April 08, 2008
Manhattan, NY—The Fourth Annual Investment Management Conference
was held on Friday, April 4th on the Manhattan Campus at 101 Murray
Street. Thomas Clarke, Chairman and CEO of TheStreet.com, and
a Tobin alumnus, was this year’s Keynote Speaker. Sharing with
students, administrators and faculty his almost 20 years of
management experience in the financial services industry, Mr.Clarke
addressed the crowd with a sense of humor and a plethora of stories
about his own personal experiences in the industry, the most
personal of all being a story he told about his father. While in
his first year of college, Thomas Clarke, like many freshmen,
became overly involved in the good times college has to offer. His
frequent late nights out partying left him with little energy for
studying. But at the end of his first semester, Clarke ran home
anxiously awaiting the arrival of his report card. To his dismay,
he arrived home and saw the letter containing his GPA strewn open
on the table, his father sitting beside it, and immediately knew
the news could not be good. Clarke felt his father’s response
to his poor grades was a defining moment in his life. His father
said, “Son, if this is the best you can do, then do something else.
Don’t waste your time or money going to college.” It was at that
moment that Clarke vowed to always give his best efforts to all of
his endeavors.
Thomas Clarke not only brought his vast financial services
experience to TheStreet.com venture -- he also brought a resolve to
maximize the Company’s performance potential — certainly a best
effort. Shortly after his arrival, he orchestrated a major
restructuring of the company, successfully steering it through the
challenging dot.com era. Today, Mr. Clarke continues to
enhance the Company’s robust suite of offerings, its management
team and its reputation. (TheStreet.com is often recognized by its
founder James Cramer, who also has his own show, Mad Money, on
CNBC.)
Other speakers at this year’s conference included Russell
Wilkerson, Director of Financial Communications at General Electric
and Deborah Kendric, Director of Investor Relations at State Bank
of Long Island—both of whom discussed topics related to Investor
Relations. Richard V. Hrvatin, CFA, and Managing Director of Fitch
Solutions, discussed Securitization, CDOs, and Sub-prime Mortgages
and Gregg Abramson, Goldman Sachs, Asset Management, discussed the
Asset Allocation Process for College Endowment. Matthew Lifson,
Adjunct professor, McKenna School of Business, St. Vincent College,
discussed foreign exchange trading. In addition, Kelly Fiore,
CEO of Charity Folks, discussed Funding a Startup, and Matias
Ringel, Director of Research from Capital Management Advisors North
America, presented “Is Research the ‘Right’ Hedge?”
Between 100 to 200 students attended the conference and
more than 50 participated in the Investment Challenge Contest,
which was a competition on trading and investing in Global Equities
and was moderated by Barry Gilman. In addition, five students from
various Universities nationwide, including the University of
Washington, Canisius College and Niagara University presented their
essays in the Investment Management Essay Competition. The first
place winner was Katherine List of Canisius College whose essay
topic was, “Municipal Bonds: An Empirical Study of Variables
Affecting the Risk Assessment and Ratings Assigned by Credit Rating
Agencies.” “Re-Examining the Hidden Costs of the Stop-Loss” authors
Kira Detko, Wilson Ma and Guy Morita of the University of
Washington, came in at a close second place. An award was presented
to Katherine List by Associate Dean, Dr. Victoria Shoaf.
The Deans, Faculty and Administrators of The Peter J. Tobin
College of Business would like to thank all of the presenters, and
all participants, who helped make this year’s conference an
informative and interactive learning experience.
Congratulations to the winners of the essay competition and to the
Economics and Finance Department Chair, Dr. Thomas Liaw and
Associate Professor of Economics and Finance Dr. Vipul Bansal for
their efforts in organizing this successful event.
The Peter J. Tobin College of Business has provided the highest
quality business education for over eighty years. Many alumni
have risen to senior executive positions in the financial services
community in New York and around the world. Degrees offered
include the Bachelor of Science, Master of Business Administration
and Master of Science. The College encompasses the School of
Risk Management, Insurance and Actuarial Science, which is housed
at the University’s Manhattan location in the heart of the New York
financial district. Recent recognitions for the Tobin College
include a listing by The Aspen Institute among the top ninety
business schools in the United States whose graduate curricula
reflect a commitment to social responsibility and sustainability.
For further information, please contact Jennifer Maizel at (718)
990-6218 or email Maizelj@stjohns.edu.
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