Guest Speaker: Cary Carbonaro of Stonegate Wealth Mgmt

SPEAKER: Cary Carbonaro, CFP(r), MBA

EVENT: WPU student chapter of FPA

DATE: 3/24/2010

TOPIC: "How to market yourself, and your firm as a financial planner"

Cary Carbonara of Stonegate Wealth Mgmt gave our students tips about how students can utilize a number of different networks, organizations, websites, and technology to help market yourself and your firm as a financial planner. She underscored the importance of active membership in organizations like FPA, FPANJ, NAPFA, etc. and social networking sites like facebook, and LinkedIn.

Guest Speaker: Mark Germain of Beacon Wealth Management

SPEAKER: Mark Germain, CFP(r), MBA

EVENT: WPU student chapter of the FPA

DATE: 3/5/2010

TOPIC: "Top 10 mistakes made by financial planners"

Mark Germain, Founder & CEO of Beacon Wealth Management presented a brutally honest analysis of the most common mistakes made by new and veteran professionals in the field. Some of the mistakes related to reporting, not having errors and omissions, charging too much, not knowing the clients goals, objectives, or risk tolerance and my personal favorite: too much golf. "You need to know everything about everything." Even if it sounds unrealistic, Mark expressed that your clients expect you to know the answer to every question. He shared that he consistently takes at least 2x the educational requirements for his certifications because you need to always be learning in this profession.

Guest Speaker: Darryn Murdoch of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

SPEAKER: Darryn Murdoch, LCSW

EVENT: WPU student chapter of the FPA

DATE: 2/3/2010

TOPIC: "Using reverse mortgages as an Estate Planning tool"

Darryn Murdoch presented examples of how reverse mortgages have been used by clients and professionals as an estate planning and retirement planning tool. She included some case studies and examples of when/where reverse mortgages have been advantageous for a number of client and family circumstances.

Guest Speaker: Edward Landau of Ameriprise

SPEAKER: Edward Landau, CFP(r)
EVENT: WPU student chapter of the FPA
DATE: 1/27/2010
TOPIC: "How to determine a client's risk tolerance"


Edward Landau presented information about determining a client's risk tolerance, common mistakes financial planners make when working with clients of differing levels of risk tolerance, and shared a few case studies.

Guest speaker: Laura Mattia of Baron Financial Group

SPEAKER: Laura Mattia, CFP(r), MBA

EVENT: WPU's Financial Planning student chapter of FPA

DATE: 11/25/2009

TOPIC: "Compensation in Financial Planning"

Laura Mattia of Baron Financial Group was the speaker for the inaugural meeting of our student chapter of the Financial Planning Association. Her presentation demonstrated different forms of compensation in financial planning and the potential conflicts that may accompany them.

Guest Speaker: Ben Baldwin

SPEAKER: Ben G. Baldwin, Jr., CLU, ChFC, CFP(r)
EVENT: North Jersey Society of Financial Service Professionals Mtg
DATE: 3/18/2010 9 am - 11 am
TOPIC: "Financial Services in the Crosshairs: Life Insurance in the New World of 2010"

Ben Baldwin, author, RIA, consultant, and principal owner of Baldwin Financial Systems, LLC in Illinois came and spoke on campus as part of the SFSP mtg on 3/18/2010. The presentation included information on policy illustrations, managing life insurance, contract flexibility, and future changes in life insurance.

Dozens of local professionals also attending this mtg and took a tour of WPU's College of Business.

HIRED! Congrats to Andrea Vintimilla!

Andrea V. was recently hired by Quadrant Capital Management in Montclair, NJ. Quadrant is a fee-only comprehensive financial planning firm founded in 2001 by Jeff Fisher & Jim Kearney.

Andrea is a motivated and ambitious student that will graduate in May '10. Andrea helped pay her own way through college working several part-time jobs. Andrea made the Dean's list, is fluent in both English & Spanish, is a confident person, and has developed very good interpersonal skills.

Congratulations Andrea and good luck as you begin your career and work towards passing the CFP(r) exam!

1st student chapter of the Financial Planning Association

William Paterson University's financial planning program became the first officially registered student chapter of the Financial Planning Association.

We're very proud of this, and the students that helped make it possible.
Here's a link to a story on FPANJ's homepage featuring our student chapter.

HIRED! Congrats Maja Koburov!

After completing an internship with Regent Atlantic Capital, Maja K. was hired full-time as an Operations Assistant at Regent Atlantic in Morristown, NJ. Congratulations Maja! Regent Atlantic is the largest fee-only financial planning firm in New Jersey and has been consistently rated on Forbes magazine's list of the top 50 financial planning firms in America.

"My responsibilities revolve around the day-to-day operations of the business. I primarily focus on Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and HR. I feel like I'm learning a lot. It is amazing how much more you need to learn after your graduate because school gives you a good base but you need the real world experience to know how a business is run."

Maja speaks 4 languages, graduated with honors, a 3.967 GPA, and has always been an overachiever and perfectionist in addition to being a kind and pleasant person. We wish her the best as she begins her career. Keep making us proud Maja.

Article about 'internships' being key for college students

The NJ Record published a great article about internships today.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/education/college/84759632_To_get_your_foot_into_a_career_door__find_an_internship.html

Here are some highlights (see the above link for full article):
Companies often use internships as a way to identify promising talent, so landing one could be the first step to getting a full-time job.

Competition for the best internships is stiff. It is important to have a strong academic record and involvement in extracurricular activities. For the most competitive internships, you might need previous internship experience.

A high-quality internship involves more than getting coffee or making photocopies. Real internships offer students the opportunity to learn about a potential career, develop marketable skills and establish a network of contacts.

A few additional pieces of information for you:
-WPU offers credit for internship experience through FIN 490
-Internships are a great way to find out if you'd really enjoy working in that profession.
-Students that demonstrate superior work habits and potential are more likely to be offered a full-time position upon completing the internship, or will receive a referral or recommendation from the internship provider that will help them gain employment elsewhere.

MSN article about college classes that will help you in the 'real' world

A recent article on 'MSN Careers' listed 7 courses you should take to help you in the real world:
1. Personal finance/accounting
2. Technology
3. Public speaking
4. Writing
5. Marketing
6. Sales
7. Management

In order to become proficient in a career as a financial planner, you will need to be proficient at almost all of these. So in addition to your financial planning courses, you should incorporate courses into your degree plan that will improve your proficiency in the topics listed above. Here are some courses you should add:

*COMM 263 (Public speaking)
*RPS 205 (Professional sales)
*RPS 420 (Financial services selling)
*FIN 490 (Internship in finance)
*COMM 360 (Interpersonal communication)
*ENG 207 (Effective business writing)