Chicago Financial Markets

With the world's financial systems reeling, students in Professor Chris Conrad's Financial Management seminar got an up-close view of how various institutions in Chicago are managing risk. During four days in Chicago, they visited the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Bank of America, and Contegra Health Care.

Students met with Robert M. Rosenberger (Senior VP and CFO, Centegra Health System), Aaron Shepley (Senior VP and CQO, Centegra Health System), David Jonke (VP, Senior Market Risk Manager, Bank of America), and Jim Bittman (Chicago Board of Options Exchange).

Students focused on a new tool for managing institutional risk known as Enterprise Risk Management (ERM). Traditionally, risk has been managed in separate categories: financial risk, operating risk, and credit risk. ERM considers all of the risks faced by a firm and integrates these into a single unified framework.

Thanks to support from the Berry Center, students paid just $75 each for the trip.

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Financial Management Seminar: Student Reflections

Visiting Contegra Health Care was the "Best part of the trip.  The speakers were interesting and engaging.  They kept us involved in their presentation.  Great trip!"

Melissa Bernstein '11

Regarding the Bank of America visit, "I enjoyed this a lot.  There were a lot of real world implications.  I could see how risk affects every-day business.  Excellent trip, I would do it again."

Kevin Pickhard '10

"This trip was a lot of fun.  The best part of the CBOE visit was walking on the floor and learning about the history and current operations."  On Bank of America, "It was fantastic to look at the aspects of risk management from a banking perspective."

Nick Light '10

About the Chicago Board of Exchange, "This was a really cool trip.  Witnessing the traders' behavior first-hand presented me with many observations about the efficiency of markets.  This taught me the inner-workings of the financial system."

Brad Shrago '11


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