Greetings From the Finance Chair

Dear Alumni and Friends of the Finance Area,

Welcome to the 2025-26 finance newsletter. I am delighted to update you on our progress and our future plans. Over the last academic year, enrollment in finance concentration has continued to grow, and financial management (FM) and real estate finance (REF) remain the top concentrations at the Orfalea College of Business, together graduating over 120 students per year.

Our graduates continue to enjoy strong employment prospects, despite much economic uncertainty related to tariffs and potential trade wars. This past year, the FM concentration achieved CFP-registered program status, enabling our students to sit for the CFP® exam. With this designation, finance graduates are put on a fast track toward earning their CFP® certification, a highly respected certification in the financial services industry. The first group of finance students completed the CFP® exam this Spring (3 students and 100% pass rate). Mr. River Galland (2024 alumni), who is the first FM student to have taken this exam, reports on the impact of this certification on his career path in this piece.

We have also continued to promote the CFA® exam as a valuable senior project option for our students. As in the past years, a large number of seniors took the CFA® exam during the academic year and our overall pass rate exceeded 80 percent. Amazingly, a few students completed both level 1 and 2 before graduation!

Finance students celebrate completion of the CFA exam. (Courtesy photo)

As you may be aware, the costs associated with enrolling and purchasing test preparation materials for the CFA®  and CFP® exams are relatively high. We are most grateful to an anonymous donor who provided partial scholarships for the students that completed one of these certifications ($500 for each student, for a total of over $10K this year).

Our Student Managed Portfolio Project (SMPP) class delivered a successful year of managing part of the Cal Poly endowment fund. Over 30 students participated in this year-long course, implementing a complex investment strategy by investing in dividend-paying stocks and writing “covered calls.” The funds under management grew by additional securities gift from alumnus Ryan Curtis (2008).

Our real estate finance program is among the fastest growing within the Orfalea College of Business. The REF faculty have guided our students to important research on determinants of house prices, developed interdisciplinary project addressing housing shortages, and as in prior years, our students have participated and won highly competitive national real estate competitions. Under the leadership of Dean Damon Fleming, Cal Poly’s Real Estate Initiative is well on its way to becoming a premier interdisciplinary real estate program focusing on Central California and beyond.

Finally, the finance faculty continue to teach exciting and rigorous classes, including the integration of new technologies, such as agentic AI, and actively pursue important research projects. As you may have heard, a number of faculty, most notably John Dobson, Garland Durham, Larry Gorman,  and  Sanjiv Jaggia, retired from Cal Poly this past year. Fortunately, we were able to hire four outstanding new finance faculty: Dr. Min Kim (Boston University), Dr. Vincious Sant-Anna (MIT), Dr. Sakif Rahman (University of Rochester), and Dr. Ndackyssa Oyima (UT Dallas)

Looking to the future, the finance faculty will continue to build a culture of achievement, excellence, and success among our students. Our aim continues to be the enhancement of our program’s reputation and enabling our graduates to become industry leaders. Our efforts can of course benefit from your support, in particular tax-deductible contributions by you and your organizations can fund scholarships and other academic activities, such as taking students to visit financial centers, including NYC.

Paul Orfalea shares his insights with students during a recent visit to the college.

Please consider making an online tax deductible donation.

Speaking of supporters, recently Paul Orfalea visited the campus and shared his outlook on the world and his insights and wisdom on life with the next generation of college graduates. The talk was very well received, and students were elated to have the opportunity to hear from Mr. Orfalea.

Thank you for your continued support.

Cyrus Ramezani, PhD
Professor and Chair – Finance
Orfalea College of Business
Cal Poly, Ph: 805-756-1168

Your support provides our faculty with the tools, classroom space and latest technology needed to provide our students with a top-notch, experiential education.

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