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Creating Financial Synergies

New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Each are viewed as leading financial capitals of the world, but what about San Antonio?

Recognizing the synergies developing in the financial industry, the College of Business designated capital markets as one of five threads of distinction in which the college has developed a competitive strategic advantage.

As part of this strategy, the college has focused on two primary areas. First, the college is developing innovative academic programs to educate the human capital that is needed to support this industry. Secondly, the college is home to a cadre of financial researchers who are leading the forefront of research in capital markets.

Trading Lab
One innovative initiative that the college is pursuing, based on feedback from the local business community, is the creation of a financial trading lab. The lab will serve as a teaching and research center that allows students and faculty to participate in the gathering and analysis of live, real-time financial data.

Staged to look and operate like a trading room commonly found on Wall Street, the college's lab would be equipped with Bloomberg terminals providing electronic sources of financial news and investment data. The hands-on laboratory would be used by students in the college's undergraduate and graduate finance programs.

The proposed trading lab will occupy approximately 1,800 square feet and be equipped with 25 dual-panel workstations. The lab's initial design and setup have been overseen by Dr. Yiuman Tse, professor of finance, who has taught in the college since 2002.

In the interim, a temporary trading lab equipped with three Bloomberg terminals has been created in the college's Advanced Projects Lab. Jeanie Wyatt, MBA'86, CEO of South Texas Money Management, generously donated one of the Bloomberg terminals to the college. A second terminal was donated by Frank Holmes, CEO and chief investment officer of U.S. Global Investors Inc.

Using these resources, the college will offer a new special topics course in Bloomberg certification this spring. Team taught by Tse and Dr. Karan Bhanot, associate professor of finance, a small, select group of students will be trained in using Bloomberg to analyze stocks and bonds in order to become certified Bloomberg professionals.

"We are developing our own curriculum for this course," said Tse. "We"ll introduce many practical issues and case studies. Bloomberg is a tool that students can use in concert with their academic knowledge. The lab introduces students to the atmosphere and environment of trading."

Besides serving UTSA students, the lab can also be utilized by students in the local community to receive instruction in areas such as financial literacy and investor education.

Financial Research
In addition to providing innovative programming for our students, the college is also home to a small cadre of nationally respected financial researchers. Most recently, the department was ranked 55th in the nation and 61st in the world for their scholarly research according to the Business School Research Rankings compiled by the University of Texas at Dallas School of Management.

Each of the tenured faculty members conducts research in a variety of areas. These include stock buybacks, option backdating, market microstructure, mergers, international financial markets and capital structure.

"By design we have people working in the intersection of capital markets and corporate finance," said Dr. Lalatendu Misra, professor of finance and chair of the department. "But how we approach capital markets is unique for each individual."

"Our faculty have distinguished themselves for their hard work, collaborative spirit and quality research," Misra added. "We have earned the respect of our colleagues in the profession."

While most of the research conducted by faculty members is highly theoretical, the finance industry still understands the value of keeping abreast of academic research. "There is a direct correlation between academic work and the realities of trading on Wall Street," said Dr. Palani-Rajan Kadapakkam, professor of finance. "I and others on the faculty have been contacted by Wall Street investors and financers looking to better understand our academic research to maximize their trading opportunities."

Elevating the level of financial and academic partnership in San Antonio, U.S. Global Investors Inc. pledged $200,000 to form a long-term strategic partnership with the college to develop quantitative investment research. This summer, U.S. Global donated $50,000 to establish a finance faculty fellowship program in the college. Four faculty members (Bhanot, Kadapakkam, Misra and Tse) were named U.S. Global Investors Inc. Fellows this year.

"We value the academic research that we do, but, more importantly, we value our work in the classroom," said Misra, who advises the student chapter of the Financial Management Association. "The ultimate reward is seeing our students succeed in the financial marketplace."

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