Finance Newsletter – Fall 2020

UT Dallas Announces Plans for Spring 2021 Semester

Course registration for spring 2021 began Monday, Nov. 2. As in the fall semester, the University will have a hybrid instructional model with five teaching modalities and the asynchronous option for spring 2021. However, the University plans to increase opportunities to help students connect face to face in small groups during the spring. Read more about the plans for spring on the UT Dallas News Center.

Finance Sector Employer Interview Skill Panel

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Finance and Managerial Economics Area partnered again with the Program in Public and Nonprofit Management in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences to co-host a virtual Financial Sector Employer Interview Skill Panel on Sept. 10 via Microsoft Teams. Seven panelists representing private financial institutions, nonprofit organizations and local government talked about key financial skills needed in the current employment environment. They also shared insights and suggestions on interviewing, especially virtual interview skills, with attendees. The event attracted a large number of students from different disciplines

“Thank you for hosting the Financial Sector Employer Interview Skill Panel,” Carmen Reneau, talent advisor at GM Financial, wrote after joining the event as a panelist. “I thoroughly enjoyed meeting other employers, the faculty and students. I was impressed with the organization of the panel, the questions asked in advance, as well as by the students. I told my colleague … that it was a fun and value-added event for the students.”

Another panelist, Harlan Jefferson, town manager of Prosper, Texas, emailed: “You all are very professional, as demonstrated by your preparation on the front end of the event. I enjoyed the panel and learned from the others panelists. It was a welcome break from my normal duties.”

Watch the panel discussion video on YouTube.

Fintech Concentration Equips Students with Finance and Technology Skills

Leaders of financial services companies are past the point of thinking about whether to embrace financial technology in their business, says Dr. Carolyn Reichert, clinical associate professor and director of the MS in Finance degree program. They either already have “fintech,” she says, or are in the process of building it out, knowing that they would be at a huge disadvantage if they do not.

And that is why the MS in Finance program now offers a Financial Technology Concentration.

“Financial services companies are either doing a joint venture with a smaller company so that they can partner with them for that technological expertise, or they’re building it in-house,” Reichert says of fintech. “It’s a hot area, whether in building out a blockchain or sophisticated, data-driven financial models. Our fintech concentration will help equip students who want to successfully navigate such landscapes.”

Doing so requires not only technological skills but also expertise in finance. The concentration equips students in both areas.

“My target student is someone who wasn’t a finance major, necessarily,” Reichert says. “They have some technical skills already, so maybe they’re coming from computer science or information technology management. They know that piece of it already. Folks from mathematics and statistics would also have the necessary background.

“The concentration offers two skills that are in high demand,” Reichert says. “The technology piece for sure, but they also need to understand what that analytics is telling them within the context of the pieces they have within finance.”

New Program Director of Risk Management and Insurance Concentration

Steven Haynes, assistant professor of practice, has been appointed program director of the Risk Management and Insurance Concentration . He succeeds Debra Richardson, founder of the concentration, who retired in August. Haynes most recently served as the property risk and claims manager for Lennox International. While in this role, he served as the business continuity planner, claims team leader and loss-control subject-matter expert. With more than 10 years of experience in the risk management and insurance field, including working for Liberty Mutual Insurance, IAT Insurance Group and the City of Allen, Haynes focuses on organizational improvements through data-driven analytics, organic team building and cost-focused project management.

Haynes recently completed coursework for his PhD at Oklahoma State University. He expects to defend his dissertation soon. He also holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of North Texas, where he specialized in public policy and risk analysis. Haynes’ diverse background in academia and as a practitioner makes him well-suited to lead the RMI curriculum in its next wave of program development. He serves as faculty advisor for the award-winning Gamma Iota Sigma Beta Phi chapter. His current research interests include risk analysis, organizations under crisis, mixed-methods designs and disaster science.

Haynes proudly served in the U.S. Navy, and he resides in Allen, Texas, with his wife and two children.

Jai Krishnan is an experienced finance professional with a strong background in accounting and finance. She graduated with an MS in Finance in 2017 from The University of Texas at Dallas while interning at Daseke Inc., where she went on to work full time in corporate finance. Prior to this she worked at Deloitte in the audit and assurance department serving clients across various manufacturing and service industries.

Krishnan believes that the MS in Finance program empowered her to successfully transition career paths from accounting to finance. She says, “The flexibility and freedom that the MS in Finance program offered is what helped me tailor my coursework according to my career goal to be a financial analyst.

“With knowledgeable and encouraging faculty to guide me, I quickly gained confidence in pursuing activities within and outside the classroom related to finance. The Financial Leadership Association was a great steppingstone into the practical world of finance, and I consider that to be as important to my success as the academic pursuit of the subject.”

Her recommendation to MS in Finance students looking to succeed in their current career paths or switch careers is:

“Don’t be afraid to put yourself in unfamiliar territory, whether it be your coursework or competitions or networking. Choose coursework that aligns with the pursuit of your desired career path and treat teammates like co-workers, and projects and competitions as if they were projects that you were doing at work. This will help build professionalism. Be open to learning and getting to know new people.

“While technical skills are always important, I would also prioritize developing good communication skills: Half the job in finance involves breaking down intricate financial concepts into a quick note or a presentation that is simple and easy to digest to an audience that is perhaps not too familiar with the subject. The MS in Finance program offers several opportunities to present case studies and participate in competitions judged by industry professionals; so take advantage of what it has to offer.”

Kieschnick, Robert and Wenyun Shi, “Nonstationarity in the Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Accounting Conservatism,” Journal of Business Finance & Accounting. Published online: Aug. 20, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbfa.12488

Mace, Christopher, Elena Patel, and Nathan Seegert, “Marijuana Taxation and Imperfect Competition,” January 2020. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3521911 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3521911

Mace, Christopher and Davidson Heath, “The Strategic Effects of Trademark Protection,” The Review of Financial Studies, Vol. 33, Issue 4, April 2020: 1848-1878. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhz084

Peabody, S. Drew, Weerapat Attachot and Binod Guragai, “Financial Statement Presentation of Discontinued Operations: Determinants and Consequences“, Advances in Accounting, Volume 49, June 2020, Article 100472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adiac.2020.100472

Xiao, Steven, “Do Noisy Stock Prices Impede Real Efficiency?” Management Science. Accepted. Published online: June 9, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2019.3422

Xiao, Steven Chong, Vikram Nanda and Nishant Dass, “Geographic Clustering of Corruption in the United States,” Journal of Business Ethics, 2020. Published May 12, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04513-5