Weekly Blog #7

Due Date: October 20th, 2014

By: Matthew W. Blair

       This week in ISM was typical; nothing out of the ordinary was assigned or completed. The week consisted of calling and setting up interviews with professionals in our field, a research assessment, keeping up with our portfolios, and other miscellaneous assignments.

       This week I was able to get an interview with the CFO of Noble Royalties in Addison, Mr. Eric Dibble. He is the “cash manager”, in his own words, at Noble Royalties. Noble Royalties deals with the sales and investing of oil and petroleum royalties. Although he is not a Hedge Fund manager he is an expert in the field of finance and was about to give me some insight and advice in the field. He is CPA certified and said that I should definitely pursue my double major in finance and accounting. He advised doing so because, for himself, being CPA certified has only given him an upper hand. Even though he is not currently in accounting, he says the knowledge he gained from accounting and being a CPA helps him vastly. He said that I was on a very good tract, ahead of my age in a sense; although he did advise me to make sure to enjoy my age, because you cannot go back at a later age. He has some contacts at a hedge fund in Dallas that he is going to explore for me and will share them with me when/if he finds them. Overall it was a very successful interview.

       Last week I was extremely proud of my research assessment. It was an article about how hedge funds “get away” with making so much, but only have average results. I was able to disprove a couple of the writer’s points, which was exciting. I used the knowledge I gained from my first interview with Mr. Matt Higbie and my personal knowledge of the field.     

This week was a good one. I am extremely excited for this next week though, for I have an interview with a hedge fund manager Tuesday and I can honestly say I have never been more excited for anything else in my life.