What types of activities/events does SMS put on during the year?
Following the LAUNCH club expo, which all MBA1 candidates attend at the beginning of the school year, the club will hold a kick-off meeting to outline the club's mission and resources, the general recruiting process for internal strategy and corporate finance roles, and the upcoming events for the semester. This will be followed up with Q&A panels of MBA2s who held summer internships in these roles and informational sessions on strategy, finance, and the recruiting process. In addition to working with OCD to host corporate presentations, SMS also holds a series of Lunch & Learn sessions where companies will send representatives to present on topics related to finance and strategy.
What are the benefits of joining?
Following the LAUNCH club expo, which all MBA1 candidates attend at the beginning of the school year, the club will hold a kick-off meeting to outline the club's mission and resources, the general recruiting process for internal strategy and corporate finance roles, and the upcoming events for the semester. This will be followed up with Q&A panels of MBA2s who held summer internships in these roles and informational sessions on strategy, finance, and the recruiting process. In addition to working with OCD to host corporate presentations, SMS also holds a series of Lunch & Learn sessions where companies will send representatives to present on topics related to finance and strategy.
What companies has SMS partnered with with in the past?
SMS is currently proud to be sponsored by American Express, JP Morgann, Liberty Mutual, Marsh & McLennan, and PepsiCo. All of these companies, along with others, are actively engaged in the on-campus recruiting process with various rotational roles in corporate finance and internal strategy. In the past, SMS has also partnered with companies such as Deloitte, Mars, and Thompson Reuters.
What’s the difference between SMS and MCA?
MCA (Management Consulting Association) primarily focuses on preparing students for careers in consulting, where they will work with various businesses to solve problems including but not limited to financial planning, organization, and strategy. Usually, this takes place with consulting firms like PWC or KPMG, which offer strategic advisory to other organizations.
SMS places more of a focus on students who are pursuing roles in internal strategy. Instead of working with a firm that offers consulting services to clients, internal strategists work directly for a company such as PepsiCo or Amazon to support strategic, organizational, and business decision making.
While SMS is more focused on these roles, we still partner with MCA to offer casing workshops and other resources. We encourage SMS members who are interested in internal strategy to join MCA as well.
What's the difference between SMS and GFA?
GFA (Graduate Finance Association) primarily focuses on preparing students for careers in investment banking, where they will work with financial instutions to offer other organizations advisory services such as facilitating mergers and acquisitions (M&A), acting as a financial intermediary, and underwriting.
SMS is more focused on supporting students who recruit for careers in corporate finance. While financial services companies such as JPMorgan, Amex, and Marsh & McLennan have corporate finance departments, these roles also cover other industries such as tech, retail, auto, and more. Associates working in corporate finance can perform roles in areas including financial planning and analysis (FP&A), treasury, controllership. Since there is a wide diversity of functional roles in corporate finance, many of these programs take the form of a rotational, where associates work with several teams for a few months each to experience the different roles and obtain a wider perspective on the company as a whole.
Even though SMS is the central resource at Stern for corporate finance recruiting, we still encourage members to join GFA for access to financial analysis training and other resources.