1) The Finance Association would like to announce and congratulate our new first-year board members:

Sam Brownell
Allison Chesnut
Mansi Deshpande
Quint Mansell
Rachel Oster
Philip Whitley

We are very excited to be joined by this talented and enthusiastic group of people and we will be counting on them to make the Smith community better and stronger.

1) The Finance Association will be hosting the 3rd annual Smith Mergers and Acquisitions Competition on Thursday & Friday, October 22 – 23, 2009.

The Finance Association is currently recruiting enthusiastic volunteers for this event.  If you are interested in volunteering, click Here.

Benefits of being an M&A volunteer:

Career networking opportunity with Smith MBA alums and M&A industry professionals (historically, volunteers get much more face time with the judges than the competition participants);

Networking opportunity with faculty members, first/second-year classmates, and administration staff member (this could help you to discover the best people to talk to when you need things to get done);

Gain greater understanding of M&A transactions;

2) Annual Finance Association New York Career Trek, October 29 – 30

A select group of Smith MBAs will visit New York City to engage alums and companies in the financial services industry on a two-day trip.   This career trek enables Finance Association members to learn about different job possibilities within the finance industry, and hear real life work experiences from industry professionals. Regardless if you have a finance background, this trip presents you with great opportunities to learn and network.

This year, we will be visiting the following companies:

Bank of American, JP Morgan, JP Morgan Chase, K2 Advisors, and more to be announced.

Details on a short information session will be announced soon!

3) Wall Street Boot Camp, November 6 – 7, 2009

The Finance Association will be hosting Wall Street Prep's Financial and Valuation Modeling seminar on Friday-Saturday, November 6-7, 2009. The seminar is taught by former investment bankers with applied expertise in financial and valuation modeling methodologies, this seminar bridges the gap between academics and the real world to equip MBA students with the practical financial skill set they need to excel during the recruiting process and on the job. Full details can be found at: http://www.wallstreetprep.com/training_umd.html

PROGRAM AGENDA: 

Friday, November 6 (9am-5pm): Financial Modeling in Excel

Saturday, November 7 (9am-5pm): Introduction to Valuation / Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) Modeling  

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

This seminar is for all students pursuing or working in: investment banking, corporate finance, private equity, portfolio management, business development, capital markets, and equity & credit research

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND THIS SEMINAR?

- Supplement academic theory with real-life applications

- Simulate what finance professionals actually do on a daily basis

- Obtain practical financial skill set needed to excel on the job in finance

HOW TO REGISTER:

Online at http://www.wallstreetprep.com/training_umd.html

COST PER STUDENT:

$125 (for the first 27 students), which represents a 85% educational discount relative to WSP’s corporate training fees

WHAT’S INCLUDED?

- Two days of live training

- Extensive materials – comprehensive manuals and robust and reusable Excel model templates

- 3-month access to Crash Course in Excel online module

- 3-month post-seminar online access to Financial and DCF Modeling modules covered during the seminar

- 3-month e-mail access to Support Team, comprised of former finance professionals, whom students can contact with follow-up questions

ABOUT WALL STREET PREP

Wall Street Prep is a global full-service financial training firm, providing instructor-led training and e-learning services to investment banks, financial institutions, and Fortune 1000 companies, and has conducted seminars at some of the most prestigious academic institutions and corporations in the world, including Kellogg School of Management, Cornell University, NYU, Harvard University, University of Michigan, Credit Suisse First Boston, SK Telecom, and Thomson.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Please feel free to contact Arkady Libman at alibman@wallstreetprep.com

4) Weekly Wall Street Journal Roundtable - Tuesday 12:15 - 1pm, VMH 2333Q

***Special Session Alerts***

Several Smith professors have agreed to lead discussions at our future roundtable meetings (thank you Jeff Hong).   These are some of the most brilliant minds in their respective fields and the best way that we can express our appreciation to them is to have strong showings at these events.

Professor Faulkender, Tuesday, 10/20.   Topic: executive compensation.

Professor Pete Kyle, 10/27.   Topic: financial reform.

Professor Pete Kyle, 11/3.   Topic: cap and trade.

Professor Cliff Rossi, 11/17.   Topic: risk management.