Undergraduate Business Students Attend Distinguished NYC Financial Services Conference

By Matthew L. Carey
Director of the Center for Financial Market Studies
Hagan School of Business

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (April 4, 2012) – Conan Leon ’12, Doug Stephens ’13, Brendan Ehrling ’13 and Justin Reed ’13, four students in John Manley’s, Ph.D. seminar in finance class, attended the second annual Quinnipiac Global Asset Management Education (G.A.M.E.) Forum in Manhattan from March 29-31. The conference brought an international group of current and future leaders from the financial services industry together to explore important developments, challenges and opportunities facing investment professionals within the global financial markets. Conference participants included more than 1,000 students from 115 universities and 122 speakers from 93 companies. The group represented 38 countries from Colombia and Croatia to Uganda and Vietnam. 

The first day of the conference included panel discussions on the state of asset management, the stock market and corporate governance. Included among the 16 keynote speakers on day one were: CNBC Senior Economics Reporter, Steve Liesman, Citigroup Chief U.S. Equity Strategist, Tobias Levkovich, and Goldman Sachs Senior Investment Strategist, Abby Joseph Cohen.

On the second day of the conference, students and faculty participated in a number of concurrent breakout sessions, workshop presentations and keynote perspectives that explored portfolio management, equity analysis, forensic accounting, and risk and ethical decision making. The highlight of the day was a lively presentation entitled, “Asset Allocation and Investment Strategy for 2012 and Beyond” by David Darst, managing director & chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

The forum concluded on day three with a focus on careers and academic program development. Student attendees were able to round out their experience through interactive career discussions with a group of young professionals who not so long ago were in a similar position of focusing on breaking into the financial services industry.

“Events like this are such a tremendous opportunity for Iona students with an interest in pursuing careers in finance and capital markets. While there were students from all over the world in attendance, the fact that one of the world’s great financial centers is just a 30-minute train ride from Iona’s campus opens up a whole host of similar activities for our students to participate in,” said Matt Carey, director of Financial Market Studies, at the Hagan School of Business.

The seminar in finance course is focused on supervised research in advanced theoretical and empirical topics. The seminar uses financial technology like Bloomberg, Morningstar and Research Insight to assist students as they study how to invest and monitor a real money portfolio of assets.

Founded in 1940, Iona College is a four-year private, coeducational institution of learning in the tradition of the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers and American Catholic higher education. It is a diverse community of learners and scholars dedicated to academic excellence and the values of justice, peace and service. Iona offers undergraduate degrees in liberal arts, science, and business administration, as well as Master of Arts, Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees and numerous advanced certificate programs.