Tag: Bloomberg

WashU Olin shot up 17 spots in the latest Bloomberg Businessweek MBA ranking released on September 15. Olin was ranked 21st, largely on the strength of improvements in post-graduate MBA compensation figures and the learning, networking and entrepreneurship dimensions of the survey.

The ranking also recognized Olin’s strength in entrepreneurship, where the school ranked third—a marked increase from its 54th-place ranking for that dimension in 2019 on the heels of three consecutive No. 1 rankings for MBA entrepreneurship by Poets & Quants.

WashU Olin last participated in Bloomberg’s ranking in 2019, before the pandemic. The publication canceled its 2020 ranking because of the pandemic; Olin opted not to participate in 2021. Bloomberg’s “Best B-Schools” ranking is based predominantly on student, alumni and employer surveys.

Those surveys are supplemented by school-provided data on student diversity for the diversity index and employment data used in its compensation index, which also includes alumni salaries. 

WashU Olin showed improvement across the board in the ranking, with particular strength in learning, networking and entrepreneurship. The diversity index is a new component of the ranking this year. Olin ranked 29th in that dimension.

“I’m gratified to see the continued hard work and dedication of Olin’s students, faculty and staff recognized with the improvement in this key ranking,” said Anjan Thakor, Olin’s interim dean. “We don’t chase rankings, but we’re always thrilled when they affirm what we know is great about Olin’s programs.”

Bloomberg’s compensation index factors in median compensation figures for graduating students and alumni and signing bonus data, as well as the percentage of students employed within three months of graduation.

“The experiential learning aspect of the program coupled with a class size which makes it easy to have engagement and forge alliances,” one student said in the survey. Another said, “Learning from some of the best academicians in the country. Diverse and collaborative culture. Strong emphasis on critical thinking, problem solving, and leadership skills.”

In its surveys of students, recruiters and alumni, Bloomberg asks what was most important to them across a dozen options including “increase my earnings potential,” “build my professional network” and “learn how to start or develop a business.” The publication spells out its methodology here.

Tuesday, May 17 was an adventure for our Global Masters of Finance (GMF) group. Although it was an early morning, and we were tired from the fascinating trip we went on yesterday and all the excitement of New York City, we were still excited for the new journey ahead of us.

AB InBev

After a very short subway journey we arrived at 34^th street midtown. The building must have a long history, demonstrated by the golden rim of the elevators and the unique plate showing all the current floors of the four elevators.

Our first speaker was Adam Bush, Olin MBA’13. Adam is Senior Director in Anheuser-Busch’s Wholesale Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) department. Before attending Olin’s MBA program, he spent five years in industry. He started his career at Anheuser-Busch as an MBA intern and worked through different positions, such as project manager and director within the company.

He spoke to us about finance in a corporate environment. He shared a lot of details of his work, such as what the wholesale system in AB looks like, the valuation methods they are using, and AB’s core strategy.

It was very interesting to learn more about AB-InBev, especially the recent talks of AB-Inbev and SAB Miller potentially joining forces. Being close to a subject of news headlines was really cool! It was very interesting to learn how the US government has set heavy restrictions on the beer industry and limits the size or volume of distribution that AB can own.

It is also very new to us to know more about the corporate side of M&A, the focus of a beer manufacturing business, and how they operate on a three-tier system. Professor Rich Ryffel also asked some interesting questions, and we learned that pricing effect and marketing effect influences products differently according to their consumption group and their brand definition.

Rob Beck, was honored this year as Distinguished Olin alumnus.
©Photo by Jerry Naunheim Jr.

Citigroup

Then we welcomed Rob Beck, BSBA’86, Chief Operating Officer of the Retail Bank and head of Retail Distribution for Citigroup in the US, to give us a lecture. As an experienced and successful banker, he shared his views of some interesting topics, including the future cooperation between traditional banks and Fintech, risk management within the bank, the Chinese housing market, and the concern about over-regulation.

Bloomberg

Next, our GMF group headed back to the subway  to visit Bloomberg. The Bloomberg building was very appealing. The design was closely related to their culture. The working space was bright and open. Almost every room is transparent, reflecting Bloomerg’s culture—transparency. At the end of the tour, we had a great birds-eye view of New York and also got some nice food and drinks on the 29th floor.

Insider Trading

The last speaker of the day was Nick Verbitsky, who is the director of a documentary film called “To Catch a Trader.” He shared his personal background, how and why he directed his film, his perspective about the financial industry, and answered our questions. We watched the film after his speech. This made us more excited about the trip as we didn’t even know that there are so many career options for us once we earn our masters of finance degree.

It was very fascinating to hear Nick speak. He was very enthusiastic and we felt that he was quite a free spirit in expressing his thoughts. The way in which he felt that the smart finance professionals were cheating through Xbox was very unbelievable. We felt that the reason Nick chose to become a director of financial documentary films is that he is very interested in investigating financial scandals and has a passion for finance. He is the kind of person who wants to learn the truth and find answers. He is also very creative and loves to express his opinions. We really felt that he loves what he is doing and also clever enough to not cause any trouble when making those films on sensitive issues.

We also learned quite a lot from our dear professor Rich Ryffel. As masters of finance students eager to become future professionals, we really should learn about the daily happenings around the world, as finance is a constantly changing industry.

Guest Bloggers: Yue Lu, Yarui (Aria) Gong, WenJuan Wang, Diwen (Steven) Shi (GMF 2016)

This is part of a series of  blogs chronicling the experiences of 41 Global Master of Finance (GMF) dual degree students during their two week long immersion course in New York and Washington, DC. Each blog will be written by a small subset of students during their experience.

Professor and former dean Stuart Greenbaum tells Bloomberg.com why candidates are turning down plum spots on corporate boards. Time, liability, reputation, and scrutiny from regulators are just a few of the reasons he cites.  Link to article.

Richard Ryffel, senior lecturer in finance at Olin and a former public-finance banker at Bank of America Corp. tells Bloomberg Business that many of the interest-rate swaps negotiated before the 2008 financial crisis were so complicated and speculative that there was no benefit. Bloomberg reports on three counties that have actually profited in a big way from the swaps.
Link to article, “How One Mississippi County Played Wall Street’s Fiddle” published
7/28/15.

BLOOMBERG View, June 24, 2014. “Don’t Shortchange Short Sellers.” Prof. Matthew Ringgenberg’s research paper “Short Selling Risk” is discussed in a column by Noah Smith. Watch the video above of Prof. Ringgenberg talking about his paper “How Are Shorts Informed? Short Sellers, News, and Information” featured in Olin Praxis 2012.