Carnegie Mellon University

Tepper School of Undergraduate Business

Undergraduate Finance Club

Annual Report 2007-2008

President: Jyoti Joshi

Vice President: Victor Tam
Treasurer: Lisa Hsieh
Marketing: Ann Thomas
Secretary: Kristin Carew
Activities Director: Neil Sethi
Chief Technology Officers: Nitin Seemakurty
John Bennett
Senior Advisor: Sudeep Paul
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Table of Contents
Our Mission Page 3

Professor Dinners Page 4

Wall Street Intern Panel Page 5

Wall Street Crash Session Page 6

Fidelity Investment Presentations Page 7

Corporate Finance Case Competition Page 8

Guest Speaker: Chester Spatt Page 10

PNC Bank Trading Floor Tour Page 11

Freshmen/Sophomore Case Competition Page 12

UFA Social Page 13

Guest Speaker: Ziv Ragowsky Page 14

Equitrader Presentation & Competition Page 15

April/July Events Page 16

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Mission
Our mission is to prepare Carnegie Mellon Students interested in
finance with the tools and education needed for a successful career. To
this end, the Undergraduate Finance Association helps develop students'
interest in finance, and augment the current Finance Track education
with extracurricular workshops and events. In an effort to promote the
interests of our members to finance professionals and recruiters, we also
sponsor programs to increase the presence of Carnegie Mellon's
Undergraduate Finance and Business programs in the financial
community. To provide valuable insight to students, we have developed
and maintained a network of alumni and friends in corporate finance and
the financial industry.
UFA was rebuilt in Fall 2002, and we have been growing ever since.
We are the largest business organization on campus, with over 500
members on our distribution list. From this, we have a core group of 80-100
students who participate in many of our events. For more information and
details about our club, please visit www.cmufinanceclub.com.
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Professor Dinners
9.26.07

Professor dinners are an excellent opportunity to get to know faculty

members who teach large classes and don’t always have the chance to
talk to students one-on-one during lecture. During these dinner events, a
professor from the business or economics departments will dine out with a
group of 8-10 members of the Undergraduate Finance Association.
Attendees are selected on a first-come, first-serve basis through an RSVP
system on the UFA website.
Our most recent dinner was with Professor Cofield of the
undergraduate business department, during the 2007 fall semester. This
dinner in particular was an excellent opportunity for some of our freshman
members, as all business administration students take Dr. Cofield’s Intro to
Business course during the fall. Other past participants in the dinners
include math finance professor Muzaffer Akat and business
communications professor, Patrick McGinnis.
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Wall Street Intern Panel

10.24.07

A question and answer session with students who have had

internships with firms on Wall Street the previous summer. Each student on
the panel shares his or her experiences over the summer, such as daily
routines and responsibilities, the different departments, and any interesting
stories. The setting is relaxed and candid, which allows students to ask any
question they desire. The event had 57 participants.
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Wall Street Crash Session

10.24.07

This presentation, given by executive board members and former

Lehman Brothers interns Jyoti Joshi and Sudeep Paul, provided a crash
course in investment banking for undergraduates interested in finance,
specifically jobs on Wall Street. All of the major aspects of an investment
bank were covered, including capital markets, investment banking,
investment management, and other departments.
For those considering working in the field, the pros and cons of Wall
Street careers and internships were discussed, as well as the working
environment and corporate culture of investment banks. Finance
terminology and major players in the industry were reviewed for
newcomers to the subject. In addition, the presenters reviewed the typical
qualifications sought by investment banks, the hiring process, and the
hierarchy of an investment bank.
The session concluded with an open question-and-answer forum.
Many of the attendees asked questions concerning summer internships,
ranging from topics such as interviewing and salary to living expenses and
housing. The event attracted 47 students.
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Fidelity Investments Presentations

10.30.07 & 11.5.07

UFA invited Fidelity Investments to speak at CMU on two separate

occasions. The first of the two was an introduction into technique analysis,
a technique used by professional traders, which involves examining
candle stick and bar chart formations. Students learned how to evaluate
these charts and how traders use these charts to enter and exit trading
positions. In addition, students learned basic chart formations such as
head and shoulders, reversals, and engulfing formations, which can help
students with their own investment portfolios. 56 students attended the
event.
The second event was a presentation given by wealth managers of
Fidelity. They provided insight into their job and talked about the variety
of securities available in the market, including bonds, equities, and
treasury bills. He also taught students the importance of saving and
investing their money, since interest from the banks barely beats inflation.
At the end of his presentation, he mentioned some free resources through
Fidelity and the internet that can help students get started with investing.
There were approximately 50 students who attended the event.
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Corporate Finance Case Competition

11.10.07

This year, our annual corporate finance case competition was

sponsored by Wachovia Securities. Students from all majors were
welcomed to participate, as long as they had completed Finance. The
case used this year involved the Calpine Corporation, a power
production company, and its plans to implement a new growth model.
The case gave the participants three possible scenarios that the Calpine
Corporation considered in 1999. The judges were Peter Seok, a Wachovia
analyst, and Shimon Kogan, a professor of finance at CMU. Wachovia
also awarded a $200 prize to the winning team. The case competition
had 4 teams with 5 participants per team.
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Guest Speaker: Chester Spatt

11.14.07
Chester Spatt served as the Chief Economist and Director of the
Office of Economic Analysis at the Securities and Exchange Commission
for three years. The presentation given by Dr. Spatt focused on his work
and experiences at the SEC, the current liquidity crisis in the financial
markets, as well has his role as Chief Economist at the SEC. At the SEC, Dr.
Spatt led the staff's economic analysis of key issues including
implementation of options expensing through models and markets,
mutual fund market timing and late trading, option grant and exercise
backdating, and executive compensation. 27 students attended the
event.
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PNC Bank Trading Floor Tour

2.19.08

In an effort to reach out to the businesses around Pittsburgh, UFA

co-hosted a corporate tour of PNC Bank in downtown Pittsburgh with the
professional business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi. There were
approximately 15 members that attended the event from both
organizations. The corporate tour was divided into two different sessions.
In the first part of the tour, representatives from the capital markets division
gave an overview of what their jobs entailed. In addition, there was a
short question and answer session between the attendees and
representatives.
The second part of the tour was a visit to PNC’s trading floor. There,
students were exposed to the various areas of capital markets, such as
currency trading and derivatives. Students were also given the chance to
speak to and question the traders on the floor, which led to developed
insight into capital markets and the corporate environment of PNC. At the
conclusion of the tour, students were given some gifts and information
regarding possible internships available at PNC Bank.
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Freshmen/Sophomore
Case Competition
2.24.08
This year’s annual freshmen/sophomore case competition,
sponsored by PNC Bank, successfully drew 25 participants from all majors.
This year, the teams were tasked with consulting for Bally Total Fitness at
the turn of the century. The case detailed the problems Bally faced as
competition in the fitness industry increased. This was invaluable
experience for underclassman to get their first taste in a case competition.
Meanwhile, the case was designed to be very open-ended, allowing for
creativity and exploration. Teams were asked to present their
recommendations and PNC sent three representatives to judge the event
and award our winners with prizes. The competition had 5 teams with 5
participants each.
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UFA Social
2.27.08

This event was focused on allowing UFA members to get to know

one another. It also allowed new members to meet some of the
upperclassmen. Younger students were able to obtain advice from
students who have gone through similar situations; students were talking
about what classes to take, what track options were available, and just
general college life. It was a very informal gathering, which allowed the
students to feel more comfortable and talk easily with one another, as
opposed to the lecture type events that UFA typically holds. We had
about 20 students attend, and pizza/soda was provided.
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Guest Speaker Ziv Ragowsky

2.29.08
In a joint event between Undergraduate Consulting Club, Ziv
Ragowsky, a consultant who works for McKinsey, spoke about his
consulting experiences and the private equity industry. He went over the
basic structure of a private equity firm, and the latest trends in that
industry. He also talked about the differences between the responsibilities
of an investment banker versus a consultant, specifically the different
types of models each role uses to analyze problems. The event attracted
32 students.
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Equitrader Trading
Presentation & Competition
3.27.08
CEO Doug Rivard from Equitrader came to Carnegie Mellon to
speak about the basic stock terminology and introduce their marketing
simulation platform. Equitrader.com is a website that runs stock simulation
games and rewards the winners with real money and prizes. The website
differentiates itself from its competitors with many different features. For
instance, the market information driving the simulation is real-time data,
while competitors usually have a 15 to 20 minute delay for their platforms.
In addition, the website has a coder platform, allowing quantitative and
algorithmic driven traders to create their own computer programs and
test them against the markets.
The presentation concluded with an online stock competition that
was held in conjunction with the Undergraduate Investment Club. The
competition will span over the month of April and will be open to
Carnegie Mellon Students only. 17 students attended the presentation.
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Upcoming Events in April/July

Alumni Panel | 4.19.08
A question and answer session with Carnegie Mellon Alumni who are
working in finance. Students get to an opportunity to ask questions about
the career paths of the alumni and get tips on school. The event is held
every spring during carnival.

Finance/Marketing Case Competition | 4.26.08

A joint case competition with the Undergraduate Marketing Club,
designed to combine aspects of marketing and finance to solve a case.
Each team will be comprised of 2 marketing students and 2 finance
students. The competition is open to all majors who have taken either
Marketing or Finance.

UFA Golf Outing | Late April

A social event designed to bring UFA members together as well as teach
a viable business asset. Students will split into smaller groups and play golf
at Schenley Park’s golf course. There will an option for those who have
never played to receive lessons from peers or Schenley Park’s golf
instructors. There will also be an option for those who are more
experienced with golf to play with other experienced individuals.

Network New York | July

Every summer, UFA holds a large networking event in New York City. It
attracts over 30 recruiters and 100 students who working in the area. The
event is a pure networking event, and students are not allowed to bring
their resumes. The event allows students to practice their communication
skills and gives them a chance to talk to many different recruiters in the
New York area. Upon the completion of Network NY, a compiled resume
of all the students’ resumes is sent to the recruiters who attended.