Math Finance 10 Year Celebration!

Post by,

Taylor Marge

MSMF Candidate 2013

The leaves are beginning to change color - a subtle reminder that the semester is flying by. Not only has this semester gone by in a blink of an eye, but the MSMF program is quietly aging as well. This weekend the MSMF program celebrated its tenth anniversary in grand fashion. The celebration included three keynote speakers, Harry Markopolos of “Chasing Bernie Madoff,” David Ye, Chief Risk Officer for State Street Global Markets, and Mark Kritzman, President and Chief Investment Officer of Windham Capital Management. The celebration also included an alumni career panel featuring graduates from the program. The celebration was open to all current students in the School of Management as well as all BU alumni. The day was a great opportunity for me and my classmates to speak with previous graduates of the program; learn from their varied experiences; and hear inspiring advice regarding the program and their career paths.

The first speaker was Harry Markopolos, an Independent Financial Fraud Investigator and Bernie Madoff whistleblower. Harry worked in industry for some time before being victimized by financial fraud. After witnessing many instances of financial fraud, he decided to take action and put a stop to as much fraud as he could. Harry is now a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and handles many large scale fraud cases. The biggest case, the Bernie Madoff case, took 8 ½ years. The details of the case can be read in No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller by Harry Markopolos.

The second speaker was David Ye, the Chief Risk Officer for State Street Global Markets. He started his career in mathematics. He received his PhD from Duke University in 1991 and he began teaching. One day he received a call from a local bank requesting his assistance. After they described the problem, he realized the intricacy of finance and that he was very interested in applying his knowledge in mathematics to finance. David has worked primarily as a Risk Officer throughout his career and lectured about the importance of risk management and the utility of understanding the market.

The final speaker was Mark Kritzman, President and Chief Investment Officer of Windham Capital Management. Mark’s lecture was on measuring systemic risk, a topic which has grown more and more important since the financial crisis of 2008. In short, Mark would use the results of his analysis to determine an optimized ratio of stocks to bonds in a portfolio.

The 10 year anniversary celebration was an important milestone for the MSMF program and we had a great time celebrating with alumni and our wonderful presenters! Here’s to the next ten years.

A Summer Internship Abroad

Post by:

Meg Meyer

MBA/MPH Global Health Candidate, 2012 Council

As a dual degree MBA/MPH student with a concentration in Global Health, I knew that I wanted my internship in the summer after my first year to be working for an international company outside of the United States. I was also hoping to get work experience in Sub-Saharan Africa after having several brief prior experiences in Kenya. I was thrilled when BU alumni Paul Chen and several professors at the School of Management and the School of Public Health contacted me last spring about the potential opportunity to work in Ghana with Vestergaard Frandsen, a Swiss-based company that operates under a unique humanitarian entrepreneurship business model.

Vestergaard Frandsen (VF) has turned corporate social responsibility into their core business. They are most well-known for their long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets which help prevent malaria. However, the work I completed for them over the summer involved the LifeStraw, a water filtration device designed to prevent diarrhea which results from drinking contaminated water. It’s not always popular to talk about, but diarrhea is the number 2 cause of death in developing countries such as Ghana, especially for children under 5. In fact, diarrhea kills more children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined! Fortunately, filtering water with a high membrane filter such as the LifeStraw in the house immediately before consumption can reduce diarrhea by up to 63%.

Living in Ghana was an adventure in itself. I was fortunate enough to travel and work with two other Boston University students for this internship and was definitely grateful that we could explore Accra together. Additionally, Kristen McCormack, faculty director of the Public and Non-Profit program at SMG and recent alumna Sayaka Koseki were with us in Accra for the first week of our internship to make sure we got off to a good start. I’m definitely excited about the relationship that BU has formed with VF and I look forward to seeing what kind of collaborations we can work on in the future. Stay tuned for details about a symposium that we’re planning in January where we will highlight some of our work.

The BU Team with co-workers from Vestergaard Frandsen’s Accra office:

Here is a picture of us after taking a dance class:

The LifeStraw water filter being used in a rural school that we visited:

And we’re off!!!

Post by:

Carl Palme
MS-MBA Candidate, 2012
President, Graduate Student Council

The rest of the graduate student body is back in the School of Management and things seem to be in full swing. We have had class for two weeks, and already so much has happened. For starters, we are getting to meet all the new students, who are great! A team of second years has already won a global case competition. And, we have gone on a boat cruise with 300 other students and significant others.

As president of the Graduate Student Body Council, I could not be happier. It is the priority of the student council to maximize the student experience and so far we have done just that. Over the summer we were busy organizing the boat cruise, revamping our newsletter, and working with club presidents on helping them get the year started. We also launched a new website!!!

The council is elected in the spring by the graduate student body, and has representation from many of the programs such as Public Nonprofit, Health Sector Management, and MS-MBA. The Graduate Student Council also represents the students and works as a liaison between the student body, the University and the community. Click here to meet the current council members!

Next Time: How to use technology to your MBA advantage.

Welcome from a Math Finance Student

Post from:

Taylor Marge
MSMF candidate 2013

I’m excited to be writing my first blog post. My name is Taylor Marge. I am a first year student in the Mathematical Finance program at Boston University. I am from Rhode Island and went to the University of Rhode Island as an undergraduate. My hometown is only about an hour south of Boston. Living so close I have been to the city many times although since moving here I have become much more acclimated to traveling around the city. Growing up in the area I am a longtime fan of all Boston sports. It’s nice to see many of my classmates joining me in rooting for Boston.

The program started just a few weeks ago and already the work is picking up. Although I have spent many hours solving homework problems I have also had time to explore the city and the university as well. Outside of the classroom our class has spent a lot of time together in both formal and informal events. The Graduate Programs Office started the semester with an orientation which included an introduction to the program, an introduction to Bloomberg and a manners workshop which taught business etiquette. The orientation also included at trip down to the Boston waterfront where we were all able to socialize and get to know each other. Since then many of us have gone out together on our own. In addition to exploring the city my classmates have gotten together to do many activities ranging from studying to playing soccer and going to the gym.

In addition to the rigor of the program an advantage of the Math Finance program at Boston University is the Feld Career Center. We have received both group and one on one advising on topics such as networking, resume writing and writing a cover letter. The Feld Career Center offers the Math Finance program a dedicated advisor to prepare us to find an internship and subsequently a career.

I am looking forward to getting to know math, finance, my classmates and the city better in the coming months. Hopefully this will culminate in both an internship and an interesting and fun career.

Wish me luck!

Taylor

Making The Most of Your First Semester

Hey class of 2013, you’re finally here! Pre-term is flying by and next week the second years will join you at SMG. You have your calendar for the semester and opportunities and assignments are multiplying at exponential rates. So here is a little unsolicited advice.

1. Remember What’s Most Important

You will have to juggle academic, career, and social responsibilities, so take some time over the long weekend to remind yourself of the reasons you decided to get an MBA. Use these goals to help you choose which opportunities to take advantage of and which ones to turn down.

Do not let the quest for the best grades shape your semester or you might miss out on key networking opportunities and memorable life experiences.

Have fun. You are going to work really hard, but you are also going to become close friends with the amazing people in your cohort. If you realize that you have spent two weeks in the library, it is time to take a break and explore Boston with friends, or do an informational interview at one of your target companies.

2. Take Advantage of Resources at SMG

One of SMG’s greatest assets is the personalized attention that you can receive. So after you choose a career community, go visit the faculty director and ask him/her to introduce you people who are working at your target companies.

Also network with your classmates and with second years . . . we can not wait to meet you.

You all know this by now, but we have one of the most approachable Deans ever. So introduce yourself.

In short, settle in and make yourself at home!

Post by:

Anya Thomas
MBA & PNP candidate 2012

Optimizing The Summer Before Your MBA

Are you wondering how to best prepare for your first year of B-School? Are there things you can be doing before you start the program?

Rising second year student, Anya Thomas shares here tips:

1. Find housing and move in by the beginning of August (don’t wait until September 1^st, your classes start before then and you’ll be stressed if you’re still moving)
   
   If you can . . . take a few weeks off of work and use the time to move to Boston, rest, travel, spend time with family. Basically get refreshed and be ready to give 100% when the semester begins.
   
   
2. Do informational interviews. You’ll get more training for this during Pre-term, but take advantage of contacts you’ll be leaving behind in NYC, San Francisco, Lima, Beijing etc. Use the fact that you’re a student to put people at ease and to learn about roles, functions, and industries that you were always curious about.
   
   
3. While you do not need to spend a lot of time preparing for specific subjects, you can get a head start or review key principles by reading some of the following books:

• FINANCE: Corporate Finance (Plus MyFinanceLab Student Access Card Package (2nd Edition)
  By Jonathan Berk, Peter DeMarz
  
  
• STATISTICS: The Manager's Guide to Statistics
  by Erol A Pekoz
  
  
• ECONOMICS: Managerial Economics
  by Susan Samuelson
  
  
• D. The Accounting Primer will be sent to you. Try and check this over before school starts.

**(note the professors will not post the updated reading list until August, so you may want to check these out from a library or just wait until the exact edition is posted

4). Connect with your future classmates through facebook, BU clubs/organizations you plan to join, contacts you made at Open House. Also, there are several 2^nd year students who are in Boston over the summer and they would love to meet you.

5) Make a list of companies that you are most interested in learning about or working for and search your LinkedIn network to see if people in your social sphere work for these companies.

6) When you get to Boston, visit the gardens in Boston Common, go on a Duck Tour, eat Italian food in the North End, or Clam Chowder at one of Boston’s famous seafood restaurants. Get to know your new city.

I hope that gives you some good ideas. All of us here at BU look forward to welcoming all the incoming students to campus in the coming months!!

Publish Post

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My Take on the First Year of the MBA Program

Post by:

Ivan Busulwa: MBA, MPH 2012
Health Sector Management & International Health
MBA Council

One of those late nights in the grad lounge.
(L-R: Juan Machado, Sergio Floris, Roman Sverdlov, Ivan Busulwa)

First Semester

Now that I’m done, I’d like to share with you my assessment of the first year of BU’s MBA program. I have come to realize that the program is as much about time management as anything else. There are lots of on-campus & off-campus activities, optional courses to take elsewhere, keynote speakers to listen to, and extracurricular events like the cohort cup to participate in. Oft-time, I wish I could be in two places at once!

Despite all the class work that will be thrown at you especially during the 1^st semester, I strongly encourage you to participate in the extracurricular events, get involved with the clubs, and get to know the second year students and mentors that will be assigned to you. I found these quite helpful since they usually went out of their way to listen to students’ issues and guide 1^st years on how best to navigate the hurdle that is the first semester I. My only regret is that I didn’t get involved with as many clubs as much as I’d have liked to.

And did I mention there’s a lot to see in Boston? Fellow students from the area gave me a useful list of places I should visit before I ever think about leaving the city. There’s the Quincy market, the Aquarium, Fenway Park (which you’ll get to see a part of during orientation), all the pubs along Comm. Ave, and inevitably, a Red Sox game. Being the fair weather fan that I am, I’ll probably go to one of their games before the close of the year.

Cohort B after the finals. Goodbye first year… Enter second year!

Second Semester

I felt the 2^nd semester went way better than the first one, especially since I got an internship early. This allowed me to focus on lots of other things without having to worry about where I was going to be in the summer. Besides the internship, there was a lot more to be happy about. The winter blossomed into a beautiful spring and the class work got more manageable. I also felt I got to spend more time with friends and to participate in events like the cohort cup. I decided to wrap up the year with a trip to New York City. I haven’t been to many places yet but I can certainly say NYC ranks up there as one of the grandest I’ve visited (after Boston). And the best part is that it’s only a $15 bus ride away and 4 hours from school. At such prices, I’m considering making the trip down there a weekly ritual.Although I had been forewarned, only now do I notice that MBA hours move faster than the real time. I just watched the 2^nd years graduate and I still can't believe I'm less than one year away from joining them.

Overall, at the expense of sounding cliché, I feel the biggest value one gets from the MBA is the ‘experience’ with other students. Just sharing classes and spending time with various people from different backgrounds and having diverse personalities & perspectives, is one of the MBA's greatest values – and it's difficult to attach a price to that. There's definitely the in-class knowledge from the professors but I don’t think that even comes close.

In fact, at the close of the semester, I felt somewhat sad since we weren’t going to be seeing much of each other during the 2^nd year as we’ll no longer have the same classes in the same cohorts. Despite all the hard work though, I can confidently say that this has been one of the finest nine months I've ‘experienced’!

Some Cohort B members after the MBA talent show. Still don’t understand how we didn’t win the cup! (L-R: Kerri Carlson, Ivan Busulwa, Assad the Assassin, Siddharth Garg, Akshay Bhargava, Rachel Dacwag)

Graduation!

Some pictures from the Graduate School of Management Commencement.

Walking in!

Blogger Michelle He walking to receive her diploma.

Blogger Lauren Abrahams posing with Deepa Krishna after receiving their diplomas.

Excited Graduates

Bloggers Ajay Mehta and Louise Davies

Celebrating as official MBAs

Als0 - check out this video of Katie Couric, the all-school graduation speaker:

Or read about the all school ceremony here: http://www.bu.edu/today/node/13002

And a nice slide show: