Applied Investment Management Program
AIM Investment Forum
The fifth annual AIM Investment Forum and reception was held on Thursday, February 16, 2012, at Marquette University’s Weasler Auditorium.
The AIM Investment Forum and reception are among the major activities of the year for the Applied Investment Management program. The AIM Forum is a reservation-only event that typically includes over 150 guests (students, alumni, and Friends of AIM).
Dr. David Krause, AIM program director, served as the Forum moderator. As in previous forums, this year’s AIM Investment Forum was conducted in a format similar to the Davos World Economic Forum. Dr. Krause engaged an open conversation with the special guests (Jim Bianco President of Bianco Research, John Davis Professor of Economics at Marquette University, and Brian Hellmer Director of the Hawk Center at the Wisconsin School of Business). Michael McMillian, Director of Ethics and Professional Standards at the CFA Institute added a new element to the forum this year with his interactive ethics and professional standards presentation.
The AIM Investment Forum is designed to provide a lively discussion of the current issues impacting the U.S. and global financial markets. The topics in the past have been wide ranging and members of the audience are also able to interact and ask questions of the panelists.
2012 AIM Investment Forum panelists' and guest speaker biographies
- Jim Bianco (Bus AD ‘84) is the President of Bianco Research, (Chicago, IL) which produces original financial market research which is followed by leading financial institutions. He is a regular television guest on CNBC, Bloomberg and Fox Business News. He is a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) and a member of the Market Technicians Association (MTA), where he served as a national Vice-President and Chairman of the MTA’s annual seminar. Jim earned his MBA from Fordham University (1989).
- John Davis is a Professor of Economics at Marquette University and Professor and Chair of History and Philosophy of Economics at University of Amsterdam. He is author of Keynes’s Phiolsophical Development, The Theory of the Individual in Economics, Individuals and Identify in Economics, and co-author with Marcel Boumans of Economic Methodology: Understanding Economic as a Science. He has been a visiting professor at Sorbonne, Cambridge University, Erasmus University, and Duke University. He is a past president and chair of History of Economics Society, the International Network for Economic Method, and the Association for Social Economics, and is vice-president of the European Society for the History of Economics. He has taught two dozen different courses. Dr. Davis holds a BA, MA, PhD in Philosophy and a MS in Economics from the University of Illinois, Urbana; MA, PhD in Economics at Michigan State University.
- Brian Hellmer is the Director of the Hawk Center for Applied Security Analysis at the Wisconsin School of Business. The Hawk Center offers applied learning opportunities to select full time MBA student focused on becoming investment professionals, as well as continuing education programs for investment practioners. As part of this role, Mr. Hellmer teaches Applied Security Analysis & Investment Management, a class where students manage over $65 million in real assets. Mr. Hellmer also oversees the admissions process, employer relationships and alumni relations for the Hawk Center. From 1996 until 2009, Mr. Hellmer served as Co-Portfolio Manager and Director of Research at Northern Capital Management. During his tenure, Mr. Hellmer was co-portfolio of a growth fund that was named the Lipper Growth Fund of the year in 2000. Prior to 1996, Mr. Hellmer has worked for Fleet Investment Advisors in Boston as an analyst and as an investment strategist. During his time at Fleet, Mr. Hellmer covered such industries as Retail, Media & Entertainment, Restaurants, Medical Devices and Financial Services.
- Michael McMillan, CFA, is director of Ethics and Professional Standards at CFA Institute. He is responsible for creating, sourcing, and developing educational content for CFA Institute members and investment professionals in the area of ethics and professional standards. Previously, he was a professor of accounting and finance at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey School of Business and George Washington University’s School of Business. Prior to his career in academia, he was a securities analyst and portfolio manager at Bailard, Biehl, and Kaiser and Merus Capital Management. Dr. McMillan holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from Stanford University, and a PhD in accounting and finance from George Washington University. He is a certified public accountant (CPA) and a chartered investment counselor (CIC).