FSG Members, 

We would like to announce that Chris Bradicich, Jeff Messer and Brad Purdy have been appointed FSG Directors for the 2009-2010 school year. We have great confidence in not only their knowledge of finance, but more importantly, their leadership skills and the vision that they hold for the organization. They will be communicating with you over the next several weeks about Fall Quarter programming and their plans for the group moving forward.

We have enjoyed working with the organization over the last couple of years and will continue to remain involved. Of note, we are always open to answering any questions you might have about the industry, technical concepts, resumes / job search, or our experiences this summer.

Please direct questions concerning FSG to the new directors.

Chris: christopherbradicich2007@u.northwestern.edu

Jeff: jeffreymesser2011@u.northwestern.edu

Brad: bwp51@u.northwestern.edu 

Introduction to Valuation
In Introduction to Valuation, you will learn about what actually happens when you read about a company being bought out in the Wall Street Journal. The class will cover basic finance theory, Discounted Cash Flow analysis, Leveraged Buyouts, and modeling in Excel. If you plan on going into investment banking, this course will be especially helpful! The classes will be taught by Kellogg MBA students, all of which have experience working in investment banking and corporate finance.

The class is mandatory for those who wish to join either Investment Research or Principal Investments in Spring or Fall Quarter. The last class will have a final exam, and we will select candidates based off of those results. You must attend at least 7 of the 8 classes to be eligible for the final exam.

Location & Time: Every Sunday, Starting April 13, from 4-5 PM in Jacobs Hall (room TBD).

Please sign-up for the class by clicking here.

Investment Research
The Investment Research division is composed of a select group of students who write research reports and manage a virtual portfolio of stocks. Each member is responsible for writing a research report on a stock of choice and being able to effectively pitch the stock to their peers. Members also compete in a mock trading competition with prizes including networking sessions and business publication subscriptions.

Location & Time: Every Sunday, Starting April 6, from 3-4 PM in University Hall 101

The group is open only to pre-selected members. To apply, please visit http://www.theisbe.org/fsg/join and indicate that you are interested in joining the group.

Principal Investments
The Principal Investments division currently manages The Nugget Fund, which is a five-figure fund invested in a range of stocks.

The group is open only to pre-selected members. To apply, please visit http://www.theisbe.org/fsg/join and indicate that you are interested in joining the group.

We will be offering an Introduction to Valuation class during Spring Quarter. Similar to the Principles of Finance course in the Fall, the Valuation class will be taught by Kellogg students and be held at Kellogg on Sunday afternoons. All of the MBA students who have volunteered to teach the course have experience in investment banking and corporate finance, so you can look forward to a mix of valuation theory and industry experience.

We are still finalizing the exact details of the course, but it will start on April 13th and occur on every Sunday up until June 1st. Time and location are still to be determined, but we will be sending out a complete syllabus shortly. In the meantime, take a look at the preliminary schedule of topics.

Introduction to Valuation is a great opportunity to learn more about what actually happens when you read about a company being bought in the Wall Street Journal, and it will be especially helpful if you plan on going into investment banking. Furthermore, the class is mandatory for those who wish to join either Investment Research or Principal Investments in Spring or Fall Quarter. The last class will have a final exam, and we will select candidates based off of those results. You must attend at least 7 of the 8 classes to be eligible for the final exam.

Please sign-up for the class by clicking here.

We would like to announce our subscription to a new weekly finance publication called Bulls & Bears Press. The newsletter started recently at Carnegie Mellon University, and it is now distributed to many of the top universities across the country. The Press includes a summary of the week’s financial news, reviews of finance books, and original articles by undergraduate students.

For more information and past issues, please visit here: http://www.theisbe.org/fsg/members/bbpress

We encourage FSG members to contribute to the publication. It would be a great opportunity for you to learn more about an area in finance, and you will even receive credit for the piece when it is published. For more information about submitting an article, please visit the link above or e-mail one of the FSG directors.

We will be holding the last Introduction to Options class on Sunday. We will do a short wrap-up of the course, answer any questions, and then hand out the final exam which will take 30-45 minutes to complete.

The class will meet at 2 PM on Sunday in University Hall.