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Department of Finance and Business Law

  

Department news

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Spring 2011

Presentation of 2010 performance results by MIF

The Madison Investment Fund is presenting their 2010 results with faculty and students on Tuesday, March 29th, at 6:30 PM in Room 106.  All students and faculty are welcome to attend.  Attire: casual.

Job Search Sessions

Are you a Finance or Quantitative Finance major who is graduating either May of Summer 2011?  Sign up to attend the Job Search session to be held Tuesday, March 22nd, 5:30 PM, in 208 Showker.  Be sure to bring your resume (in Word format) and a list of companies that you have applied to so far.  You must be registered with Recruit-a-Duke prior to this session.  Because of limited space in the lab, you must register in advance by clicking here.

Are you still looking for an internship?  Sign up for the Internship Search Session, which will also be March 22nd in 208 Showker, but will be held at 7PM and again at 8PM.  You must be registered with Recruit-a-Duke in advance, and you must bring your resume in Word format and the list of companies you have applied to so far.  Because of limited space in the lab, you must register in advance by clicking here.

Event Risk and the Current Crisis

Join us Monday, March 21st, 6:30PM in Room 106 ZSH for a panel discussion of the economics and financial impact of the uprisings in the Arab World and the earthquake/tsunami event in Japan. Panelists: Hui He, Jason Fink, Barkley Rosser, and Elias Semaan.  Sponsored by the JMU chapter of the Global Association of Risk Professionals.  

What is Plagiarism?

Join us for a presentation and discussion of the plagiarism, Copyright law, and related issues, Tuesday, March 1, 2011, 6:30PM, Room 107.  Presentors: David Parker, Arthur Hamilton and Pamela Peterson Drake.

Real Estate Investment Panel Session

Join us for a panel session that includes Claiborne Johnston (Morgan Stanley Real Estate IB), Howard Jenkins (Federal Captial Partners), Scott Jenkins (The Carlyle Group), and Adam Armiger (CW Capital Asset Management) on Wednesday, February 23rd, at 6:30PM in Room 105 ZSH.  Sponsored by the Madison Investment Fund and the Department of Finance and Business Law.  All students welcome. Attire: casual.

JMU Spring Career Fair

Come and discuss career opportunities with recruiters on Tuesday, February 22nd, at the Festival.  Check with Career & Academic Planning for a list of recruiters who will be attending.  All students welcome.  Attire: Professional

Social Networking

The Madison Investment Fund presents Social Networking, February 1, 7PM in Room 107.  The purpose of this session is to teach students how to use LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other types of social media to achieve their networking goals. The presentation is open to all majors and students. Attire is casual.

Finance Risk Management

William May, of the Global Association of Risk Professionals, will be discussing financial risk management and risk management careers on Monday, January 31st, at 6:30 PM.  All students are welcome, and risk management professionals will be attending this event.   A GARP chapter meeting will follow the presentation. Sponsored by GARP. Attire: casual

Networking 101

The members of the Madison Investment Fund student organization is organizing and presenting a session on networking Tuesday, January 25th, at 7PM in Room 107 ZSH.  The session, entitled Networking 101: From Casting a Net to Leveraging Your Resources, will help students develop skills for effective networking. Both electronic and face-to-face networking will be addressed in the session.

Resume Night

Finance and Business Law faculty will present information about resumes for students interested in a career in the finance field on Tuesday, January 18th, at 6:30PM in Room 107 ZSH.  Bring copies of your resume to be critqued by faculty members. Sponsored by the Department of Finance and Business Law. Attire: casual

The CFA Program

Robert McLean, of the CFA Institute, will be making a presentation on Tuesday, January 11th, at 6:30 PM in Room 107.  Information about CFA scholarships will also be available. All students are welcome. Sponsored by the Madison Investment Fund. Attire: casual

Seven representatives from the Madison Investment Fund are attending the annual RISE conference in Dayton, Ohio. The RISE Conference is the premier conference and competition for student managed investment funds. Good luck, MIF!

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JMU's 2011 CFA Investment Research Challenge team

 

Pat Langan, Stan Petrenko, Brooke Beal,  Jack Kilgallen and Dan McBride

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Fall 2010

Wall Street 101 with Goldman Sachs
Thursday, November 11th

Goldman Sachs returns again this year to help students learn more about Wall Street and how the firm operates.  The presentation will be in the evening, 6:30 PM in Room 106.

NetWorking
October 5th

Learn the secrets of successful and effective networking. Tuesday, October 5th, 7PM in 106 ZSH. Sponsored by the Madison Investment Fund.  All students welcome.  Attire: casual

Student Chapter of the Global Association of Risk Professionals
October 5th

Interested in joining the JMU student chapter of GARP?  Come join us for our organizational meeting on Tuesday, October 5th, at 6:30PM in 106 ZSH.  Advisor: Pamela Drake  Attire: casual

Fall 2010 Career Fair
October 4th

The Fall 2010 Career Fair will be Monday, October 4, 2010, from Noon - 4PM in the Festival Ballroom. Recruiters will be representing employers with full-time and internship opportunities. Come prepared with your resume. Attire: Business.

Finance Career Night
September 28th

The Finance Career Night is an opportunity for students to learn about careers in Finance: Tuesday, September 28th, 7-8:30 PM, Room 106 ZSH.  A panel of alumni will discuss their careers and career paths, with plenty of time for Q&A. Attire: Business casual

Financial Reform Panel
Tuesday, September 21st

Learn about the new Financial Reform Bill and the implications for the financial industry Tuesday, September 21st, 7-8:30 PM, Room 105 ZSH.  Finance and Business Law faculty will explain the bill-- what it includes and what it does not include. Attire: Casual

Nissem Nicholas Taleb
Friday, September 17th

The author of the Black Swan, Nissem Nicholas Taleb, will be addressing students and faculty on Friday, September 17th, at 3:30PM in the Grafton-Stovall auditorium.

Meet the Firms Night
September 15th

The Meet the Firms event is an opportunity to meet recruiters who are focused on recruiting Accounting, CIS, and Finance majors. The event is 6-8PM, Wednesday, September 15, 2010 at the Festival. Bring your resume to share with recruiters. Attire: Business.

Finance Internship Panel
September 14th

Hear from students who had internships during summer 2010 on Tuesday, September 14th, 6:30 PM, Room 106 ZSH.  [A MIF Information Session will follow at 7:45PM] Attire: casual.

Finance Resume Night
September 7th

Finance and Quantitative Finance majors: Come prepared to have your resume reviewed by Finance and Business Law faculty members. Tuesday, September 7, 2010, 6:30-8PM [Room TBA]. Bring a few copies of your resume, and we'll bring the red pens.  Attire: Casual.

Navigating Recruit-a-Duke
August 31, 2010

Learn how to locate internships and job opportunities in finance using Recruit-a-Duke, Tuesday, August 31st, 6:30-7:30 PM, 106 ZSH.  We strongly recommend that students register with Recruit-a-Duke before attending this session. Attire: Casual

2009-10 CFA Investment Research Challenge Team Kathryn Globig, Tom Schneider, David Melendez, [Mentor: Jeremy Hellman], Vincent Boccio & Mike DeNicola Competing against other Virginia university teams in financial analysis Sponsored by the CFA Virginia Society

Finance Career Night, January 26, 2010

Five panelists provided insights into careers in finance, sharing their experiences with students:

• Todd Applebaum, SNL Financial
• Kevin Flint, SunTrust
• Brandon Newbill, Dominion Resources
• Peter Santana, DuPont Community Credit Union
• Randy Stewart, American Woodmark

 

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Fall 2009

The Global Financial Crisis and its Historical Antecedents
November 19, 2009 

Robert F. Bruner, Dean of the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, made a presentation on the financial crisis to students and faculty, comparing the current financial crisis to the Panic of 1907.

Wall Street 101, presented by Goldman Sachs
November 12, 2009, 7PM

Kevin Langlais, Vice President, Public Sector and Infrastructure Banking, Goldman Sachs [JMU 2000] made a presentation on Goldman Sachs at 7PM, on Thursday, November 12th.

Finance Career Night
September 22, 2009, 7-9PM

Recent JMU Alumni were on hand to discuss their experiences looking for a job and on the job:

• Aaron Graham, JMU '08 (Primatics)
• Gothemi Gunasekera, JMU '08 (Fannie Mae)
• Jennifer Frazier (Rosetta Stone)

Meet the Firms Night
September 16, 2009, 6-8 PM

Meet the Firms Night is an opportunity for Accounting, Finance, and other majors to look at job opportunities at accounting, consulting, and financial service firms, as well as government agencies.

Internship Information Night
September 15, 2009, 6:30-8PM

Interns from Summer 2009 internships talked about securing an internship and their internship experiences.  Student interns on this panel:

• Vincent Boccio, Citigroup
• Steven Hu, Freddie Mac
• Megan Hurley, Securities and Exchange Commission
• Eric Pasciutti, IBM Global Solutions
• Justin Quaglia, Goldman Sachs

 Sponsored by the Madison Investment Fund. 

Resume Workshop
September 8, 2009, 6:30-8PM

Finance and Business Law faculty provided students with a presentation on resumes in finance, and provided one-on-one assistance in improving students' resumes.

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Spring 2009

Outstanding seniors

Three of our seniors were recognized May 8, 2009, as outstanding seniors: 

Kurt Martinson 2009 Outstanding Senior in Finance	Brian Scott 2009 Outstanding Senior in Quantitative Finance	Jeff Livermon 2009 Outstanding Senior in Economics

 

"First Paycheck" Presentation, April 14th, 7PM

Bruce Bracco (Freddie Mac), Brooks Marshall and Scott Lowe presented personal finance information for graduating seniors at 7PM in Room 107 ZSH. Sponsored by the Financial Management Association.

John Allison, Chairman of BB&T, April 14th, 5PM

John Allison IV, Chairman of BB&T, made a presentation entitled "Principled Leadership" at 5PM on April 14th, in 2301HHS.

Economic Update, April 7th

Barkley Rosser, Lou Betancourt and Pamela Drake provided an economic update at 7PM in Room 107 ZSH. This update included the current state of the economy, the bailout situation (including AIG), and the proposed fix for the "legacy" (a.k.a. toxic) assets.

Personal Finance After Graduation, March31^st

Bob Hill, a Financial Advisor, Principal and District Advisor, with First Comment Financial Services made a  presentation to the Financial Management Association on personal financial planning: Tuesday, March 31st, in Room 107 ZSH.  All students are welcome to attend.

Madison Investment Fund members attending RISE

Members of the Madison Investment Fund (MIF), along with the adviser, Elias Semaan, attended RISE, a Global Student Investment Forum, at the University of Dayton, March 26-28. MIF presented their 2008 fund results, in competition with funds at other universities. MIF members attending the RISE conference were:

• Ryan Carrigan
• Alyna Galli
• Eric Lane
• Robert Lurie
• Kurt MartinsonM
• atthew Reustle
• Justin Qualgia
• Eric Pasciutti

Spring Career Fair, March 23rd

The Spring Career Fair was held Monday, March 23rd, from Noon until 4 PM in the Festival Ballroom. 

Presentation by Gene Donnelly, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, March 3rd

Gene Donnelly, of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, will be making a presentation to students and facutly at 7:45 PM in Room G5 ZSH. All students are welcome.

2008-09 CFA Investment Research Challenge

The team representing James Madison University in the 2008-09 Challenge:

• Joseph Bove (Senior, Finance major)
• Steven Hu (Junior, Quantitative Finance major)
• Justin Qualiglia (Sophomore, Finance major)

Advisors: Pamela Peterson Drake and Brooks Marshall
Mentor: Brett Wilkinson [Senior Manager, Primatics Financial, LLC]

Finance Career Night, February 3rd, at 7 p.m.

A panel of recent graduates discussed job searches and job opportunities.  Sponsored by the Financial Management Association.  Panelists:

• Bruno Dieseldorff, UVA Investment Management Co.
• Chris Gandia, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
• Brandon Newbill, Dominion Resources
• Mike Keith, McLean Advisors LLC

From Ponzi to Madoff

On January 20, 2009, Professor Pamela Drake discussed Ponzi schemes, starting with Charles Ponzi, and relating Ponzi's scheme to that of Bernard Madoff. She addressed the following questions:

• How do these schemes work?
• Why do people fall for these?
• What happens to the "investors" and their money?

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Fall 2008

Goldman Sachs' Wall Street 101

In November, 2008, Thornton Lurie (Vice-President, Investment Banking) and Tim Craighead (Managing Director) discussed the different dimensions of investment banking and the role of Goldman Sachs in the investment community.

  

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Distinguished Speaker at Morgan State University

Pamela Peterson Drake was the 2008-09 Distinguished Speaker for the College of Business at Morgan State University, and made presentations to both the faculty and the doctoral students about developing research from the current economic crisis.

[Pictured: Phyllis Keys, Pamela Peterson Drake and Shannon Finney]

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Madison Investment Fund in the news

The Breeze interviewed Madison Investment Fund president Eric Lane and advisor Elias Semaan for an article about the effect of the current economic crisis on the fund.  You can find November 3, 2008 Breeze article here. 

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Sub-Prime in Prime Time

On Ocrtober 28th, a panel of three faculty members provided insights in to the current economics issues. The panelists were:

• Luis Betancourt, PhD, CPA, Accounting
• Pamela Peterson Drake, PhD, CFA, Finance
• Barkley Rosser, PhD, Economics

Over 130 students and faculty members attended this event. This event was co-sponsored with the Madison Investment Fund.

Glossary

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CFA Investment Research Team

The JMU CFA Investmetn Research Team (Joe Bove, Alyna Galli, Steven Hu and Justin Quaglia) participated in the interview of Norfolk-Southern Corporation CFO James A. Squires at the University of Richmond. This interview is part of the investment research conducted by teams partitipating in the CFA Investment Research Challenge. Professors Brooks Marshall and Pamela Drake accompanied the team to this event.

[Pictured: Alyna Galli, Steven Hu, Justin quaglia and Joe Bove]

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Thanks to our panelists for the Finance Internship Night, September 23, 2008

Several of our finance and quantitative finance students volunteered their time to talk to other students about their internship experiences: 

• Whitney Madison (Intern at Freddie Mac)
• Jeff Livermon (Intern at Goldman Sachs) 
• Amrou Kotb (Intern at Dominion)
• Matt Ruestle (Intern at Lehman Brothers)
• Kyle DiGangi (Intern at Alliance Bernstein) 

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Our alumni returned to JMU to participate in the JMU Career Fair, September 22, 2008

Alumni from many companies returned to talk to JMU students about opportunities at their companies. Firms represented included Accenture, CarMax, BearingPoint, BB&T, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Pictured here are JMU Alumni Keith Henderson (JMU'08) and Christopher Johnson (JMU '04):

 

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Thanks to our panelists for the Finance Career Night, September 9, 2008

We thank our panelists who participated in the Finance Career night, September 9th:

• Ryan Hoffman, with BB&T Capital Markets
• William Loomis III, CFP, with RBC Wealth Management
• David Powers, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
• Thomas Rea, with United Banks

 

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Congratulations to JMU students passing Level I of the CFA exam

Four of our graduating seniors who took Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst exam in June 2008 passed. Congratulations to Aaron Graham, Matt Kattler, Eric Laidlow and  Nicholas Ramm.  

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Faculty participation in JMU's CyberCity Summer Program

Daphyne Thomas, Scott Lowe and Pamela Drake participated in the Summer 2008 CyberCity camp. Daphyne Thomas is a co-coordinator of the program, Scott Lowe taught video-creation to the attending teachers, and Pamela Drake instructed campers on Web Page creation.

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Faculty participation at the Eastern Finance Association annual meeting

• Wilson Liu presented his paper with Jau-Lian Jeng entitled "Do Idiosyncratic Risks in Asset Pricing Models Contain a Hidden Non-Diversifiable Factor? A Diagnostic Testing Approach." 
• Jonathan Godbey presented his paper with Mark Bertus and Jimmy Hilliard  entitled "A New Approach to Minimum Variance Cross-Hedging."
• Jason Fink, Kristin Fink and Jonathan Godbey presented their paper entitled "Firm Age and the January Effect."
• Wilson Liu presented his paper with Hung-Gay Fung and Yiuman Tse entitled "Inter-Market Linkages: The Case of DJIA Index Futures and Exchange-Traded Funds."
• In addition to these papers, Jason Fink, Jonathan Godbey and Wilson Liu participated by chairing sessions and discussing papers.

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Professor Drake's Book Published by John Wiley & Sons

The Complete CFO Handbook: From Accounting to Accountability, by Frank J. Fabozzi, Pamela Peterson Drake and Ralph Polimeni, has been published by John Wiley & Sons [ISBN: 978-0-470-09925-1]. In this book, the authors address the changing role of the corporate CFO, from the traditional accounting function to the current role that involves the corporate strategy and accountability to investors and regulators.

Topics covered include the implicaitons of Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002, capital structure, structured financing, strategy, risk management, financial analysis, performance measurement, transfer pricing, costing, budgeting, and capital budgeting.

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Faculty participation at the Financial Management Association annual meeting

In October 2007, several faculty members attended the annual meeting of the FMA, an international association of fiannce academics and practitioners.

• Jason Fink and Kristin Fink, along with Michael Albert, a doctotral student Duke University and JMU alumnus, presented their paper entitled "Adaptive Mesh Modeling and Barrier Option Pricing Under a Jump-Diffusion Process";
• Jonathan Godbey and Elias Semaan discussed papers of colleagues at other schools; and
• Pamela Peterson Drake was a panelist on a session entitled "Finance faculty mentoring: How important is it?", chaired a session, and discussed a paper of another colleague.

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Faculty awards

Congratulations to Elias Semaan and Daphayne Thomas, who have been recognized for their efforts at the recent College of Business luncheon. Elias Semaan, assistant professor in finance, received the Dr. Otto G. Brenner Memorial Award in recognition for his teaching excellence. Daphayne Thomas, professor of business law, received the Community Service Award, along with faculty members Harry Reif and Tom Dillon, in recognition of their work with the CyberCity summer program.

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Success on the CFA Level I exam

Jonathan Godbey, Daniel Bise, Paul Meierdierck, and William Tabir, candidates for the CFA charter, passed the Level I exam in June, 2007. Jonathan Godbey is an assistant professor in finance at James Madison University, and Daniel, Paul and William are recent JMU graduates. Daniel Bise has joined the Private Equity Partners division of BlackRock, Paul Meirdierck is with LaSalle Investment Management, and William Tabir is employed with Fannie Mae.

The CFA charter is awarded to candidates who sequentially pass the Level I, II and III examinations, and meet the ethical and professional responsibilities of a CFA charterholder. For more information about the CFA Program, visit the CFA Institute online.

Congratulations to Jonathan, Daniel, Paul and William, and happy studying (and good luck) for the Level II and Level III examinations.

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Successful Presentation by Finance Faculty

Jeff Evans, part-time instructor in Finance, and his brother made a successful presentation to the Chrysler Group Executive Committee (EC) at the third Venture Capital Initiative Innovation Day in Auburn Hills held on April 30, 2007. Jeff is from Chrysler's Mid-Atlantic Business Center and his brother Ryan Evans is from Chrysler's Great Lakes Business Center. They presented a subscription-based leasing plan that would retain more customers and sell more vehicles while offering customers good value. EC members were intrigued by the idea and wanted a more in-depth analysis of the potential risks and benefits. Jeff and Ryan were 1 of 3 presenting groups out of 318 submissions.

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Students Granted Finance Awards

Congratulations to the following finance award recipients:
Outstanding Student in Finance: Andrew K. Lucas
Outstanding Student in Quantitative Finance: Anne K. Stilwell
Joseph T. Kosnik Scholarship: Stephen G. Stover
Shelly Wheeler Financial Engineering Scholarship: Benjamin P. Young
Philip H. Maxwell Scholarship: Christopher W. Mather

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Dr. Liu's Book Published by Elgar Publishing

China's Capital Markets, a book co-edited by assistant professor of finance Dr. Wilson Liu, was published in May, 2007 by Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd., an international academic publisher in economics, management, law, environment, public and social policy.

The book presents research on China's fast-changing stock and bond markets, futures and over-the-counter markets, regulatory issues, and the development and roles of financial institutions such as brokerage firms, banks and insurance companies. Also addressed are the recent performance of equity markets, the emergence of small and medium enterprises, and the state banks' bids to be listed in overseas stock exchanges.

It is a timely academic work as China's accession agreements to the World Trade Organization promised to open up the financial sector to foreign competition by the end of 2006, affording a wealth of opportunities for domestic and international investors.

More information about the book can be obtained here and here.

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Dr. Elias Semaan Voted "Outstanding Teacher"

In just two years as a faculty member in the College of Business, Dr. Elias Semaan, an assistant professor of finance, has made a positive impression on his students. Recently, they selected him as the Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher in the College of Business.

The award is important because it gives students the opportunity to honor a teacher who has had a significant impact on their education, says Professor Joyce Guthrie, associate dean of student services. "It's from the student body saying, ‘Wow, we think this individual is really good,'" she says.

Comments from students indicate that Semaan is not only knowledgeable about the subject matter, but that he also cares about each student. He is known for encouraging students to succeed in the classroom, as well as helping them to find internship and other professional growth opportunities. In casting his vote for Semaan, one student wrote, "[Dr. Semaan] refuses to let any student fail. He knows each and every student's weaknesses and wants to help them.

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College of Business Co-Valedictorians

The College of Business is proud to recognize two of its graduating seniors, Michael Albert and Ken Hart, as the co-valedictorians of the James Madison University graduating class of 2006.

Both Michael and Ken are graduating with perfect 4.0 GPA's and will be receiving the Bachelor of Science in Quantitative Finance at this year's commencement. It is unusual to have co-valedictorians and probably unprecedented to have the co-valedictorians from the same major. Although both are double majors they will be graduating with the Quantitative Finance students.

Ken, a native of Pittsburg, is a double major in Quantitative Finance and Economics with a Mathematics minor. He is also a member and sector manager of the Madison Investment Fund (MIF) and was a member of the MIF team that won the International/National title at the R.I.S.E. competition for the best student managed value fund. This year he received the outstanding senior in Economics Award and shared the outstanding senior in Quantitative Finance Award with Michael. Upon graduation Ken will be joining the asset backed securitization division of Bank of America.

Michael, a native of Harrisonburg, is also a double major. In addition to Quantitative Finance he also majored in Mathematics and completed a minor in Physics. This year Michael received the J. Emmert Ikenberry Mathematics Prize and the Mathematics Research Award and shared the outstanding senior in Quantitative Finance Award with Ken. Michael intends to take a year for traveling and exploring other activities before entering a Ph.D program in the fall of 2007.