Members –

The CFA Society of Minnesota is fortunate to have more than 150 active volunteers that serve on our committees and help with individual events. This allows us to be innovative and try new things while still maintaining our popular events and programs. Although we currently have an abundance of energetic, thoughtful people on our Board of Directors and our committees, we must continually replenish our volunteer base. Every year we have 3-5 Board positions as long-time volunteers roll off the Board, and committees frequently have the need for new volunteers throughout the year.When we prepare for Board transition we look for new Board members and committee volunteers from a variety of industries – some even outside of finance, such as people with experience in human resources, marketing, accounting or law. We seek diversity in all aspects including, experience and viewpoints. We strive to represent the interests of the entire body of local members and of all occupations either directly or indirectly related to investment management. Many people do not realize that you do not have to be a charterholder to be on our Board or to volunteer with one of our committees. Event and committee volunteers technically do not even need to be local society members, though most choose to join once they start volunteering.

Our Nominating Committee for the upcoming fiscal year will begin their work in May, but it is not too early to put out the call for new volunteers. If you have an interest in joining our Board, assisting with a single event (such as the upcoming Intellisight Conference), or helping one of our committees (Employment, Membership and Advocacy have the biggest needs) please let me know and I will get you in touch with our staff or a committee chair. If you want to learn more about volunteering in general please send Diane Senjem or me an email and we can discuss the current opportunities. I guarantee we have a spot for any level of time commitment. If you know of someone who might be a good fit we also accept referrals.

To all our past, current and future volunteers, thank you so much for your contributions to the CFA Society of Minnesota.

Joshua M Howard, CFA
President, CFA Society of Minnesota