6 posts tagged “lugano”
So what did I learn today? Well even though the lesson was a little tough to get through and follow I did learn a lot about volatility and risk analysis. We also learned about Realized compound yield which used the coupon payment from a low yield bond to re-invest at a higher rate. This was an interesting concept indeed.
Next we looked in depth at Portfolio Theory and the risk associated with having many different types of stock. The best thing about the concept is the fact that through correlation the stocks can have a canceling out effect with regards to risk and minimizing the impact of it by choosing stock with opposite(non-related) correlations (correlation co-efficient).
Finally we learned with Sris a bit about Investment Management Process, but unfortunately since his information was proprietary we couldn't completely copy the slides we could only hear about such concepts like Strategic Asset Allocation and Tactical Asset Allocation. We looked at Active vs. Passive Strategy in regards to the Investment Management Process, the Timing and Selection of such companies, and the Simple Return over Several Periods.
I did enjoy the discussions on Risk and Portfolio Theory and look forward to more insights on this topic.
-Marcus
Today I learned so much with regards to M&A and watched a video with the CEO of Black Swan who offered his insights on the dollar, the Asian markets, and the spreads of carry trades.
However I feel like the majority of my learning experience happened when Sanjay took us through the accretion/dilution example in the evening time which outlined how a company derives value when it is either being bought or when it is acquiring.
-Marcus
What did I learn today... hmmm well, I learned that 50+ years of hard work, leadership, and insightful direction in a company can be squandered by one or two deviant persons at the executive levels of a corporation. What's even more incredible is that these two CEOs managed to almost bankrupt this great company in less than 2.5 years!!
In my Mergers and Acquisitions lessons we are learning about a company called Beatrice who actually started in 1890 and grew throughout the 20th century until it's untimely demise in 1986 or so. The details we are studying intimately are how companies such as this one can grow there value by acquisitions and then grow their value some more by divestitures (a fancy way for saying the sale of a division of a company to another company, group, bank, individual, etc.)
So, value can be created by management techniques, economies of scale, infrastructure, advertising, increased access to capital and so on. Value also can be created by favourable market conditions, sales of assets to others better suited to run them, announcements/news about assets that the market shows favour to, and a whole host of other ways which I am learning about now.
In other news, this week is shaping up to be pretty fun (compared to last week) as we watched several Bloomberg.com videos in class showing Jim Rogers and his amazing views on the market and what's taking place in it. In fact we watched him in a video shot last September and saw that most of his predictions were correct! He's quite an astounding guy and I hope we get to analyze more of his videos and what he forecasts in class.
We also watched a video from October 31st 1987 that was pretty controversial as it dealt with the ethics surrounding large mergers and acquisitions, and the people who prosper from them most. It will be interesting to see how Sris (our new teacher) puts it all into an investment banker's perspective.
-Marcus
Well, it's back to the grindstone after a wonderful trip to Milan yesterday. This week seems a little more relaxed with Sanjay opening up the morning with good and insightful anecdotes wrapped in the occasional joke or two. This week we'll be learning all about Mergers and Acquisitions, the likes of which I have no clue about so it should be interesting.
Our new teacher, Sris Chitterjee, definitely knows his stuff and will be quite a valuable resource for any questions we as a class may have regarding this new material. I guess what I really learned today was the magnitude of buyouts and mergers that actually take place around the globe. I really only thought the ones that were reported on the news were the only company takeovers that actually take place. The reality is that hundreds of mergers happen probably ever month by companies around the world that I have no idea about.
Lastly, we play soccer today as the SFA guys rallied and organized some teams for a little fun before dinner. It was awesome and our team won twice in a row, but lost the third game due to my absence :P Or at least that's what I'd like to think...
-Marcus
Well, another day finished, another crazy amount of lessons. I am slowly adapting to the lack of sleep I am getting during the week while trying to keep on my A game doing so. I am having some problems keeping up with the math and technical side of the Finance that we are learning, but I am willing to practice and get as much help from friends like Jason as I possibly can.
I really hope that I can get some good studying and reflection on the material before the test on Saturday night, as I want the best grade possible on this first test.
The challenge now is working through the process of each problem, understanding the concepts, implementing them and then remembering them to apply in the new Finance applications we will be learning next week from Sris Chitterjee/Sanjay.
Right now, we're learning what not to say in front of the career panel on Saturday. Sanjay's pretty funny and insightful. Hopefully I don't ask one of those questions he said NOT to say :)
-Marcus
Today was one of the most exhausting days of my life. I learned that if I really want something bad enough, I'll do ANYTHING to get it. After missing the bus from Geneva Airport, traveling on the train all night in a foreign country not knowing any of its 3 languages, rolling my luggage through Lugano at 5:00am in the morning, and sleeping 3.5 hours total today - yet expected to perform, I now have a great story to tell in my own I-Banking interview. Not to toot my own horn, but I am one tenacious guy!
I learned that my skills in Finance are not nearly as competent or complete as I had once imagined. The assessment test whipped me into submission, the lectures by both Sanjay and James Linck were highly-sophisticated, and the general level of intelligence here by the other students rivals or supersedes my own. Talk about a lesson in humility!
The day has been a tough one and I am about to collapse. I can't finish this accounting work of balancing my Assets, Liabilities, and Equity, and I will not stoop to getting the answers off of someone. I've learned that working hard and possibly failing is better than looking like a poser who knows nothing, but got an “A” on the homeworks.
Oh, and one more thing -- It had better stop raining already!!
