Alumni @ Large

Colby Magazine Volume 97 Issue 4 Winter 2009 Article 10 January 2009 Alumni @ Large Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine Recommended Citation (2009) "Alumni @ Large," Colby Magazine: Vol. 97 : Iss. 4 , Article 10. Available at: https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/colbymagazine/vol97/iss4/10 This Contents is brought to you for free and open access by the Colby College Archives at Digital Commons @ Colby. It has been accepted for inclusion in Colby Magazine by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Colby. from the hill The Colby Student Investment Association’s performance group at its weekly meeting. Students monitor the performance of each stock in the association’s portfolio, funded through a $100,000 gift from Todger Anderson ’67. At right, Alexandra Clegg ’09, the head of the performance group. AHEAD OF THE CURVE With real money, Colby’s student investors beat the Dow and NASDAQ GERRY BOYLE ’78 STORY FRED FIELD PHOTOS Traver Elder ’10 didn’t have good news when But having to come in at a time like this … .” she reported to the other members of the Colby Years in the planning stages, the club be- Student Investment Association’s performance gan investing last April and enjoyed a few heady group in November. months before the bear market took hold. But the “Things aren’t looking too good for ICICI,” tight ship that the organization runs has served Elder said at a weekly Wednesday-night meet- it well in stormy times as well as in good ones. ing, referring to the India-based bank in which “You definitely have to have a much bigger fo- the club has invested. “The quarterly profits cus on the downside potential for companies,” are down twenty-seven percent right now, but said John Roberts ’09, an economics and math- there is hope of U.K. investment, an infusion of ematics double major and the association’s money. So things went up after their talk of that, but they had some consolation. That week, chief executive officer. but right now it’s leveling out.” the students’ portfolio, established last spring And focus they do. The 18 students seated around the confer- through a $100,000 gift from Todger Anderson With about 50 active members, the club’s ence table in the Diamond Building studied the ’67, was down just 17 percent. That’s far better three working groups—performance, trading, sobering numbers on their spreadsheets (ICICI than the performance of the leading indexes for and research—meet weekly and report to the shares down 58 percent overall). “Can you give the same period: minus 42 percent for the S&P whole group twice a month. Performance fol- me the two strongest reasons to not get rid of 500, minus 37 percent for the Dow, and minus lows stocks held by the club, while research this stock?” asked Josh Jamner ’09. “Right now 42 percent for NASDAQ. considers new acquisitions. The club is open I’m hard-pressed to find one strong reason to “It’s always fun investing when the market to any interested student, with education ses- not get rid of this stock, except for the huge loss is making twenty- or thirty-percent returns,” sions held regularly to introduce new members we took on it,” Elder replied. said government major Alexandra Clegg ’09, to the ways of financial markets. “We assume Of course the Colby students aren’t the who heads the club’s performance group. “You you don’t know anything,” said Roberts. only investors caught in the market downturn, really don’t have to put much thought into it. But that doesn’t last long. Reports at the No- Investment Advice: Alexandra Clegg ’09 appeared on NPR’s All Things Considered Dec. 10 to discuss how the Colby Student Investment Association outperformed the Dow, NASDAQ, and S&P 500. www.colby.edu/mag, keyword: csia 26 COLBY / WINTER 2009 vember performance meeting included analysts’ predictions, economic implications of political events, assessment of companies’ earnings, Gearing Up For Down Times liquidity, and debt loads. “It’s been really cool to see where the club was Pursuing finance jobs requires focus, flexibility at this time last year versus where it is today and how much progress we’ve made as a group,” said Alexandra Clegg ’09 had successfully “Don’t be as concerned with pigeonholing Clegg, who was mulling job offers from consult- made it through two rounds of phone yourself in the industry.” ing firms. “Just raising the level of our analysis. interviews this fall with financial consulting A recent alumnus who was laid off I think that’s what motivated the alum who do- companies and was eagerly awaiting the from a financial services company recently nated the money in the first place. Actually creat- face-to-face finals. called Woolsey for help finding another job ing an educational group where you could come in From two of the companies, she in Boston. “I said, ‘We’d have a greater and learn.” received a call she didn’t want. opportunity for finding you work if we could With Randy Nelson, the Douglas Professor “They said, ‘Actually, we’re not going to open that up to New York, Philadelphia, of Economics and Finance, as their advisor, be hiring, so we’re just going to cancel,” D.C., because we could use a bigger students manage the fund themselves, buying said Clegg, who has four internships on database of people,’” Woolsey recounted. and selling on three allotted trading days each her résumé, part of a college career spent “Sure enough, he agreed to that.” semester. That restriction keeps administrative zeroing in on a career in finance. Colby students are versatile and time and costs at a minimum but can be irksome She was disappointed but by no balanced and have a lot to offer potential in a fast-changing market. “We missed out on a means defeated. employers. But in an economic downturn huge opportunity with Apple,” Roberts said. “We “I was in New York [for an interview] on they also need to know when to be pitched it [to the club] at a hundred and fourteen Friday,” Clegg said in November. “I’ll be in conservative. “I had a few discussions dollars a share. We bought it at one-eighty.” Boston Wednesday.” with students with their parents in this Bear or bull market, the lessons are invalu- It’s that sort of resilience and office,” Woolsey said. “In a good year, able preparation for a career in finance, mem- confidence (Clegg did ultimately land a a student received two or three offers. bers say. In fact, by mid-November all of the job with a financial consulting firm) that is We would try to advise the student in seniors in the group had job offers. And other required in a down job market, says Colby negotiating and try to come up with a students were gearing up for prime internships. Career Center Director Roger Woolsey. better offer, leveraging one against the “That’s one of our goals: getting people placed Rather than panic, students considering other. But there was a parent specifically into good internships,” said Lokesh Todi ’09, who careers in financial services should take this year who advised his son not to do will go to work in Boston for Analysis Group, a na- a hard look at their futures. “Stay focused that. It was the best advice. Feel lucky tional consulting firm, after graduation. “It does on what your goals and objectives are, you have one offer on the table. Don’t play show that people from Colby are really smart and and really take more of an aggressive games, and accept it.” do well at their internships and their jobs.” approach,” Woolsey advised. Still, it’s a daunting time for seniors Roberts, who accepted a job offer from Bar- Contrary to what some might think, the interested in finance, many of whom have clays Capital in New York, where he interned job market for students looking at finance been working toward this goal since they last summer, said helping to manage the club isn’t bad, he said. “Regardless of the arrived at Colby almost four years ago. portfolio has taught him skills he’ll soon put recession, the early indication is that this “Nowadays to get a junior-year to use. is still going to be a decent year for grads.” internship you need a sophomore-year “The fundamentals are very similar,” he said. He reported that investment banks internship,” said Lokesh Todi ’09. “And “Looking at the financials of a company and what that recruit at Colby are honoring job sometimes to get a sophomore-year makes the company strong and sound. Those offers already extended to seniors. And [internship] you need freshman year. It’s types of characteristics are very applicable to students who had been thinking of going become a very competitive field.” a really wide range of financial services jobs.” into investment banking are considering Some students are just postponing All three students said interviewers were consulting, sales, and other financial- their job hunt until next semester, while very interested in the workings of the invest- sector fields. others are signing up for the Graduate ment club. “People were very surprised that we Woolsey, who speaks regularly with Record Exam, said Todi, who is from Nepal. were able to raise a hundred thousand dollars, alumni and Colby parents in the financial It is a particularly difficult time for and it’s all student run,” Roberts said. services industry, said the word from those international students hunting finance jobs The fact that investment decisions have real in the business is for students to look in the United States because companies consequences has driven student interest and beyond the obvious.

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