FMA Leaders’ Conference 2015

Six members of the University of South Alabama’s student chapter of the Financial Management Association (FMA) attended the FMA Leaders’ Conference in New York City March 12th and March 13th 2015.  The first morning of the conference MCOB students participated in the qualifying round of the quiz bowl, the following morning one of the MCOB quiz bowl teams qualified for the final round and placed in the top 16 out of 40 teams from universities across the nation.  On Wednesday before the conference began, the students were hosted at the New York Stock Exchange by John Elliot, a floor broker with Merrill Lynch.  While at the Exchange, the students met with several traders and toured the trading floor and the NYSE Boardroom.  The students also met with Ron McGann, the Vice Chairman of the Private Bank at J.P. Morgan and several of his staff.  The first afternoon of the conference students attended presentations including: one on professional development by Vanguard, Michael Jacobs from RBC Wealth Management discussed the current state of the economy, and Lou DePaoli, EVP & CRO of the New York Mets, discussed boosting ticket sales for the Mets.  On the last day of the conference  students learned about the different types of employment in equity and derivatives markets in a presentation by Russell Rhoads from the Chicago Board Options Exchange.  Following lunch, the students toured Bloomberg Headquarters, participated in resume workshops, and heard a presentation by Rick Yamarone, a Bloomberg economist.  The six members attending were: President Justin Kendrick, Vice President Ingrid Hagen, Treasurer Samantha Pollock, Igor Danila, Abdulaziz Alshahi, and Saxon Deacon.  Students were accompanied by Dean Bob Wood and FMA Faculty Advisor Dr. Ken Hunsader.