Financial Management Association on the Rise

“It’s our best year yet,” boasts Dr. John Stansfield, faculty advisor for the Financial Management Association (FMA) at Mizzou.  FMA, whose mission is to “assist finance students in making the transition from students to professionals” through “professional speaking events and company tours,” does indeed seem to be off to a great start this year.  The interest in the organization has greatly increased over the last couple of years with around 65 students attending the first speaker session last semester with Kevin Burke, the Vice President of Finance for the Flexsys division of Solutia in St. Louis.  FMA brings in professionals, usually from the Kansas City and St. Louis areas, to speak to their organization at their bi-weekly meetings. Jennifer Guenther, President of FMA, touches on the benefits for students attending the speaker sessions: “I’ve learned a lot from the speakers that come in that I didn’t even realize I was missing out on.  In class, we learn the material, but from the speakers we learn about actual experiences”

In addition to the knowledge gleaned from the professional expertise of the speakers, FMA offers students the opportunity to gain experience in trading stocks through participation in an online virtual stock competition.  Through equitrader.com, students get a hypothetical 1,000,000 USD to invest over the course of the year.  The winner at Mizzou is refunded their club dues, and the top 15 finishers nationally win cash prizes.  Additionally, there is a competition between  Big XII schools with ten out of the twelve schools competing this year, and FMA is looking for a Big XII championship for the University of Missouri.

Another significant opportunity for members of FMA is the trip taken each semester to visit companies and network with financial professionals.  Each year the group takes one mini-trip to either Kansas City or St. Louis and one trip beyond the borders of Missouri.  Last spring FMA visited LECG and the Board of Trade in Chicago, and they are in the process of planning a trip to Chicago this year.

The officers of FMA for the 2008–2009 school year include: President – Jennifer Guenther, Vice President – Tyler Landes, Controller – Thomas Mueller, Treasurer – Jacob Stansfield, Managing Director of Membership – Lori Reynolds, Directors of Membership – Scott Anderson, John Hughes, and Kayla Sales, Director of Communications – Mike Linneman, Social Director – Tony Schmitt and Webmaster – Kenny Reagan.

Speakers from the 2008-2009 School Year:

Kevin Burke-VP Finance, Technical Specialties Division, Solutia

Thomas Mueller-Chief Operations Officer, Steelweld Equipment Company (Former VP Finance & Administration of Six Flags)

John Simpson-Wachovia Securities, LLC.

Matt Bret-UBS Financial Services

Chris Cottone- LaBrunerie Financial Services, Inc.