Concordia Journal Home > Archives > March 20, 2008 issue >

Goodman Institute association created 

By Barbara Black

The Goodman Institute of Investment Management turns out graduates with great business prospects. The current students want to make sure they stay in touch, so they’ve created an association.

The Goodman program is unique, because it combines a Master’s in business administration with certification as a chartered financial analyst. The MBA-CFA combination was inspired by well-known Concordia alumnus Ned Goodman, who continues to support the Institute. Ninety-eight students are in the program in Montreal and Toronto, they connect by videoconferencing to work at the three levels of the CFA program.

Danny Bruni, the president of the new student association, says it was time to give the program higher visibility.

“Many people knew about Concordia and John Molson, but not the Goodman Institute. As a matter of fact, not even current John Molson School of Business MBA students knew about our program. However, our main target audience is the financial industry. We want these people to know our program and think highly of it.”

The association, with the assistance of their VP Events Meggie Daoust, held a wine and cheese event on March 10 with three speakers on the timely subject of managing risk in capital markets.

Marie-Claude Provost, Senior Director, Policy and Proxy Management, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, talked to the students about socially responsible investing.

“She enhanced our knowledge about how portfolios are constructed and how they need not only to maximize financial return but also serve the greater good,” Bruni said. “This type of investing is becoming more relevant in today’s financial markets.”

Natan Schecter, Manager Retirement and Investment Services, Great West Life Assurance Company, talked about what kind of strategies are best to minimize risk and increase returns, like diversification.

Corrections are a fact of life in the stock market, he said.

“If the markets never corrected they would just keeping going up and that would eliminate any benefits of picking different stocks,” Bruni explained. “Mr. Schecter also talked about how he tries to control the erratic behaviours of his clients and how he steers them clear of turbulence.”

Stephen Kibsey, Senior Portfolio Manager, Materials, for the Caisse de dépôt et placement told the students about socially responsible investing in the mining industry. The success of the mine depends heavily on the buy-in of the local community that supplies the workers. Kibsey said companies should try to understand what these communities need, and not impose things on them.

“This was a very interesting topic, because we got to hear about a niche market and its particular risks,” Bruni said.

At the end of April, all the Goodman students will get together in Montreal for Prep Week. They’ll spend four intense days going through the CFA curriculum to prepare for their professional exams on June 7.

Their lives aren’t all study, fortunately. They’re planning a golf tournament, the Goodman Open, in September. Bruni said they hope the students will bring their bosses with them so they can mix them up in student-manager foursomes.