Finance Students from Marquette Visited Chicago-area Financial Firms on
Friday, April 21, 2017
 |
| Chicago, Illinois, USA |
Dr. David Krause and the student officers of the Financial
Management Association (FMA) organized the 2017 Marquette University FMA/AIM
Chicago spring trip.
Over 40 Marquette sophomores, junior and senior finance majors
traveled to Chicago on a sunny spring day. Following their crack-of-dawn
departure from campus on Friday, they visited UBS, where they were hosted by
Tom Digenan.
 |
| Tom Digenan of UBS |
Upon arrival they learned about UBS and the firm’s various
business units from Mr. Digenan (CFA, CPA), who is the Managing Director at UBS
and the Head of US Intrinsic Value Equity. In this role, he is responsible for
US equities portfolio construction and research. Tom is an alumnus of
Marquette, who has recently taught Investments in Marquette’s Graduate School
of Management.
 |
| Connor Konicke pitched Stamps.com |
Jordan Luczaj and Connor Konicke pitched two small cap stocks
to the UBS analysts in attendance, as well as to their AIM peers. The stocks
pitched were PGT Innovations, Inc. (ticker: PGTI) a domestic industrial firm
and Stamps.com, Inc. (ticker: STMP) a domestic consumer discretionary e-commerce
firm.
The students next visited Capital One, which is a bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking and savings products. Capital One is the 8th largest US bank holding company when ranked by assets and deposits. While the company is best known for their credit card business, they also have a substantial commercial banking and securitization business – and are a leader in the rapidly growth world of data analytics and financial technology (fintech).
 |
| Dave Kucera of Capital One |
Our host, Dave Kucera (a Marquette alumnus), gave the students
an overview of the firm. He is the head of the financial institutions group -
he has more than 25 years of investment and commercial banking experience
advising owners and managers of financial assets, assisting in financing,
raising capital and delivering customized solutions to clients in many
countries. Before joining Capital One, he led the U.S. Securitization business
for BMO Capital Markets, which he co-founded and helped build into a leading
North American provider – providing more than $75 billion in funding for the
lender finance markets.
During a working lunch two AIM students pitched stocks: William
Reckamp presented Callon Petroleum Company (ticker: CPE) a domestic energy firm
and Holly Kuffel pitched Albemarle Corporation (ticker: ALB) an international materials
company.
 |
| Will Reckamp presented Callon Petroleum |
The visit took an unexpected and exciting turn as the students
were able to visit Capital One’s Digital Lab.
The firm has taken major steps in the past year to become a global leader
in fintech. The students were treated to a visit to the firm’s Google-like work environment
within their Digital Lab.
 |
| Capital One's (fintech) Digital Labs |
Following Capital One’s acquisitions of various personal
financial technology companies - aimed at millennials - the firm has invested heavily
in people, technology and in acquiring other innovative fintech companies. The
Digital Lab was a robust internal innovation center totally connected with the
world of fintech – which made a very positive impression on the AIM students.
 |
| Conor Connelly of Goldman Sachs |
The next visit was to Goldman Sachs where 2016 AIM alumnus, Conor Connelly, arranged for a lively series of discussions with other first year Goldman analysts in the areas of investment banking, credit, equity and prime brokerage. The AIM students had an opportunity to hear from professionals close in age to them – allowing for a free exchange of information and career planning thoughts. Discussions revolved around ‘a day in the life’ and work-life balance. It was a great way to cap off a busy day in the heart of Chicago.
 |
| Texting about the AIM trip to Chicago |
 |
| AIM students in Chicago |
