UIC Finance and Investment Group

Newsletter archive

October 2009 Newsletter

Dear students,

Welcome to our second issue of Young Financier! We hope that you are staying stress free during midterms season! FIG hopes to see you at our meetings!

  • October 15, 2009 Allstate Insurance, Protection Finance 5 pm
  • October 22, 2009 Mann Financial & Barton Inc. 5 pm

We hope that you utilize all of your benefits as a member of FIG!

Contact Us!
Ryan Murray, CO President
rmurra5@uic.edu

Sid Dave, CO Vice President
sdave5@uic.edu

Mark Ott, Treasurer
mott3@uic.edu

Please contact us if you have any questions!

STOCK GAME!
We hope that you are all playing the stock game by now! If you are having any complications please contact one of us via email or talk to us at the weekly meetings!

UIC Finance & Investment Group
FIG hopes that you are utilizing all of you possibilities within our organization. Remember we have education sessions/portfolio management sessions every Tuesday. We have weekly career meetings every Thursday with guest speakers, and we have the simulated stock game

Three Interesting Jobs in Business
By: Sagar Shah

BUSINESS WRITER
As a business writer, one must analyze or take analysis to relay information to others in the company, shareholders, the media, etc. With a business degree, it is easier to use the specific jargon associated with the business world. It is important as a business writer that to be cognizant of the business world, as well as using the correct semantics and syntax when forming work. Many business writers also double as journalism majors.

AGENT
As an agent, one would be responsible for the financial responsibilities as well as public relation efforts of their clients. A sports agent, for instance, is responsible for not only negotiating contracts with teams, but also developing endorsements deals for clients. Agents are also responsible for knowing all legal matters that carry along with a contract, so many will also have degrees in law to help better understand such contracts.

CASINO MANAGER
Just as any job in management, a casino manager is held responsible for overseeing the efficiency of his employees and casino. The casino manager watches over the casino to ensure fair play and deals with the financial burden associated with the casino. The most important job of the manager is to regulate the finance of the casino and make sure it is making profits. This is where a degree in finance or accounting will help. Public relations are also an important part of the casino manager's job.

Financial Services Companies Going Green.
By: Daniel Yukilevich

The growing "green revolution" has been transforming American lifestyles and trends, but it has also changed the way big corporations have been conducting their operations. It is already well known that various industries such as clothing manufacturers have made their products more "environmentally friendly". However, a more surprising industry development has been in the case of financial services companies who have started to transform their business models in order to associate with being more "green".

The motivation of financial services firms to adapt to the "green revolution" is not only based on creating a better image, but also because being environmentally friendly creates more efficiency within the firm. Bank of America, one of the nation's leading financial institutions, reduced paper use by 32% from 2000-2005. This reduction was marked by increased investment in online banking, reducing the need for paper billing. Also, the company recently began offering employees a $3,000 reward for purchasing hybrid automobiles.

Another finance company that has been part of the "green revolution" is one of the world's largest investment banks, Morgan Stanley. The firm has put significant investment into the bank's software as part of becoming more "green". For example, Firebird is a newly developed software program examining how Morgan Stanley's 12 data centers around the world can be made more cost effective and environmentally friendly. One of the other goals for Morgan Stanley is to reduce its CO2 emissions by 10 percent over the next few years. Measures include encouraging employees to turn off computers at night and creating greater use of videoconferencing with foreign partners.

Lawrence Officer Answering Questions about the Economy
By Colette LaKoma

Lawrence Officer was born and raised in Montreal Canada. He attended college at McGill University, also located in Montreal, and pursued an education in Economics and Political Science. He attended graduate school at Harvard University and was awarded a full scholarship under the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. There, Lawrence Officer received a Ph.D. in Economics. After teaching at Harvard for six years, he went to Michigan State and stayed there for 17 years. Once he met his wife, who is from Chicago, they moved to Chicago and he joined UIC faculty. He has been teaching Economics here ever since.

Q: On October 23, 2008 you participated in an Econ Panel Discussion with seven other professors from UIC to discuss your views and opinions about the bailout plan and what you felt was an effective route for the government to take. From an economic standpoint one year later, do you feel the recession is over?

A: From a technical standpoint when GDP increases, the recession is over. I feel that the recession is not over, but we are steadily getting out of it. Bailout plans prolong the downturn. Having a bailout plan is comparable to saying that the government is taking money from the young people and giving it to the old people.

Q: What do you feel we need to do to get the economy where it needs to be?

A: Recessions are inevitable. We shouldn't say what we should do for the economy, but rather what we shouldn't do. When the government chooses to intervene, the economy only temporarily improves. The government does not consider the effects of this in the long run. I would consider the economy to be in a serious recession, but not the Great Depression. The government could create more general policies rather than making specific policies that only apply to certain firms. The economy needs to focus on the new dynamics such as the innovative industries in electronics, services, and internet.

Q: If the government is going to act as a form of insurance to big firms when they fail, do you feel gains should be shared as well; therefore, collecting a premium when the firm is succeeding?

A: The government shouldn't shield firms that are failing because it goes against the market system. Entrepreneurship is discouraged when bailouts happen.

Q: What advice can you give current UIC CBA students about finding work after graduation?

A: Do everything you can to prepare yourself for an interview. Before going to an interview with a firm, research the firm and know exactly what it is and what it does. Don't be afraid to write up a business plan that depicts what you would do to improve the profits of that firm. If you decide to make a business plan keep it to a page long, so that the firm considers it. Dress professional and sell yourself.

Lawrence Officer has been a Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois at Chicago since 1987. Those of you, who have been fortunate enough to have Lawrence Officer as a Professor, know that he is an extraordinary teacher and truly a man of his word.

We thank you for being a part of FIG and we hope you take advantage of every opportunity we provide

Sincerely,
UIC Finance and Investment Group