CFA Society Madison is offering three scholarships for the December 2020 or February 2021 CFA exams.  Each scholarship is for $800 to help candidates defer the cost of pursuing the CFA designation.  Applications must fulfill all CFA candidate requirements to be eligible for a scholarship.  Scholarships are not available to CFA Society Madison officers, directors, employees or their immediate families. 

• Candidates already receiving Access or Awareness scholarships for the June 2020 or December 2020 are not eligible for the CFA Society Madison scholarship.
• Candidates are ineligible if their current employer provides any financial assistance for participation in the CFA Program.
• Candidates must sit for the December 2020 exam or the February 2021 exam in order to receive the scholarship payment.

If you are interested in applying - 

• Complete the Society Scholarship Application  and return by November 1, 2020.  (Recipients will be notified by late November 2020)

Mail the application to:

            CFA Society Madison

            1702 Ashlawn Lane

            Waunakee, WI 53597

            or scan to cfa@cfamadison.org

Any questions can be directed to Xuezheng Wu, CFA at xwu@madisoncollege.edu.

Hello all -

Northwestern Mutual Capital is going to hold its annual NM Public Investments Internship Information/Career Day virtually this year, on August 14. The format will be 30 minute panels with investment professionals from across our firm, starting at 8:30 or 9 (intended agenda below). As always, seeking all candidates but trying to be particularly thoughtful about identifying candidates who may not have investment management exposure within their personal networks. Candidates can email me and we will get them on the list.

Thanks and hope this finds you well!

Jason Schultz (jasonschultz@northwesternmutual.com)

Intended Agenda - final to be sent with RSVPs

30 Minutes – Introduction to Public Investments and Fixed Income

30 Minutes – Portfolio Management Panel

30 Minutes – Investment Research Panel

30 Minutes – Trading Panel

30 Minutes – Recruiter and Intern Q&A  

Just in case you don't appreciate the importance of financial modeling to investment analysts, we are posting another article on the heels of the invitation to participate in the Wall Street Prep modeling seminar. A solid understanding of accounting, the ability to read and interpret financial statements, and project financial statements forward reflecting your own forecasts are key skills all good analysts have. The Wall Street Prep seminar is an excellent opportunity to develop those skills and the attached article offers some things to consider. Here are some quick comments on the mistakes identified.

Mistake 1 - using generalized accounting statements. Those of you attending our training sessions should recognize this is a point we make about the standardized Factset financial statements versus the "as-reported" financial statements available on that service (and all others like Bloomberg of CapIQ).

Mistake 2 - not understanding the reflexivity/interactivity of the three major financial statements. This is something we discuss (at a basic level) in the 1st Accounting 101 training session. In more advanced discussions we consider how companies finance growth if it requires working capital they don't have (e.g. by issuing equity of debt).

Mistake 3 - not creating apples-to-apples comparisons in time. Also discussed in the accounting session - not usually a big deal, but important to understand.

Mistake 4- not adjusting statements for distortions. More important and critical to conisder, e.g. recognizing acquisitions and divestitures will distort growth calculations, or that accounting differences like using stock-based comp or not can affect different company "adjusted" financials.

Mistake 5 - not reading the footnotes. This is a big one. The footnotes provide excellent information regarding revenue recognition policies and other practices that affect the financials and how you interpret them.

If you are really interested in accounting (and if you want to be an investment analyst you should be :)), there are more financial modeling articles in the Research Readings Folder on the CMC website - here.

Hello CMC members,

I hope you are enjoying your summer break so far. As you know, classes will resume on Wednesday, September 2^nd (the Wednesday BEFORE Labor Day weekend this year).  For the past few years the Hawk Center has sponsored a financial modeling seminar prior to the start of classes. This year Wall Street Prep will hold a Financial Statement Modeling and Valuation boot camp on Thursday, Aug. 27^th and Friday, Aug. 28^st in Grainger.  At this point, this boot camp is planned to be offered virtually (this may change as we get closer to the date, but at this point it will be fully virtual.)

Details of what is being offered are described on the attachment. You’ll notice that for the $199 cost you receive a package of benefits at an over 75% discount vs. their current corporate training fees.  In addition to the knowledge you can gain regarding financial statement analysis and valuation, the boot camp involves an Excel shortcut primer that is incredibly useful.  WSP can also be a solid add to your resume and something you can talk about in future interviews.  NOTE – if you are admitted to AEMR or ASAP, you are already registered for the seminar.    

If you are serious about investing, finance, and accounting you should consider attending (ACCOUNTING 100 is a prerequisite for the seminar). The seminar has the potential to help make you a more efficient and professional financial analyst and will better prepare you to interview for jobs in the investments industry.   

If you are interested in attending, follow the registration link on the attachment and please send me an email letting me know. Thanks!

Greg Edwards
Co-Director - Hawk Center for Investment Analysis
Wisconsin School of Business
3547 Grainger Hall
975 University Ave | Madison, WI 53706
P: +1 608-354-4640