Using professional Bloomberg software, Nichols students have access to real-time market information to build, analyze, and manage investment portfolios.
By LORRAINE U. MARTINELLE
DUDLEY, Mass.—Nichols College has developed for fall 2019 a new bachelor’s degree in business administration concentration in corporate finance and investments. Students in this four-year program will gain a deep understanding of corporate finance, investments, and portfolio analysis skills throughout the curriculum.
Courses in the program include investments and security analysis; portfolio analysis and management; international finance; and real estate and investments, among others. Using Bloomberg software, students have access to real-time market information to build, analyze, and manage investment portfolios. Bloomberg is a global information and technology company that delivers business and financial news, data, and powerful analytics; it has been a market leader since the 1980s.
Professor Christine Beaudin Durkin
“This concentration leverages the 11 Bloomberg Terminals in Nichols College’s state-of-the-art Trading Room,” said Associate Professor and Finance Program Chair Christine Beaudin Durkin. “Each terminal can be used by a pair of Nichols students to explore the same tools and software used by professional traders on Wall Street, while gaining valuable financial skills.”
Last year, Nichols joined a group of 950 educational institutions that use Bloomberg Terminals, when it established its Bloomberg Finance Lab, and is already in the top 5 percent of that group in terms of the number of students earning Bloomberg Market Concepts certification. The high number of Bloomberg-certified students made Nichols eligible in January to become one of 35 international Bloomberg Experiential Learning Partners. To become Bloomberg certified, students must successfully complete various online Bloomberg modules: equities, fixed income, economic indicators, and currencies. This hands-on experience positions students to stand out in the job market.
“Through the use of Bloomberg Terminals, Nichols students observe the impact of world events and market behavior in real time, while acquiring marketable skills that improve the odds of landing the jobs they want,” said Professor Beaudin Durkin.
Part of the experiential learning in the new corporate finance and investments program will be a student-led investment fund that is being initiated in the upcoming academic year and will be managed by Nichols students in upper-level courses in the finance major and in the corporate finance and investments major. Students will gain valuable experience by initially being an “analyst” before stepping into the role of a portfolio manager. The fund will reinforce concepts learned in the curriculum with applied experience.
Nichols looks to expand on its record of success with alumni placement in the finance and investment fields. Graduates of the College’s finance program from 2010-2016 have advanced to careers with UNUM, State Street Bank, Berkshire Hathaway, BNY Mellon, Edward Jones, Mapfre, John Hancock, and Merrill Lynch. Approximately 95 percent of the graduates have jobs in the financial business sector.
Professor and Academic Dean Mauri Pelto, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs at Nichols College
“The demand for Nichols College students was evident at the annual Nichols Finance and Accounting fair this past fall, during which 24 companies recruited our students,” said Academic Dean and Professor Mauri Pelto, Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs at Nichols College.
In June, a “Bloomberg Trading Room Submersion” finance camp will be held at Nichols. High school student investors will spend four afternoons using the Bloomberg Terminals under the supervision of Nichols business professors. Students will spend a week in the College’s Trading Room, learning the basics of investment strategies. There are six Trading Room sessions, and students will be expected to attend at least four. The sessions include lessons on using Bloomberg financial tools and financial terms, basic stock market valuation, trading in financial markets, and using probability and statistics for financial decision making. Students will also have an opportunity to work toward achieving the Bloomberg Market Concepts Certificate.
Lorraine U. Martinelle is director of public relations and social media at Nichols College in Dudley, Mass. Email story ideas to Lorraine.Martinelle@nichols.edu.