Thanks to the generous donation of UTA alumnus Sam Mahrouq (1991, BA –Journalism/Business minor), the UTA College of Business celebrated the completion and official unveiling of the Sam Mahrouq Financial Markets Lab in September 2019. Mahrouq’s donation covered costs associated with the lab’s construction, terminals, technology and furniture, and provides scholarships for the "Student Managed Investment Fund." (See Mahrouq profile, page 14.)
"Employing the latest and most widely used financial technology gives our students the same advantage as the top elite universities in the country," said Dr. Greg Frazier, Senior Associate Dean. The facility, which is on the first floor of the Business Building, boasts 10 Bloomberg terminals for students and one for faculty, and features a ticker-tape board around the room that displays to-the-minute stock prices and customized messages. Three 75-inch video boards display current financial news, stock options and market indices. An additional Bloomberg terminal also will be installed in the Central Library for 24-hour access. All faculty and students at UTA are eligible to use the lab. Access to the Bloomberg terminals requires setting up a free account with Bloomberg. The Bloomberg software system provides business students with near real-time financial market data, up-to-the-minute news, and securities market analytics. The system covers every asset class, including fixed income, equities, foreign exchange, commodities and derivatives. The information spans companies, industries, markets, economies, countries and regions.
The lab has been used for a “Student Managed Investment Fund” course since March 2019. The course gives students an opportunity to manage an investment fund, as well as hands-on experience with equity-analysis responsibilities of investment professionals. The course is paired with “Bloomberg Market Concepts,” a 10-hour e-learning course that provides Bloomberg certification. Other UTA students can obtain this certification at no cost to them. This certification enhances the marketability of students to employers in the financial industry.
The Office of Information and Instructional Resources is responsible for technological aspects of the lab. The day-to-day operations of the lab, such as assisting and supervising lab users, are managed by the Department of Finance and Real Estate. “The Financial Markets Lab has made available to our students the technology and real-time business and market data used by the leading business and finance professionals around the globe,” said Finance and Real Estate Professor Sanjiv Sabherwal, PhD. “This will make our students more knowledgeable of the workings of the financial markets and the tools used by investment professionals. They will be able to enhance their research and analytical skills and learn how to make critical financial decisions. I have no doubt that these will make our students more valuable to employers.” Access to live market data also is beneficial to other College of Business courses, such as investments and financial modeling, as well as PhD seminars. It also helps researchers in finance, accounting and non-business areas by providing them the opportunity to analyze high-frequency financial data. “Finance can be a gray area and sometimes difficult to interpret properly. The state-of-the-art Bloomberg terminals help analysts like myself to make the best investment decision when analyzing a company or industry,” said Nathan L. Gray, finance major, Class of 2020, enrolled in the “Student Managed Investment Fund” course. “My fellow analysts, along with myself, are extremely grateful for this opportunity that Sam Mahrouq has generously provided.”
