Benefits and Drawbacks of Diversification

By Campbell Wealth Management

As the charts from JP Morgan below demonstrate, adding non-correlated assets to a portfolio can lower volatility/risk.  Additionally, in many cases having a more diversified portfolio not only lowers risk, but it can also provide a better return.

The idea is to have assets that zig when other assets zag.

Of course, if one has an appetite for risk and wants to “swing for the fences”, it is best to have a concentrated portfolio of a few securities.  The problem of course is selecting the right securities.

Older investors typically need to take less risk, as there is less time to make up for any losses that may occur in their portfolio.  Younger investors have plenty of time, and should therefore position their portfolios accordingly.

There are many other investable assets other than stocks and bonds.  Examples include commodities, real estate, master limited partnerships and private equity.  Historically, these assets have not correlated 100% with the stock or bond markets, but have still provided a return.

Campbell Wealth Management

 

 

 

 

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MSBA Students Moving to New Jobs

Several MSBA grads and current students recently went on to new and exciting jobs!

Caroline Gangware, class of 2013,  joined World First, the new US branch of this British company.  World First is  transforming foreign exchange services across the globe through innovative solutions and services.  Caroline is a Corporate Client Dealer with World First.  

Current Student Bill Conlon is interning at World First and the program is doing a Field Team Study with World First.

Amelia Eanes has joined Bluetext as a project manager.  Bluetext is a digital marketing company that designs award-winning websites and brand identities, crafts powerful digital marketing campaigns, and executes metrics-driven communications strategies for companies ranging from start-up to the most iconic brands in the world.    After three successful years at Booz Allen Hamilton, Amelia will ba a Project Manager at Bluetext, taking advantage of her skills learned in the MSBA program and at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Tia Bent, a May 2013 grad accepted a position at eGlobalTech, a  leading, small business provider of management consulting services and IT Solutions for the federal government. Their team of dedicated professionals have proven track records in management consulting, business strategy and information technology rooted in some of the world's leading technology consulting firms.  Tia will serve as a junior consultant in the communications department.

Chris Scanlan is now Communications Director at Bishop Verot Catholic High School in Ft. Meyers, FL., ranked one of the top 50 Catholic High Schools in the nation.  Chris is a 2011 graduate of the MSBA program. 

Bryan Levine, 2012 alumni, is working at Craft Media, a unique and innovation company in the world of politics and public affairs, with a creative approach to telling stories and moving messages.  Craft writes, shoots, edits and produces captivating television ads and web videos which plays to Bryan's strength as an undergraduate Media Studies major.  

Current Student Clair Liuzza just snagged a new internship experience at FRANData, a company dedicated to helping companies benchmark and improve their operations. FRANdata is helping to change the basic way decisions are made through data and analysis that are timely, objective and helpful.  Clair will be working as a research intern in the production department at FRANdata.

Congratulations to all these succesful MSBA students on their respective new roles

Stewart McHie
Director, Master of Science in Business Analysis
mchie@cua.edu

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Lessons Learned at Naval Academy Leadership Conference

Recently MSBA Program Director Stewart McHie, MSBA student Jack McCann and CUA Accounting Major Michael McLean attended the 30th annual leadership conference at Annapolis, MD.  The Conference theme was Followership: The Evolution of a Leader.

The 4 days consisted of keynote speakers like former VP Dick Cheney, General John R. Allen, Commander and Astronaut Chris Cassidy and panel discussions and breakout sessions where key topics were discussed among the participants.

Cheney addressing the entire Academy

The importance of learning to follow as a key ingredient of leadership was stressed along with the challenges and obligations of followership.  If I had to summarize the 3 or 4 key points from the speakers and panelists, it would be:

1)  Humility:  all of these people demonstrated great humility in spite of their many accomplishments and leadership successes.

2)  Character and Integrity:  do the right thing even when no one is looking.

3)  Moral Courage: physical courage is easy, moral courage is hardest

4)  Caring: Read "Leaders Eat Last" by Simon Sinek

General Allen closed the conference by saying Leaders owe their followers clear and immediate direction.  

- It must be ethical

- It defines how we treat each other

- It has to be based on moral courage

With our Academy Escort
 Lt. JG James Neigle

As inspiring as the speakers and panelists were, I was equally inspired by the over 200 young people from the Academies, ROTC programs and civilian programs that attended the conference.  It was an incredible four days.

Stewart McHie

Director, Master of Science in Business Analysis

mchie@cua.edu

Some background on the Leadership Conference

Since 1984, the Naval Academy has hosted an annual leadership conference for senior cadets and midshipmen from each of the service academies. In 2002, the conference expanded to include students from civilian universities and broadened its scope to include leadership topics relevant to government, business, and academia, as well as the military. The USNA Leadership Conference now includes more than 200 participants from over 60 military and civilian colleges.

The United States Naval Academy, the Department of Leadership, Ethics and Law, along with the Hart Foundation and the USNA Class of ’38, were proud sponsors of the 2014 Leadership Conference at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland January 26 - January 29, 2014.   The Conference theme was Followership: The Evolution of a Leader.

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Ann Moran cited for Exceptional Performance at Netuitive

Ann Moran, MSBA Class of 2011, recently received an award for "Exceptional Performance" in 2013 from her employer Netuitive.  Netuitive is a predictive analytics company based in Reston, VA.  CEO and President Nick Sanna serves on the CUA School of Business Board of Advisors. 

According to Sanna, “Ann has been instrumental in the implementation of no fewer than four entirely new corporate systems over the past 12 months. She brings innovative approaches to solving complex problems and takes ownership at a level far beyond her years of experience.  We are very lucky to have Ann as a member of our team.”

.Ann passed the test to become a Certified Salesforce.com Administrator at the recent DreamForce Conference in San Francisco.  She was introduced to Salesforce at Netuitive and took ownership of its' administration 2 years ago.

Ann says, " I feel as though it is a great example of me taking initiative to learn and become expert at job responsibilities handed to me."  

Congratulations Ann for your dedication and recognized contributions to Netuitive.

Stewart McHie

Director, Master of Science in Business Analysis

mchie@cua.edu 

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