Financial services

Recognizing the significance of this sector of the national economy, the college is expanding its instruction, research, and collaborative efforts with professionals in the areas of financial services, including real estate, risk management, banking, and investment management.

CNBC's The Billionaire Next Door: video featuring Warren Buffett & MU Last fall, 45 undergraduate, MBA, and PhD students in the College of Business took a very memorable field trip to Omaha, Nebraska. During a 90-minute session in late morning as well as at lunch, students had the opportunity to pose investing questions and receive direct, and sometimes humorous, answers from legendary investor Warren Buffett. As part of the trip, the students also had the chance to tour the Nebraska Furniture Mart and Borsheim’s, two retail enterprises owned by Berkshire Hathaway, the company headed by Buffett.

The trip was arranged by Harvey Eisen (BS BA ’64), who has known Buffett for 20 years. In 1997, Eisen agreed to provide the funding for a stand-alone course, Investment Strategies of Warren Buffett, and most of the students on the field trip were taking or had completed this course. During the Q&A session, Buffett talked to students about several of his investing guidelines, including the importance of thinking of stocks as “part of a business” rather than “things that wiggle around or split two for one” and of letting the market “serve, not instruct you.”

Thanks to the generosity of donors, the College of Business has been rapidly expanding its educational activities in the financial services arena. For example, the Jeffrey E. Smith Institute of Real Estate was established by alumnus Jeffrey Smith (BS BA ’72). Other companies and donors have also funded real estate and financial services initiatives.

With the help of some of the firm’s partners, Colliers Turley Martin Tucker (CTMT), a commercial real estate firm, established the CTMT Scholar position. David West, professor of finance, is the college’s first CTMT Scholar. A gift from Duncan Matteson (BS BA ’56) and his wife, Shirley (Arts ’55), created a named position, the Matteson Professor of Financial Services, and the Matteson Financial Services Excellence Fund.

Last Edited: 8/15/2007