Press Release - Wisconsin School of Business MBA Students Named Winner of Milwaukee CFA Institute Research Challenge

Madison, Wis. – The CFA Society of Milwaukee announced today the Wisconsin School of Business team from UW-Madison has won the local competition of the CFA Institute Research Challenge and now advances to the Americas Regional Challenge next month in Toronto.

Members of the team from left to right: Dan Sosnay, Ashley Ditmarsen, Ali Gardoi, Cairn Clark and Casey Karbowski – each of whom are currently participating in the Wisconsin MBA’s Applied Security Analysis Program. Drew Justman, CFA, an equity analyst at Madison Investment Advisors, served as Mentor to the team. Brian Hellmer, CFA, who is Director of the Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis, served as the group’s faculty advisor. The panel of judges included Adam Sweet, CFA of Madison Investment Advisors, Mark Prusha, CFA of Musser Capital Advisors and Jean Wangard, CFA of Wangard Investment Consulting.

The CFA Society of Milwaukee competition was the first round of the CFA Institute Research Challenge.  All of the student teams in this round of the competition presented a detailed analysis and investment recommendation on Harley-Davidson Corporation, a leading producer of motorcycles based in Milwaukee.   The presentations at the Milwaukee finals were the result of three months of research, interviews with company management, discussions with competitors and dealers and presentation preparation.

Dr. Mark Palim - Economic and Housing Outlook, by Matt Alexander, CFA

Dr. Palim, an economist with the Economics and Strategic Research group with Fannie Mae, discussed the current state of the housing market on January 16th at the Milwaukee Athletic Club.

“A house is only worth the job you can commute to.”

There have been headline improvements in the labor market. However, job growth by sector has been uneven, driving regional differences in housing market strength. For example, booming growth in oil production is supporting energy producing regions. Manufacturing jobs are beginning to return. Health Care and Education employment have grown steadily through the recession and continue to grow. Against this backdrop, home prices are beginning to recover, even for distressed markets (though not everywhere). Furthermore, valuation metrics are more in line with fundamentals.

Weakness remains, however. Federal government employment has begun to contract, two years after local and state governments had borne the brunt of public sector layoffs. Broadly speaking, consumer confidence remains near historic lows. Household formation has improved, but the households that have formed tend to be rentals.

Are we becoming a renting society?

Fiscal Cliff, Laurie Weston Luncheon - by Craig Fuhrmann, CFA

On November 14, 2012 the CFA Society of Milwaukee welcomed Laurie Weston, CPA, tax Manager at Wipfli LLP, to discuss the expiration of the Bush tax cuts and the implementation of new health care taxes. The majority of time was devoted to a legislative outlook and changes affecting taxes on individuals. Some of the content was detailed and more relevant to those in the audience that implement tax management strategies, yet there were also more general takeaways for those less involved in tax planning.  Key points from the discussion are summarized below.

Martin Feldstein Economic Outlook, by Matt Alexander, CFA

The Lubar School of Business sponsored a lunch presentation by Dr. Martin Feldstein at the University Club on Thursday, October 4^th.  Martin Feldstein has served as President Reagan’s chief economic adviser and, among other intervening high profile appointments, served on President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.  He is currently the George F. Baker Professor of Economics at Harvard University and serves as President Emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research.    A summary of his current thoughts on Europe and the United States is presented below.

Kristi Mitchem - The DC Ecosystem, by Matt Alexander, CFA

When considering Defined Contribution plan design, Kristi Mitchem of State Street Global Advisors thinks of creating a sustainable ecosystem.  In this context, sustainability is defined as the average plan participant’s likelihood of achieving an adequate income replacement ratio upon retirement.  Academics usually peg this ratio at 50%, while practitioners say that 70% or more may be appropriate on average, especially in light of increases in projected health care costs for retirees. Whatever the appropriate target ratio, Mitchem points to three factors that influence sustainability:  1) participation levels, 2) asset allocation and 3) menu design.

Why think of an ecosystem?  Because these three factors interact with each other.  Furthermore, manipulation of any one of them can lead to unintended consequences.  Mitchem focused her presentation on some of these issues.

Press Release - Wisconsin School of Business MBA Students Named Winner of Milwaukee CFA Institute Research Challenge

Madison, Wis. – The CFA Society of Milwaukee announced today the Wisconsin School of Business team from UW-Madison has won the local competition of the CFA Institute Research Challenge and now advances to the Americas regional challenge, where it will compete with universities from Canada, the United States, and South America.

The winning team from the Wisconsin School of Business consisted of (from left to right) Brian Bernard, Canan Ozkan, Vincent McClendon, Andrew Bushey, and Andrew Lane.  

Dr. Michael G. McMillan- Ethical Decision Making Presentation Summary

Director of Ethics and Professional Standards for CFA Institute, Michael G. McMillan, addressed a joint gathering of CFA Charterholders, CPAs and CFPs at the Palms Bistro.  Dr. McMillan reminded attendees of the goals of ethics training.

1. To encourage you to become more conscious about your thoughts and behaviors, to increase the likelihood that you will notice and act upon ethical issues before they become destructive.
2. To recognize that ethical dilemmas are a normal and predictable part of most jobs.
3. To discuss approaches for dealing with ethical issues.