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Presents The Eleventh Annual Warren Buffett Trip OMAHA, NEBRASKA April 2017 Letter from National The opportunity to meet with Warren Buffett on April 7th was an honor and a privilege that twenty members of SWS will cherish for a lifetime. Mr. Buffett educated, entertained and inspired us during a two-hour Q&A session where we intently listened to Mr. Buffett’s meaningful and humor- ous insights on business, investing, careers, and life lessons. Our rigorous preparation requirements included readings from The Intelligent Investor, The Making of an American Capitalist, watching video interviews, dissecting the Annual Shareholder newsletter, and participating in weekly discussion groups. Students compare it to taking an extra class, but all agree that the preparation allowed them to derive the maximum benefit from the trip. By thoroughly researching companies and studying biogra- phies of executives we were meeting, it allowed the students to take full advantage of the opportunity IN THIS ISSUE of asking thoughtful questions beyond what anyone could easily access on the internet. That afternoon was followed by an exclusive dinner with our members and SWS Co-founder, Tracy THURSDAY, APRIL.6TH Britt Cool who shared thoughts and answered questions ranging from women in the corporate world, TD Ameritrade 2 motherhood and career advice. Additionally, we visited with businesses in the public, private and non- profit sectors including TD Ameritrade, The Gallup Organization, Aromas Coffee House and three Gallup 2 Berkshire Hathaway owned companies including Nebraska Furniture Mart, Borsheims and Oriental Business Executives Dinner 3 Trading Company where we engaged in panel discussions, speaker presentations, and facility tours. The Business Executives Dinner, hosted by our 2017 Platinum sponsor, 100 Women in Finance was a great opportunity for students to engage with accomplished professionals on a one-on-one basis. We FRIDAY, APRIL 7TH would like to thank all of our guests for sharing their knowledge and advice with our group as their Lunch with Warren Buffett 4 interaction is something that our members always enjoy. We are grateful to 100 Women in Finance Borsheims 4 for uniting with us, to empower the next generation of female leaders with financial influence. The trip concluded with our Interactive Event where members shared best practices and discussed how to Oriental Trading Company 5 implement ideas to take their chapters to higher levels. Please read on to learn more from our partici- SWS Dinner 5 pants about events from this year’s trip. Additionally, we would like to thank Carrie Sova from Mr. Buffett’s office for the time and energy she SATURDAY, APRIL 8TH dedicated to coordinate this trip. A tremendous amount of gratitude is expressed to the spectacular Aroma Bliss 6 SWS Co-founders, Tracy Britt Cool and Teresa Hsiao whose vision, guidance and leadership created Smart Woman Securities. They have impacted thousands of young women by creating the structure for educating them on finance and investments through educational seminars, mentoring initiatives and AFTER THE TRIP meetings with great investors. We proudly continue this mission. Overall Impressions 7-8 Reflective Papers 8-9 Again, we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to Mr. Buffett for making this trip a reality. It is a tremendous honor to continue to be invited back. He is commonly referred to as the “Sage of Acknowledgements 10 Omaha”, a title earned for being the world’s greatest investor. But the depth of his tremendousness goes far beyond his financial acumen. The definition of a sage is someone characterized by wisdom, prudence and good judgement and Mr. Buffett truly embodies each of these qualities. But after spend- ing quality time and experiencing his generosity with his time and talent, it is so very important to note that his qualities of humility, integrity, humor, honesty and gratitude is what has allowed him to be successful. Warren Buffett’s prosperity goes far beyond finances as he possesses abundant wealth with richness of life. We will continue to applaud you Mr. Buffett as it is so well deserved. With gratitude, (left to right)Tracy Britt Cool(SWS Co-founder), Warren Buffett(World’s Greatest Investor) Darla Jade Darla Jade(SWS Executive Director), Executive Director, Smart Woman Securities and Teresa Hsiao(SWS Co-Founder) THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 2 TD Ameritrade - Naomi Shah, Stanford University TD Ameritrade was our first organized group visit, and useful. We also learned more about the thinkorswim trading through bustled introductions and handshakes, I remember or- platform, which allows you to look at individual company stock ganizing for our first of many group photos in front of the very performances as well as larger market trends. This is a platform modern and large building. The architecture of the building that will be very useful to bring back to our research teams. stood out compared to all the other buildings we had seen so Overall, this trip to TD Ameritrade helped me under- far, showing us the company’s commitment to being environ- stand how the company fit into the larger financial services mentally-friendly, i.e. LEED certified, and to making sure that industry, and the value that they provided to their customers in they created a good place to work for all of their employees. managing their investment portfolios. Further, it was an incred- We had a fireside chat with two female executives, ible opportunity to understand how a company worked and Carrie Braxdale and Judy Ricketts who had both been with the operated in Omaha, NE and the work culture and management company for over ten years; the high retention rate of employ- encouraged employees to stay with the firm for many years. ees at TD Ameritrade was a notable trend after having grown up in the bay area where the culture is for people to move from company to company after a few years of working. In my opinion, the most interesting part of our conversation with the panelists was learning about their work-life balance and how they overcame push-back from people in their more traditional families to move up through the ranks at TD Ameritrade. Both of them led hundreds of people at TD Ameritrade so learning about leadership strategies for managing people was also very THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 Gallup - Lucy Dikeou, Stanford University “You cannot be anyone you that one could improve their natural clear of a solution. When women take want, you can only be a better you”. Gal- strengths exponentially faster than their time off for childcare they are not able to lup presented an alternative perspective weakness was Gallup’s thesis. Which “catch up” with their male counterparts to growing our mental capabilities versus brings me back to the initial quote. who did not take this time off. This puts the hypothesis that is common at this While you cannot be anyone you want to them behind for the remainders of their time. Through my classes and talks with be, you can and should certainly improve careers, effectively decreasing their pay. my mentors I have often been encour- your naturally given talents to become the The culture for women at Gal- aged to seek feedback on my weaknesses best most authentic version of yourself. lup is progressive, giving 12 weeks full- and aim to improve them. This was not We also heard from Gallup’s paid maternity leave and providing a the case at Gallup. Through the indi- COO, Jane Miller who presented on a day care at the office. We heard from an vidualized “Strengthfinders Test”each different topic— one she spearheaded inspirational panel of women who can- SWS member was able to identify our the research for herself - women in the didly shared their stories and it was en- top 5 strengths. These strengths ranged work place. This topic is timely as just couraging to hear how successfully they anywhere from learner, to activator, last week was equal pay day in the USA. managed having a family and career. from relater to competitor. Knowing our Women today are still only making strengths allows us to leverage them to 78-83 cents on every dollar compared propel ourselves forward. A key insight with their male counterparts. A couple You cannot be anyone you hypotheses for this were presented. The “ want, you can only be a first stems from a report that notes wom- better you. en work an average of 4 less hours then men. Are they getting the work done ” faster? Or are they reporting fewer work- - Jane Miller, COO, ing hours? A solution to fix this would Gallup be to change the structure of pay based on accomplished work rather than time spent. Another hypothesis is one with less THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 3 Business Executives Dinner - Aimee Bosman, Gettysburg College On the evening of Thursday April 6th we had the sow, General Partner and CIO of Elkhorn Partners. He too privilege of attending a dinner with four business executives echoed the words of Warren Buffett in that no matter what from the Omaha area. We were split up into four tables where we do in life, we really have to love it. It was clear that his we had the opportunity to meet one of the four executives job, working from home as a hedge fund manager, was very who had joined us for the evening. I sat at the table with Liz appealing to him and there was no doubt that he loved what Ziegenbein, Executive Director Emerita of the Peter Kiewit he did. He also echoed one of Mr. Buffett’s words of advice – Foundation, although she has been involved in a multitude “the best decision you can ever make is picking your spouse”.

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