This week in Campus Chronicles we check out the latest happenings at NYU Stern through the MBA student newspaper, Opportunity.
At the end of February, the Association of Investment Management and Research held its 8th annual conference “Investing in Evolving Markets.” Over 100 students participated in the conference, which included panels on emerging markets, credit default swaps, and alternative energy with Darshan Bhatt from Glovista Investments, Jim Iserman from Smith Barney, Manuel Mejia from Bladex Asset Management, and Lucas Ramirez from Merrill Lynch serving as panelists. One of the two keynote speakers, Barry Gill, the head of the North America Fundamental Investment Group at UBS, spoke of his conviction that we will soon see a secular bear market in US equities and that the economic system will undergo a prolonged deleveraging. Adam Seessel, the General Partner at the hedge fund Gravity Partners, gave the second keynote address, discussing the emphasis that his fund places on value investing and “net-nets.” Students found the speakers to be informative and interesting, walking away with new insights into value investing and credit default swaps.
Opportunity also reports the success of Stern Business Plan’s New Venture Showcase, in which 50 new venture teams presented their innovative business ideas to fellow students, business professionals, and seasoned entrepreneurs. The presenting teams have already made it to the semi-finalist round of either the Stern Business Plan Competition or the Stern Social Venture Competition, and their ideas span energy and economic development to food/restaurant services and mobile applications. The Showcase opened with an address by Robert E. Klein (Stern ’64) who indicated that the current economic climate is ideal for entrepreneurs and provided insight into his own experience growing a small family business into the largest commercial pest control company in the Tri-State area. Students’ business ideas ranged from a company that develops floor mats that generate energy when people walk over them to a renewable energy services firm that provides cost-effective commercial- and utility-scale solar power to Latin American markets. The creativity abounds.
Stay tuned next week for another edition of Campus Chronicles! Happy reading!
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