UWF Finance Students Visit New York Stock Exchange

The students, members of the Argo Investment Fund group, which manages around $20,000 of actual money as a learning experience, visited the city Nov. 3-6.

“The students meet every two weeks and share company analysis with one another and/or hear professional guest speakers,” said Dr. Kevin Krieger, associate professor in the University’s Department of Accounting and Finance, who accompanied students on the trip.

Local representatives from Morgan Stanley helped set up the meetings with influential policy makers for the company in New York.

“We were able to take the students for over an hour meeting with Andrew Swanson, who is the director of the equity desk for Morgan Stanley, and he spoke with them about what he actually does, his background, and ideas for finding work in the industry,” Krieger said. “They also spoke with Daniel Maccarrone, Executive Director, Wealth Management Resources.”

The students also took a walking tour of Morgan Stanley’s trading desk.

“(Swanson and Maccarrone) explained their everyday duties and what they did,” said student Ryan Olsen, president of the AIF. “We also got a tour of the office to see how they worked. It was a lot to take in, but it was cool to see exactly what they specialized in.”

The students also toured and visited the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

“The students got to speak with a few of the brokers there about what they do, how the industry has changed,” Krieger said. “It was quite the hoot for the students to be able to actually see the floor itself that they’d watched on TV for many years.”

Olsen said that the experience was eye-opening.

“The NYSE was incredible. We had a tour guide taking us through, and the stories that he told us gave me a lot more respect for the guys who worked there,” he said. “Although the NYSE floor isn’t what it used to be due to everything going to computers, I’m glad they still have it. And the fact that we were able to walk on the floor was the best part. Our tour guide told us it was very rare for him to take a group on the floor.”

Krieger hopes the trip will help students not only learn, but also be inspired as they leave UWF to begin their careers.

“Big picture, we hope that our AIF students are motivated by these types of experiences and go into their careers with better perspective,” he said. “That’s the main reason I try to make the effort to take a group up there.

For Olsen, the trip reinforced his determination to succeed.

“The one thing I learned is that if I ever plan on getting where those guys are, I will have to work extremely hard,” Olsen said.