Fall Semester Update

Courses

Finance offerings in Duke Economics were robust this fall. Nineteen courses in total (listed below) were available, and 822 undergrads took advantage of them.

We introduced a new DFE-funded course, Intro to Global Carbon Trading, adding to our slate of climate finance offerings.

For the third consecutive year, a record number of students took John Caccavale and Emma Rasiel's sophomore course Practical Financial Markets. At 388 students enrolled, the course was the third largest in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences this semester.

ECON 174 Financial Accounting (C.J. Skender)
ECON 254 Personal Finance (Emma Rasiel)
ECON 255S Shakespeare & Financial Markets (John Forlines III)
ECON 578 ESG Investing (Chris Wedding)
ECON 673 Mathematical Finance (Xavier Mela)
FECON 370 Global Capital Markets (John Caccavale)
FECON 372 Asset Pricing & Risk Management (Lawrence Kreicher)
FECON 373 Corporate Finance (Connel Fullenkamp)
FECON 374S Inflation (Ellen Meade)
FECON 390S US Economy in Action (Mike Aguilar)
FECON 390S Intro to Global Carbon Trading (Daniel Egger)
FECON 390S Real World Macro (Gregor Jarosch, Laura Pilossoph)
FECON 471 Financial Markets and Investments (Tim Bollerslev)
FECON 490S Business Economics (Mike Aguilar)
FMKT 256 Practical Financial Markets (John Caccavale & Emma Rasiel)
FMKT 381S Inside Hedge Funds (Linsey Hughes)
FMKT 390S Financial Regulatory Policy (Lee Reiners)
FMKT 390S Investing in Climate Solutions (Diana Propper de Callejon, Jason Scott)
FMKT 390S Real Estate Investing (Steve Columbaro)*

*Funding provided by the Rubenstein Foundation Commercial Real Estate Gift

Finance Simulations for Duke Students

Expanding the career prep opportunities available to undergrads, DFE is now partnering with finance training firm AmplifyME to offer immersive, role-specific simulations. This fall we invited students to participate in three types: banking, markets, and quant.

Each three-hour online simulation was live and led by AmplifyME's expert trainers. Students came away with a practical understanding of finance roles and detailed performance metrics. Additionally, they received access to AmplifyME career masterclasses and on-demand educational resources.

147 students have joined the platform so far. We look forward to increasing this number in the spring semester with a new schedule of simulations.

Emma Rasiel and Ashok Varadhan conversing and students listening

Students and alumni interacting in a board room

Events and Activities

Sophomores gave outstanding presentations in three DFE educational competitions: the BlackRock Asset Allocation Competition, the DFE Corporate Valuation Competition, and the Goldman Sachs Trade Pitch Competition. For each, a panel of alumni evaluated the presentations of the top 10 teams.

We were excited to host several alumni who offered Lunch & Learn sessions and informal coffee chats for students. Ashok Varadhan '94, co-head of global banking and markets at Goldman Sachs, sat down with Emma Rasiel for a highly attended Q&A session in late September.

More students than ever, 124, were matched with alumni for one-on-one career conversations in our sophomore mentor program. Our peer mentoring initiative, DFE Mentoring Pods, brought 102 sophomores into small groups with juniors and seniors they can lean on for advice through all stages of recruiting. Both programs are part of DFE's Eichel Finance Advising Network.

Fuqua's Mike Aguilar led the Markets Discussion Group, which met five times over the semester. Participants, representing all class years, covered the presidential election, geopolitical risk, and the finer points of building investment theses around macro events.

DFE's Finance Book Club met to discuss The Algebra of Wealth: A Simple Formula for Financial Security by Scott Galloway.

As internship recruitment kicked off, our Student Advisory Committee organized two information sessions to answer sophomores' questions and provide the A-Z of networking and interviewing.

A two-story gothic window on a Duke West Campus building

A Few Fall Facts

151 alumni, parents, and friends were engaged in DFE courses and programs.

656 students participated in DFE's extracurricular programs this semester.

We publicized 66 professional opportunities through our student listserv, many of which were passed along to us by alumni.

On a two-day trip to New York City, 10 sophomore Dzialga Women in Finance Fellows visited eight firms and met 25 alumni.

Lee Reiners and Jimmy Lenz put out 13 episodes of the Coffee & Crypto podcast, breaking down the latest in cryptocurrency news and policy. They are organizing the third annual Digital Assets at Duke Conference February 5-7, 2025.