Finance

Students Kellyanne Bunkley, Bryce Hileman, and Justin Godoy presented their research posters at the Economic Scholars Program Undergraduate Research Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland on May 6, 2022. The students spent the semester working on their projects. The program has a peer review board to evaluate all the proposals and select the presenters. All three students were invited to present and gain feedback on their posters in a professional conference environment. They also had opportunities to network with peers and discover internship and employment openings within the Federal Reserve System.

Congratulations to Kellyanne, Bryce and Justin.

Four Finance/Insurance & RM students, Lexi Noll, Ryan Brown, Nick Geier and Vincent Zhang, finished in first place in the MAPFRE case competition at the University of Akron on February 25. It’s a competition for risk management and insurance students (similar to CAPSIM). Professor Roc Starks led the student team as faculty advisor.
The simulation consisted of three rounds. Overall, the competing teams were ranked based on market share, benefits, combined ratio, and solvency. The BGSU team decided to compete heavily based on market share because it was the highest weighted area. Each round the teams were tasked with analyzing the current position of a company and deciding where the teams wanted to take it from there. Decisions had to be made for both auto and homeowners segments. Each round teams decided how much to increase premiums for both renewals and new policies individually. Teams also determined what to pay in commissions to agents and what percentage of new business in each segment teams wanted to take on.  
In each round, there was an unknown risk of a catastrophic loss. To combat this, teams needed to decide where and at what amount they wanted to reinsure the lines of business. Choices were made for each segment and at per unit, large loss, and catastrophic loss levels. Teams also had to decide how much they wanted to invest in marketing, wages, IT, and legal expenses each round. Lastly, because a large part of how insurance companies make money is through investing, teams had to decide where to invest the funds for the current year. Money could be split up between equities, property, government bonds, AAA bonds, BBB bonds, and cash holdings. After looking at expected returns and considering the riskiness of each option teams split up the money in hopes to earn an investment income for the year.

The Department held the Annual Insurance & RM Symposium on September 16, 2021 after a hibernation in 2020. Titled as “Insurance Industry during & after the Pandemic”, the primary topic of the symposium was how the insurance industry has responded to COVID-19 issues with respect to staffing, financial implications, remote work and myriad other related issues. Panelists representing Ohio Mutual, Medical Mutual, Westfield Group and Western and Southern Insurance spent the afternoon discussing the impact of COVID-19 on Employee recruitment and retention, employee engagement and the overall impact on their business model. Approximately 75 students from across the Schmidthorst College of Business were in attendance. (More event photos are in Photo Gallery)

Immediately following the Symposium, the Department held the Annual Insurance & Risk Management Institute (IRMI) Dinner starting 5:15 p.m. After the dinner, IRMI members were formally recognized for their strong and continuous support for our Insurance & RM program and student activities including IRMI scholarships.  After the recognition of IRMI members, Dr. Sung Bae also recognized winners of last year’s insurance scholarships.  Then, Professor Roc Starks briefed on AY 2020-21 IRMI activities and introduced student presenters who spoke on their activities with GIS chapter and internship experience.

• Double-Specialization in Insurance & Risk management and Economics
• Graduated with a BSBA with a 3.95 GPA
• Served as President of BGSU’s Gamma Iota Sigma Chapter, insurance student organization
• Participated in MAPFRE Insurance Competition
• Interned at Hylant Group for Data Analytics in Spring 2022 and for Safety and Risk Management in Summer and Fall 2021.
• Recognized as Thompson Achievement Scholar in August 2019-April 2022, Economics Alumni Faculty Scholars in May 2021 at BGSU, and CIAB Foundation scholarship winner at Hylant

When I came to college, I started off as a Finance major (and still am), however, I was fortunate enough to be able to pick up another specialization which is Insurance & Risk Management. This is such an exciting specialization, and I have learned so much especially from Roc Starks, who is a great professor. I’ve been on the Dean’s list six out of seven of the last semesters, along with carrying a current GPA of 3.659. I am also a member of the BGSU Women’s Golf team which keeps me extra busy. On top of that, I am a member of the organization Student Ambassadors which works closely with Dean Braun of the Schmidthorst College of Business to engage prospective students, current students, and alumni. Next year, I will be on the executive board for Student Ambassadors. I am also a member of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, and Gamma Iota Sigma. Recently, I’ve been selected to serve on the Insuring Ohio Futures Subcommittee for the 2021-2022 academic year. I’m honored to be receiving this prestigious award, go falcons!