It was a great experience to attend the Quinnipiac G.A.M.E Forum in New York City. Quinnipiac Global Asset Management Education VI Forum invited more than 117 keynote speakers, panelists, workshop hosts and judges. Over 2000 students and professors attended the forum from all over the world. During the two-day G.A.M.E Forum, students and faculty participated in a selection of 61 breakout sessions that explored portfolio management, equity analysis, asset allocation, risk and ethical decisions.
The first event was the NASDAQ Closing Bell Event. About 30 students represented their own universities to ring the closing bell in the NASDAQ studio with board members of the Forum. Stepping into Bloomberg was like stepping onto a movie set. Every student there was so excited because that place is not only a success icon for all companies, but also somewhere finance students’ dreams start.
I had an unbelievable two-day experience. I was excited that I got to take first-hand information like a real financial professional. The Forum started with a discussion of global markets and the global economy. The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans gave his perspectives on the Forum relating to the market. “Given the economy we’re looking at, it would be two rate hikes this year,” he said. “It’s not really critical when those take place. I guess I would sort of say one in the middle of the year and one at the end of the year.” After having raised rates for the first time in a decade in December 2015, the U.S. Central Bank stood pat in January 2016 and again in mid-March, when it cited weakness overseas and an early-year market selloff that has since reversed. It was very impressive that I was there to listen to every word he said that can influence the market at that moment.
Moreover, it was so incredible and shocking to see my home country from the view of the United States. Except keeping the inflation rate and economy increasing, another reason why the Fed increased interest rates was a weak overseas market. Half of the content from the Forum involved China, which was experiencing a transformation. The global economic growth was influenced by BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries’ economies since those emerging countries are slower in the growth of their economies. In addition, China was worried over its rapid accumulation of credit problems. Now China’s corporate debt is equal to 160% of its gross domestic product. Credit stress was rising especially amongst the industrial sector that suffers from overcapacity and output price deflation. So investors should be cautious in China’s market. This reminded me of news I heard before I came to the United States that George Soros shorted CNY in fear of a China economic downfall.  His opinion caused panic among Chinese investors. And at that time, the Chinese newspapers argued that China’s economy would stay healthy and arbitrage investors like Soros were definitely wrong about the China market. Sitting in the hall, I listened to outsiders telling me a different story. Lack of communication between the Chinese government and the global market is a serious problem. As a result of the discussion, I saw my own country’s problems and economic environment from the point of view of Americans.
Due to my interest in investments, I participated in some related panels the next day. Those panelist were from banks, private equities and media. Besides talking about what they were doing in the industry, they shared more about their career path and their suggestions. After listening to those professionals from the buy-side and sell-side, I had a big picture and tried to figure out on which career path I would fit.
During the two-day meeting, I met many students from all over the world. I gained professional views of the global economy and finance. What was more important was a further step of my understanding of my career path. Once you know more information, you get a clearer view of the future.
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Gloria Bai (’16) is a Master of Finance student concentrating in investments, data analysis and venture capital at the UC San Diego Rady School of Management. She likes being in the sun and hopes to make a difference in society. In her free time, she enjoys writing, speaking, traveling and playing sports.