UT certifies more students to use Bloomberg terminals than any other institution in the world, according to the financial data vendor. An average of 1,200 students a year in the Haslam College of Business earn a Bloomberg Market Concepts certification, which allows them to use the college’s 20 terminals.
UT, which has the most terminals of any school in the Southeastern Conference, is one of the few business schools to integrate Bloomberg training into its curriculum.
“This is important because not only does it distinguish our business program, it gives our students a chance to leverage assets in the college and develop skills they will use outside in the work world,” said Laura Cole, director of the college’s Masters Investment Learning Center. “Most corporations, not just on Wall Street but nationally and internationally, have Bloomberg terminals in their headquarters. Our students learn how to navigate them, and this gives them an advantage.”
Bloomberg terminals allow individuals in the financial sector to monitor and analyze real-time market data. To earn the certification, students must be trained on economic indicators, currencies, equities, and how to navigate the bond market.
Located behind a glass wall in the atrium of the Haslam Business Building, the Masters Investment Learning Center is an impressive sight. Inside the center, stock ticker prices light up a wall as students trade more than $3 million in funds at 20 Bloomberg terminals.
Students complete their Bloomberg Market Concepts certification as part of an upper-level finance course. They are invited to hone their knowledge by participating in a number of different organizations including the University of Tennessee Investment Group, Trade Like a Girl, and the Tennessee Capital Market Society.
Katie Fowlkes, a senior finance major from Knoxville, got her first real-world trading experience with one of the college’s five individual Torch Funds. She used the Bloomberg terminals to research and value companies and to develop an investment thesis. Now she’s certified in Bloomberg Market Concepts and interviewing for positions.
“I’ve had a lot of interviewers comment on my certification, because Bloomberg is very expensive software that a lot of students don’t have access to,” Fowlkes says.
For Carson Hollingsworth, a recent MBA graduate now working for the valuations department of KPMG in Cincinnati, the Bloomberg training he received at UT provided an advantage while interviewing with recruiters.
“It really sets you apart when you’re going into the industry,” Hollingsworth says. “Training with the software and creating actual outcomes in real-life scenarios was truly helpful to me, and I’m incredibly proud that we have the number one status.”
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CONTACT:
Gerhard Schneibel (865-974-2894, gschneib@utk.edu)