This
article was published in the May 2001 issue of Merrill Lynch's “We the
People,” an in-house magaizine read by Merrill Lynch's 65,000 employees.
Copyright 2001 Merrill Lynch

Meeting of Minds

MIT, Merrill Lynch connect through online course

The Course provides a powerful analytical framework for designing financial solutions for Merrill Lynch clients across all of the company's business

After
working 12-hour days, Kate O'Hern, a director in debt markets in New
York, and Cassius Leal, an assistant vice president in debt markets in
London, head home–and log on to their computers to continue work.

But
O'Hern and Leal aren't complaining. They consider Investments, the
CD-ROM course they take at home on their laptop computers, something to
look forward to at the end of a long day.

Taught by Professor
Andrew Lo, director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, the
interactive, online class is part of an ongoing partnership with
Merrill Lynch.

“You may think, 'How can I possibly go home and
listen to a class at 9:30 at night after working all day long?' But
it's great when you're having dinner and listening to an intriguing
lecture by Lo,” says O'Hern, who works in the High Grade, Syndicated
Debt Marketing Group. “It's not like being back in college and fighting
to stay awake over your books.”

The 13-week class, which teaches
35 Merrill Lynch Global Debt Market, Directors, analysts and
associates, is a pilot project that began in February and will end in
May. The course provides a powerful analytical framework for designing
financial solutions for Merrill Lynch clients. As the course
progresses, it takes an increasingly complex look at ways to solve a
key problem: How should the rational investor decide to allocate assets
among a collection of risky investment opportunities?

To
participate in the class, students play a CDROM on their home computers
at their convenience each week, and watch and listen as Lo lectures for
just over an hour.

The class is one aspect of the partnership
that exists between Merrill Lynch and MIT The five-year alliance began
in 1999 to bridge the company's command of the financial world with
MIT's academic resources and technological talent.

“Partnering
with MIT to create this unique electronic learning experience elevates
our team by combining leading-edge investment thinking with a center of
cutting edge technology and research,” says Kelly Martin, head of
Global Debt Markets, who sponsored the course.

The students were
selected for the class by managers based on motivation, business acumen
and potential, says Tony Rendeiro, vice president, Learning and
Development, Corporate and institutional Client Group. The students
come from Merrill Lynch offices in New York City, London, Tokyo, Hong
Kong and Australia.

For O'Hern and Leal, being prepared means
they must juggle busy schedules at the office with homework. The
project requires the teams to compose a financial hypothesis that can
he developed into programs or products to benefit clients. The teams
will present their ideas to, among others, Martin, Lo and the class in
May.

“I see this project as an opportunity to enhance my
knowledge,” says Leal, who works in the Strategic Solutions Group.
“It's a challenge that demands nothing less than your best. You can't
do a mediocre job.”