SIF Exchanges Ideas on Investing at Chicago Conference
The following post was written by Joel Ballou, MBA student and SIF teaching assistant.
One of the best things about the School of Management is its strength at bridging the gap between learning in the classroom and the real world. The school offers numerous opportunities to attend conferences and competitions, and network with professionals. This fall, students in our Student Investment Fund class traveled to Chicago to attend the 7th annual Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium conference. It was a wonderful to network with people from all types of backgrounds, learn about other student investment groups, and listen to best practices from industry experts. This opportunity helped us see different ways we can manage our SIF class both internally and externally.
Along with showcasing how schools manage their funds, the SMIFC hosted a wide range of guest speakers to talk about hot issues facing investors today. With many different topics covered, some of the most notable speakers were William Strauss, senior economist and economic advisor for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Charlie K. Bobrinskoy, vice chairman and head of investment group portfolio manager with Ariel Investments. William Strauss covered the economic outlook for 2020-2022, highlighting some positive trends in the industry while mentioning that a recession might not happen as soon as many people predict. Charlie Bobrinskoy discussed behavioral finance. His presentation focused on the most common investment biases that are seen in the marketplace and touched on ways that investors can capitalize on these opportunities. Charlie also shared ways to approach these “anomalies”; by thinking in terms of bets at all times, trusting that data is better than your gut instinct, and making sure you are doing the math properly.
Also of interest was the panel discussion with Brian Beargie, Michael Miranda, and Kristan Rowland. The complete list of SMIFC speakers can be found here. This panel discussion covered investment management strategies and how to prepare for a job in the finance industry. The panelists emphasized that oftentimes employers place a greater importance on extracurricular activities and how you make a difference in your community than on grades. We also learned the key traits they look for in employees, which are energy, determination to do well, problem solving with little information, and an outgoing personality.
Experiences of this caliber are not possible without funding support. Thank you to Northrim Bank for helping the SIF group travel to Chicago and bring home this wealth of information to share with the rest of the class.
