2019 - 2021 FMA Magazine

LAUREN SPIWAK
HARVARD LAW SCHOOL
Ever since her time on the Plains, we knew Lauren was destined for great
things. The Sugar Land native and FMA alum (’19) began her career as
a summer analyst with Bank of America in Houston, later joining the
same group in their New York office full-time. She credits FMA and its
community of like-minded and ambitious students as having the most
significant impact on her career. Seeing older members and alumni
excelling in their dream careers pushed Lauren and encouraged her to do
things she would have never done otherwise.
After spending a few years on the desk, Lauren decided to take her
experience and pursue a different passion—corporate law. Beyond the
prestige associated with the name, Lauren chose to attend Harvard Law
School because of the variety of people and abundance of opportunities.
As one of the largest and oldest law schools, Harvard fosters one of the
most diverse student bodies and alumni bases in the nation. Lauren finds
herself learning from her peers every day.
Upon graduating, Lauren is interested in doing a clerkship, but she knows
a lot change in the next few years.
We wish you all the best, Lauren, and we are so proud of you! Maybe on
the other side we can celebrate with one of your famous margaritas.
DAVID
ALDERMAN
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
David Alderman, FMA ’18 will be
attending Columbia in Fall, 2020 as
part of their a Masters in Financial
Economics program. The Auburn
native chose Columbia because of the
location and the unique degree they
offer – essentially a hybrid between an
MBA and PhD in Finance. “Columbia
appealed to me because it provides a
great combination of academic rigor,
location, and career opportunities,” said
David, who heads to Columbia from
Houston, where he was an investment
banking analyst for Intrepid.
While at Intrepid, David worked on
intricate capital structures for various
clients, including a private capital raise
for NuStar Energy (NYSE: NS), a crude
terminal/pipeline operator. “When
COVID and the Saudi-Russia price war
hit in early March, the debt markets
closed creating problems for NuStar. The
company had large current maturities
it was no longer able to refinance with
the debt markets closed. Our team
started a process to raise capital for the
company end and ended up raising a
$750mm private term loan with Oaktree
Capital, which was announced the day
oil went negative in April. It was a crazy
2 months.”
Looking to the future, David wants
to work in investment management,
specifically a Macro Hedge Fund. And
ultimately run his own fund. This seems
about right for a go-getter like David
who enjoys mountain climbing. “Every
year, I try to climb at least 1 mountain.
This year was Mount Whitney and
Mount Shasta in California. The end
goal is Denali in Alaska.”
David is pursuing his future, while
continuing to support the organization
that got him started in finance: “FMA
was instrumental in preparing me for
interviews and the needed skills to
do well. Whether it was interacting
with potential employers, building my
modeling skillset, or just having Tracy’s
sage advice, FMA was a great platform
for me to go anywhere that I wanted.”
FMA 2019-2021 MAGAZINE 59