February 2009
Babson Undergrads Win Competition
A team of Babson undergraduate students have won the Rotman International Trading Competition at the University of Toronto, finishing ahead of teams representing 38 top colleges and universities from around the world. The Babson team, whose participation was made possible by of the support of the Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance, included seniors Howard Soyfer, Gilbert Li, Serge Suchkov, and junior Eric Drozdov.
For more details, see the Press Release in the Babson College Newsroom.
Cutler Center/BIMA Guest Speaker Bruce Herring, MBA ’87, CIO of Fidelity Investments, Provides Rather Bullish Market Outlook
On Thursday, February 5th, the Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance and the Babson Investment Management Association (BIMA) hosted Bruce Herring, Chief Investment Officer of Fidelity Investments. Mr. Herring, a Babson graduate and Cutler Center Board member, was greeted with an overflowing audience of students and faculty. Mr. Herring provided insight into the current state of the financial markets and an outlook for the future.
The overriding theme of the presentation was that the fundamentals are terrible, but that stocks are cheap. Mr. Herring stated that the “debt bubble” bursting was the underlying cause of the economic crisis and the spark was the fall of Lehman Brothers, which caused a crisis of confidence in the financial system. This cascaded, pushing the global economy into a sever recession and virtually every asset class into a historic free fall. However, the US government has responded with $12 trillion in guarantees, loans and the like, and that governments around the world are responding in kind as well. As a result, the credit markets have begun to thaw. Mr. Herring noted that a better credit market is a requirement for a better equity market. Any recovery though, he stated, will take time as massive global de-leveraging must take place, and that lower returns and slower growth are also likely over time.
Equities, though, by historic measures are not expensive. Mr. Herring noted that the sector leaders of the past, such as technology and financials, are typically not the leaders of the future that will power the market higher. And that it is very possible that consumption patters in our society could be permanently changed, potentially leading to an “austerity trade.” On a more optimistic note, he stated that he believes the markets are in the process of bottoming and that this massive downturn will present savvy investors with an opportunity to make substantial returns. The combination of attractive valuations, government stimulus, trillions on the sidelines, credit markets improving and improving business fundamentals over time (markets respond to incremental change) leads him to be rather bullish. He conceded, though, that he is in the minority.
January 2009
NYSE Chair Marshall Carter Addresses BIMA Event
On Thursday, January 22nd, the Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance and Babson Investment Management Association (BIMA) welcomed its first speaker of the semester, Marshall N. Carter. Over 200 students and faculty attended the hour long event titled, “The Economic Crisis—What Happened, What will the new Administration Do?”
Mr. Carter, 68, is Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and Deputy Chairman of the parent company NYSE Euronext. Most recently he was a lecturer at the Sloan School of Management at MIT and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Prior to the NYSE, Mr. Carter served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the State Street Bank and Trust Company. A former Marine Corps officer, Mr. Carter served from 1975–76 as a White House Fellow at the State Department and Agency for International Development.
Mr. Carter began by speaking about his background and about some of the dramatic changes the NYSE has undergone over the last five years. He proceeded to talk about the dozen or so events that “stacked together” brought about the current economic crisis, believing that the recession could extend well into 2010. Mr. Carter then discussed some possible remedies which could help lift us out of the crisis, and to prevent it from happening again—with a change in ethics being crucial to our future. After concluding his presentation, he opened the floor for questions from the audience. His advice to students seeking jobs in the current environment: cast a wide net.
F. Mark D’Annolfo Appointed Director of the Cutler Center
The Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance and the Finance Division at Babson College are pleased to announce the appointment of F. Mark D’Annolfo as Director of the Cutler Center. Mark has over 20 years of global investment and operating experience.
From January of 2002 through the present, Mark has been an Adjunct Professor, consultant/board member, and private investor. He serves on the Board of Advisors of The Pentad Group, and is co-chairman of the venture-funded EquaTerra Advisory Board. Mark also served on the Board of Directors of Braun Consulting, until its acquisition by Fair Isaac, where he participated in a four-month internal strategy review of the business. He is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at Boston College and has taught portfolio management at Babson College. He co-authored a Harvard Business School valuation and strategy case on the signing of Dice-K Matsuzaka by the Boston Red Sox (Harvard Publishing, 2007). From August of 1999 through October of 2001, Mark was a Managing Director and Head of the U.S. and Asia (India) information technology services research group at Deutsche Bank Securities. His responsibilities included hiring the research team, research and analysis of the companies and sectors, and interacting with the institutional sales force and firm’s asset management clients. He also worked with the venture capital community and Deutsche Bank’s investment banking clients on business strategy, M&A and capital raising (IPO, secondary, private placement) transactions. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank Securities, Mark was employed for 13 years at Adams Harkness (now Canaccord Adams), an investment banking firm focusing on emerging growth companies. Mark held the position of Managing Director and Head of the IT services research team. Mark also served on the firm’s Operating Committee, which ran the day-to-day operations of the firm, the Board of Directors and the Audit committee.
In 1999, 2000 and 2001, Mark was top ranked by The Wall Street Journal in its All-Star Analysts Survey for his stock picking and earnings accuracy acumen. He has been widely quoted in major publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Inc Magazine, Money Magazine, and The Boston Globe, and has appeared on numerous panels, including several by the MCLE (Mass Bar) at their Business & Securities Law Conference.
Mark graduated magna cum laude with a BA degree from Boston College, and holds an MBA from Boston University. He co-authored an article on Collaterized Mortgage Obligations, which appeared in Real Estate Review (NYU), and as a chapter in Edwin H. Duett’s Advanced Instruments in the Secondary Mortgage Market text. Mark is a member of the CFA Institute and of the Boston Security Analysts Society.
July 2008
Bloomberg Technology Discussed
Listen as Cynthia Robinson, Associate Director, Knowledge and Content Management and Patti Greene, Provost, discuss Bloomberg Technology at Babson.
June 2008
Babson College’s Library Receives Center of Excellence Award For Its Cutler Investment And Finance Center
Babson College’s Library has received the 2008 Center of Excellence Award for its commitment to service excellence demonstrated through the quality of information programs, resources, and services developed for The Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance over the past five years. The award is sponsored by the Special Libraries Association (SLA) Business & Finance Division.
The judges highlighted the Horn Library and Cutler Center’s ability to:
- Engage key stakeholders and build strategic partnerships
- Showcase and support the use of highly specialized information resources
- Develop cutting edge instructional programs
- Integrate and align the Center with the main library strategic goals and objectives
Stephen D. Cutler—president and principal of Essex Investment Management Company and Babson MBA graduate—generously funded the College’s investment center in 2000 to help Babson students recognize the importance of the financial markets in creating capital for the growth of the global economy.
“This is a great honor for Babson,” said Cutler. “Babson’s Cutler Center helps students recognize the importance of the financial markets in creating capital to grow businesses and create more jobs throughout the world. Learning how to maneuver through the financial markets—using the Center’s sophisticated technological tools and information resources—is critical to increased prosperity for everyone.”
“This award is directly related to the strength of the partnership forged between Babson’s Horn Library and the Finance Division,” said Library Director Hope Tillman.
“Special appreciation goes to Mary Rose, Vice President of Administration and CIO; Steven Feinstein, Associate Professor, Finance; Michael Goldstein, Professor, Finance; Richard Bliss, Division Chair, Finance; Jennifer Bethel, Associate Professor, Finance; Diana Harrington, Professor, Finance; Mark Potter, Associate Professor, Finance; Laurie Krigman, Associate Professor, Finance; Patti Greene, Provost, and Sol Kamerman, Senior Systems Administrator, Information Technology,” said Cynthia Robinson, Associate Director, Knowledge and Content Management and Liaison to the Finance Division.
About the Center
The Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments & Finance in the Horn Library provides Babson students, faculty, and alumni a state-of-the-art research environment which mirrors that found at top institutions in the financial marketplace. The Library showcases financial information resources and technology and provides real-world learning opportunities in the Center. It is the hub for finance related curricular and co-curricular activities such as the student-run Babson College Fund (BCF), the Finance Immersion Program (FIP), Babson Investment Management Association (BIMA), Babson Investment Banking Association (BIBA), Babson Real Estate Association (BREA) and iTower. In addition, the Center supports applied research and serves as a forum for thought leadership in finance where industry practitioners, faculty and students collaborate, exchange ideas and learn from one another.
For more information on Babson’s Stephen D. Cutler Investment Management Center visit: http://cutler.babson.edu.
About the Award
According to the SLA Business & Finance Division, “The goal of the Centers of Excellence Awards is to recognize this excellence but to also bring it out into the public eye so that others may learn from it and to benchmark themselves against these truly excellent organizations.” The criteria used by SLA is based upon the criteria used by the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award and for the business information management community, particularly in relation to performance standards published in “Competencies for Information Professionals of the 21st Century.”
Previous winners of the Center of Excellence Award include:
- The Science, Industry & Business Library of the New York Public Library
- The J. Hugh Jackson Library, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
- National Geographic Society's Libraries and Information Services
- The Verizon Information Research Network
- Kresge Business Administration Library, University of Michigan
- Nike Design Library
- Knowledge Network Group, Microsoft
- Lippincott Library, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- Business Research Group, Center for Business Knowledge, Ernst & Young LLP, North America
May 2008
New Advisory Board Members Added
The Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance is pleased to announce the addition of three new advisory board members.
Catherine Friend White is the founder and President of FinArc, LLC, an investment management firm and registered investment adviser. She is also director of the Babson Graduate School of Business Advisory Board, the Dickinson College Regional Cabinet, and the Dover Open Space Committee. Ms White has served on the board of directors of BostonFed Bancorp and its subsidiary bank, Boston Federal Savings Bank. She served on the investment, nominating, and compensation committees. Ms. White holds an MBA in Finance from the F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College
Dave Duval is a General Partner and Chief Operating Officer of Castile Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that a provides financial backing and strategic guidance to assist entrepreneurs build successful technology businesses. Prior to Castile Ventures, he co-founded and managed Volpe Brown Whelan Asset Management, LLC and its venture affiliate, Bedrock Capital Partners. Dave is also a former CFO/Partner of Highland Capital Partners. He holds an MBA from Babson College.
Jurrien Timmer is the director of market research for Fidelity Investments and the portfolio manager of the Fidelity Dynamic Strategies fund. He is a 12-year veteran at Fidelity and plays a key role in Fidelity’s Global Asset Allocation group. As an investment strategist, Mr. Timmer’s work, includes fundamental, technical, and quantitative disciplines, directly influences the portfolio strategy of Fidelity’s asset allocation funds and is widely used by Fidelity’s portfolio managers and analysts. In addition to his international role, Mr. Timmer is also a spokesman on investment matters to Fidelity’s clients and associates. He received a BS in Finance from Babson.
For a complete member listing, see The Cutler Center Advisory Board