2019 - 2021 FMA Magazine

FROM THE
IFLP DESK
MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR
Auburn FMA has been uniquely driven from the very beginning. The founding vision of FMA is rooted
in the belief that Auburn students should be provided the tools and training necessary to pursue the
most elite career paths in the financial services industry — a challenging notion for a public state
school in the South. Today, FMA continues to uphold this determination, and with distinction. As
the stories in this issue attest, our students are individuals who are highly capable, inquiring problem
solvers - as qualified for top positions at leading banks as they are for admission to elite Ivy League
programs. True to our vision, we’ve graduated six years of intellectually adventurous individuals who
ask critical questions, challenge assumptions, create solutions, and leave an indelible stamp – not only
on the company teams they join, but also on the Auburn program that is proud to call them alumni.
Through 2021, we continued to focus on academic and practical application integration, casting an
overreaching umbrella over a program that includes not only career prep and technical training, but
also extends that education to the classroom, pulling in industry expertise to provide members with
application tactics and how-to. In the spring of 2020, we integrated our first of such courses through
a collaboration with a Training the Street executive. Members were able to enroll in our Practical
Financial Application course, which bridges the gap between academia and real world by teaching the
practical skills needed to optimally succeed on the job.
The second major integration accomplishment for our program in 2020 was to officially pull FMA and
the Auburn Student Investment Fund (ASIF) under one comprehensive program – The Integrated
Financial Leadership Program. Every FMA member will now spend a minimum of one year as an
analyst for our Fund, and participate in two classes that focus on security analysis and portfolio
management. The first of the ASIF classes, Advanced Security Analysis, is taught by a professional
asset manager from Retirement Systems of Alabama – again, focusing on real world application
with ASIF at the core of the in-class learning. The program-specific coursework is capped off with
Advanced Portfolio Analysis, taught by Dr. Albert Wang.
There’s so much for FMA to be proud of beyond these integration efforts. Our alums are now enrolling
in top graduate programs, and our undergrads continue to cast a bright light on our program, our
college, and our university - including back to back national first place case competition honors in the
elite Duff & Phelps YOUniversity Deal Challenge. As we look to the future of the program, FMA will
continue to push for facilities that support our students, reflect the success of our program, and help
to market HCOB’s finance program.
Finance Rocks!
FMA 2019-2021 MAGAZINE 5