Opportunities in Finance

The University of Missouri Crosby MBA Program offers students interested in finance a number of exceptional opportunities to set themselves apart as they move forward in their careers.

• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)

  • The MU College of Business is among a group of esteemed institutions worldwide, and the first in the Big XII, who have formed a CFA Program Partnership with the CFA Institute. The college essentially has the CFA Institute's "seal of approval" in preparing students for the rigors of the CFA exams. The invitation to participate in the CFA Program Partnership is extended to accredited institutions that have incorporated into their curriculum 70 percent of the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge and the CFA Institute's ethical and professional standards. The MBA curriculum provides background knowledge for the Level 1 CFA exam as it tests principles in finance, accounting, economics, and statistics. And to remain a college on the leading edge of CFA preparation, a new course on ethics and corporate governance is now offered by Professor John Stansfield, Director of the MU CFA Partner Program. Professor Stansfield also teaches Level 1 (and occasionally level 2) preparation courses.
    
    Even more exciting, however, are the resources available to students through the partnership. The program offers students access equal to that given to professional CFA candidates, including textbooks, journals, webcasts, and other educational resources. Students also benefit from professional development events held in conjunction with the CFA Society of St. Louis and the Kansas City CFA Society, the local membership bodies for CFA Institute candidates, charter holders, and members. Students are currently preparing to participate in the Kansas City Society's Investment Challenge. Ten scholarships also allow students to sit for the CFA exam for a greatly reduced fee.
    
    

• Warren Buffett – the "Oracle of Omaha"

  • The University of Missouri (MU) Trulaske College of Business has a unique relationship with the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett.
    
    1. MU is one of a select group of universities invited by Buffett to spend part of a day with him and students have traveled to Omaha, Nebraska five times over the past several years to meet him.
    2. The College offers a unique elective course on his investment philosophy,
    3. A CNBC television special on Buffett highlighted MU's course and the relationship,
    4. A chapter in "Of Permanent Value" by Buffett biographer Andrew Kilpatrick focuses on MU's College of Business, and
    5. Buffett himself has offered an endorsement of the MU Finance Department.
    
    The Omaha trips have offered opportunities such as an extensive question-and-answer session with Mr. Buffett, a tour of the Nebraska Furniture Mart and Borscheim's Fine Jewelry, both of which are owned by Berkshire Hathaway, the firm headed by Mr. Buffett,  lunch with Mr. Buffett and a tour of the operations and call center for Ameritrade, a rapidly growing online brokerage firm.  A special bonus is his willingness to pose for individual photos – prized possessions which find their way to facebook and LinkedIn pages!
    
    Finance 7620 "The Investment Strategies of Warren Buffett," is an elective course that focuses on the investing principles of Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. The class is exceedingly popular with Crosby MBA students and has been filmed and discussed in two CNBC television specials on Mr. Buffett.  Professor Andy Kern (Crosby MBA '05), a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder and investment manager himself, often teaches the class and helped organize the first trip.  This semester, Robert J. Miles, author of The Warren Buffett CEO, will visit MU to speak to the class and at an MBA Program special session open to all students.
     
    The Buffett-focused course and the trip to Omaha for MU students have been facilitated and sponsored by Harvey Eisen, a member of the College's Strategic Development Board, a leading portfolio manager, and a former panelist on "Lou Dobbs Tonight."  Eisen suggested the course in 1997, after years of studying Buffett's investment strategies and putting them to good use with portfolios he managed. His hope was to allow students to learn practical principles that would remain with them throughout their careers.   
        
    Perhaps the connection the college is proudest to claim is Buffett's endorsement of the MU finance program.  During the Q&A session at the May 2006 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, Buffett was asked to list the top five finance programs in the nation.  He included University of Missouri-Columbia in the list, in the company of schools like Stanford University and Columbia University.  This response has brought interested students to the MU Crosby MBA Program, and is an endorsement that the college gladly accepts!
    

• MBA Students As Graduate Finance Instructors

  • Each semester up to 18 MBA students are selected to become instructors for one of two finance courses offered to undergraduate MU students – either a personal finance class or corporate finance for students earning a business minor. This is a rare and outstanding opportunity which often stands out as a highlight of the MBA experience when we speak with alumni. These instructors have full responsibility for teaching their own class section, from planning the syllabus, to preparing and holding all class sessions, to writing and grading the exams. The rewards go beyond the financial, and we always welcome interested applicants!