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Financial Economics Center

Abele Quad at dusk with luminaria lining the sidewalks and tree covered in blue lights

Greetings, alumni, parents, and friends: Please enjoy this snapshot of the fall semester's academics and activities. Happy holidays!

Courses

DFE faculty and affiliates taught the courses listed below, in which a total of 745 students were enrolled. The three courses labeled "FMKT" are new and part of DFE's strategic climate and real estate initiatives.

A record 362 students took John Caccavale and Emma Rasiel's sophomore course Practical Financial Markets, a 38% increase over last year.

Students in Emma's Personal Finance course, which had an enrollment of 224, reported having gained a considerable understanding of how to take control of their personal finances. All of the students noted that they felt more confident in key money management skills, such as budgeting, borrowing, saving, and investing.

ECON 254 Personal Finance (Emma Rasiel)
ECON 255S Shakespeare & Financial Markets (John Forlines III)
ECON 256 Practical Financial Markets (John Caccavale & Emma Rasiel)
ECON 370 Global Capital Markets (John Caccavale)
ECON 372/572 Asset Pricing & Risk Management (Lawrence Kreicher)
ECON 373 Corporate Finance (Connel Fullenkamp)
ECON 378 Financial Risk Management (Connel Fullenkamp)
ECON 381S Inside Hedge Funds (Linsey Hughes)
ECON 390S-01 Inflation (Ellen Meade)
ECON 390S-02 Financial Regulatory Policy (Lee Reiners)
ECON 471 Financial Markets and Investments (Tim Bollerslev)
ECON 578 ESG Investing (Chris Wedding)
FMKT 390S-01 Investing in Climate Solutions (Diana Propper de Callejon, Jason Scott)
FMKT 390S-02 Real Estate Investing (Lee Roberts)*
FMKT 390S-03 Real Estate Investing (Steve Columbaro)*

*Funding provided by the Rubenstein Foundation Commercial Real Estate Gift

More of the 4 Brain Health Pilot

Through a partnership with digital brain health company R65 Labs, 253 students in John & Emma’s Practical Financial Markets course participated in a pilot program aimed at improving cognitive performance and well-being.

In small teams, students adopted a “More of the 4” regimen for four days: more sleep, fruits & vegetables, water, and exercise. They also completed thousands of brain-healthy actions and tracked their stress, energy, alertness, and mood levels.

85% of the students said they felt better prepared, more confident, or performed better in their school work while practicing the More of the 4 regimen. One participant noted, "[I] prioritized sleep more [and] did great on my econ midterm."

Students presenting to alumni in the Goldman Sachs Trade Pitch Competition

Events and Activities

DFE ran three educational competitions for sophomores, with 391 students participating. In addition, alumni and students collaborated on a private equity competition and distressed/special situations competition, both targeted at juniors and seniors.

As part of our annual mentor program, an Eichel Finance Advising Network offering, 77 sophomores signed up to have one-on-one conversations with alumni about careers in the financial markets.

113 undergrads across all class years attended DFE Executive Director John Caccavale's Markets Discussion Group. The Sam Bankman-Fried fraud trial was a major topic in each of the four sessions.

DFE's Student Advisory Committee, a group of juniors and seniors who help enhance DFE programs, led a highly attended session for sophomores on navigating internship recruiting. They also developed a new student mentoring initiative, DFE Mentoring Pods, in which sophomores, juniors, and seniors are assigned to small groups to support one another through recruiting, internships, full-time offers, and beyond.

Thanks to alumni and DFE friends who volunteered their time while visiting campus, DFE held four Lunch & Learn sessions for students to learn about diverse career paths in finance.

Lecturing Fellow Lee Reiners and Instructor Steve Columbaro hosted DFE's first-ever Finance Book Club, open to all class years. The book selection was Mary Child's The Bond King: How One Man Made a Market, Built an Empire, and Lost it all. 25 students took advantage of the new opportunity.

Student walking on breezeway between Perkins and Bostock Libraries

A Few Fast Facts

140 alumni participated in DFE courses and extracurriculars this semester.

DFE's student email list has 1,350 subscribers, first-years through seniors. This fall, 58 professional opportunities were publicized through the email list in addition to 21 events hosted by finance-related student groups.

DFE faculty advised students for a combined 28 hours per week this semester.

On a 36-hour trip to New York City, 10 sophomore Dzialga Women in Finance Fellows visited seven firms and met 26 alumni.

Lee Reiners and Jimmy Lenz put out eight episodes of the Coffee & Crypto podcast, breaking down the latest in cryptocurrency news and policy. They are organizing the second annual Digital Assets at Duke Conference January 31 to February 2, 2024.