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Guest speakers provide APM students with real world feedback

Thursday, March 19, 2009

John B. Dicus, Chairman and CEO of Capitol Federal, received plenty of questions from Applied Portfolio Management (APM) students about banking and the economy when he spoke in class on Feb. 16. He talked about loans, foreclosures and the number of banks failing, joking that bankers have fallen below lawyers in popularity, and are just above car salesmen.

"We're not the most favored profession out there now, because of what has happened," Dicus said.

Dicus and Kent Townsend, CFO and Executive Vice President of Capitol Federal, are two of about 13 speakers from whom students in APM will learn from this semester. The purpose of inviting guest speakers is to provide real world feedback about investment ideas. Having guest speakers in the class also gives students the opportunity to network with alumni and local business leaders.

"The class allows students to apply what we have learned in other classes," Lucas Kempke, MBA student from Dallas, said. "Most of the finance classes I have taken are rooted in theory. This class allows us to apply that theory."

In the APM class, it is the student's role to manage a portfolio of investments using real dollars. The students recommend buying, selling or keeping stock in the portfolio. These recommendations are based on in-depth research and intense analysis.

Kent McCarthy, KU Business School alumnus, donated $230,000 to start the portfolio. He taught the class full-time for several years and, although Catherine Shenoy, Director of APM, has taken over, he still plays an integral role. He makes occasional visits to the class and leads in analysis and company valuation.

Before each speaker arrives, students have to study and write an analyst report about the company. Joseph Hattam, Chicago senior majoring in finance, said he liked the Capitol Federal speakers, because their speeches tied in "perfectly" with the valuations the students prepared.

"I acknowledged that they are a company that holds shareholders as a high priority given that they still are set on issuing fairly high dividends in 2009," Hattam said. "They were very helpful in allowing our class to get a better investment perspective on the company."

And Dicus did point out how important the company's dividend policy was.

"We want to return and pay back those who have shown an interest in Capitol Federal," he said.

Ryan Drigans, Overland Park senior majoring in accounting, said he thought the speakers were interesting and informative....