Wall Street wants winners. That’s just what it gets when financial management firms there and across the nation recruit Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business students who engage in the school’s Financial Management Association (FMA).

The Auburn chapter of FMA has become a mainstay in the winner’s bracket of national competitions, and the awards are but one reflection on how the program is producing graduates who are landing jobs with many of the most reputable financial firms and organizations around the globe.

“FMA graduated our first class of students in 2015. Since inception, we have been named Superior Chapter seven times,” said Tracy Richard, student/faculty adviser, director of Harbert’s Financial Leadership Center and director of the Integrated Financial Leadership Program.

The highest honor for an FMA Student Chapter or Honor Society is the attainment of the Superior Chapter designation. There are more than 175 active student chapters, but fewer than 10 percent receive the Superior recognition each year.

“It’s quite an honor and a testament to how much our students have invested in the program,” Richard said. “Auburn FMA’s accomplishments on an international and national stage, including this recognition by FMA National, reflect the strength of the Harbert College and its students.”

Richard herself is a major part of the chapter’s success, having garnered multiple individual Superior Faculty Advisor Awards, a similar national honor for the nation’s top leaders working with financial management students. She is a repeat winner, recently announced as having won the honor again for the 2023-24 school year.

Through her role as director, she is charged with establishing programs and curriculum that drive advanced student preparation and placement for top finance students, but Richard insists on placing the spotlight on her students.

“There’s no greater job out there, to work with students that are self-driven, curious, and grateful,” she said. “Once these students find their placements, they turn around and act as stewards to the program, passing on what they’ve learned and mentoring the younger members.

“Prior to this program, students at Auburn didn’t have a clear path to a career in investment banking or asset management,” Richard said. “It’s been exciting to watch the program grow. We now have four specific courses within the curriculum as well as a mentor program, candidate training, and year-round exposure to firms through visits, recruiting trips, and our annual FMA Financial Leadership Summit.

“Last year we had 92 events,” she said. “This includes anything from stock pitches to social events, but the point is, the students stay very busy and engaged within the program.”

How well does the program help students?

“We’ve recorded 100 percent full-time placement for our graduating seniors and 100 percent junior internship placement every year,” Richard said. Additionally, Harbert students recently have won three international case competitions and four national case competitions.

Another measure of success, however, is where Auburn graduates are getting employed, and specifically those who participate in Harbert’s award-winning FMA program.

Its 2023-24 Auburn FMA executive committee, for example, features students who already have landed full-time jobs at companies such as NASA, Morgan Stanley in Chicago, Cantor Fitzgerald in New York, Goldman Sachs in Dallas, RBC Capital Markets in New York, and many others of similar prestige.

“FMA is an integrated and purposeful program that focuses on the critical success areas for an elite finance program: industry exposure, technical/academic, alumni engagement, professional preparation, and branding,” Richard said. “Each year we recruit approximately 30-40 students who are seeking careers in high finance and put them through a comprehensive experiential training program that is results-driven.”

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Learn more about the FMA program in the Harbert College of Business.