Why do men wear suits?

The answer to this question lies in the theory of Behavioral Finance and the underlying concept is called herding.

When we covered Behavioral Finance in our Managerial Finance Module, we had the chance to receive valuable practical insights by Mr. Hans-Jörg Naumer, who is the director of Capital Market Analysis at Allianz Global Investors. Being one of the leading asset managers globally, it was great to get a first hand presentation regarding the application of these concepts.

Basically, he showed us the concept of how clients can outsmart themselves to avoid typical behavioral patterns such as herding and procrastination. Especially when it comes to saving enough money for the future, people tend to save to little now because the future seems far away.

Additionally, we are all humans and not “econs” so that markets turn out to be inefficient. This is also why active asset management does make sense. Humans are simply not efficient. Altogether the presentation was very informative and interesting.

During the get-together afterwards Mr. Naumer took the time to answer our questions thoroughly. Afterwards, still being inspired by the talk, I decided to enroll for his capital market newsletter, which touches on current issues in Asset Management. 

Preparation Courses: Get your “tool box”

 In the last two weeks of March, before the Official start of the MBA Program on April 1^st, 2012 we were offered two preparation courses: Math & Statistics, which is basically a refresher in quantitative concepts as well as the Accelerated Skill Development, a course on presentation skills and how to “ace the case”.

I have to say that the Accelerated Skill Development Seminar hosted by two Junior Professors from WHU was an especially enriching experience for me, because it provided us with a “tool box” with which we could actually hit the ground running when the MBA officially started. 

We covered story-lining in presentations, structuring and analyzing problems, using frameworks properly and how to basically deliver an outstanding presentation. Let’s face it, we all have to present in our professional careers – but some of us tend to frankly bore the audience by being too nervous or unexperienced and only a few of us already deliver a great show. During the course we actually had to prepare and deliver several presentations – each one of us – and received highly valuable, individual feedback from the Junior Profs but also from our class-mates afterwards. So you really have the opportunity to use the reflection and improve your presentation skills and if you are already a great presenter you will at least get it confirmed. Additionally we practiced case interviews that one might encounter when applying with appealing companies (btw, I am not only referring to the well-known consulting industry here). 

Moreover, the course was actually fun! Did you ever try Powerpoint Karaoke? Well, to be honest: I haven’t tried it before – but this is where you can really test your presentation skills. Basically, you receive several slides, which you have never seen before, then you get 10 Minutes to prepare and after that you have to stand in front of everyone and rock the stage!