Germany
Alumni Club of Germany

A group of 60 Kellogg and WHU alumni, friends and business partners from various industries met at Deutsche Bank's asset management division in the elegant office building of DWS in Frankfurt.

The club was able to profit from Professor Robert Korajczyk's coinciding role on May 10 as guest speaker at the 10th annual portfolio management conference in Frankfurt. The Kellogg School acted as the academic partner.

The club also welcomed Marisa Voorhees, who, in her role as assistant director of Kellogg alumni relations, made an extra trip to meet many of the German-based Kellogg and WHU alumni. She vividly described her mission to help the Kellogg Alumni Network grow around the globe. Prominent guests included Bernadette Conraths, who just took office as head of the Kellogg-WHU program in Vallendar.

In his introductory speech, Dr. Axel Wieandt, the German Kellogg Alumni Advisory Board member, made a point of stressing the excellent relationship that he sees embodied by the Kellogg/WHU partnership. The combined efforts of the two schools raise the Kellogg profile in Europe, with both schools delivering top-quality management education.

Dr. Stephan Kunze, DWS managing director, welcomed the Kellogg community and brought in a senior asset manager currently handling the DWS "Climate Change" Fund. He managed to raise more than ¤400 million for this fund in just three months and conveyed to our audience why this theme is such a hot topic.

Finally, Professor Korajczyk enlightened the audience about activities at the Zell Center for Risk Research at Kellogg. He presented stimulating material about "Neuro-Finance, Behavioral Finance, and the Rest of Finance." He followed that presentation the next day with a talk on "Liquidity Issue in Asset Pricing."

After these quality presentations, the crowd followed DWS' invitation to mingle and enjoy snacks and refreshments with their colleagues, alumni and the speakers until well into the evening.