Yiuman Tse is the Peter G. Schick Professor of Finance in the College of Business Administration at UMSL. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Yiuman Tse’s biggest obstacle this summer was adjusting to the extreme St. Louis heat. But settling into his new position at the University of Missouri–St. Louis has been a breeze. On July 1, Tse became the Peter G. Schick Professor of Finance in the College of Business Administration at UMSL.

UMSL alumnus Peter G. Schick funded the professorship through a $1.7 million endowment to the college.

“Yiuman Tse has just the right mix of profound finance research skills and interest in practical portfolio management to move our program forward,” said Keith Womer, dean of the college. “We expect him to develop new courses that will prepare our students to excel in St Louis’s robust financial services industry.”

Through the professorship, Tse will have both classroom and research responsibilities, as well as overseeing the college’s chartered financial analyst, or CFA, exam preparation program.

“My hope is that I will be able to extend the impact of my research beyond the walls of academia, to provide the industry partners of UMSL answers to the questions that will improve the profitability of their operations, while encouraging my faculty colleagues in their continuing research,” Tse said.

His area of expertise includes, investments, international finance, theory of finance, corporate finance, applied econometrics and research methods. His current research focuses on international financial markets and investments, market microstructure, time series analysis, futures and options and corporate finance.

“My current research considers currency carry-trade (a strategy of selling low-yielding currencies and investing in high-yielding currencies), an alternative asset class used in asset allocation,” Tse said. “The carry-trade asset class displays noticeable characteristics that improve the portfolio performance when added to a portfolio or when replacing other alternative asset classes.”

Prior to joining UMSL, Tse was a professor of finance at the University of Texas at San Antonio, an associate professor of finance at Binghamton University State University of New York and a visiting scholar City University of Hong Kong.

Peter G. Schick, chairman emeritus of the Moneta Group, is a 1974 graduate of UMSL. He credits the university with his success and established the professorship as a way to give back.

“UMSL made a difference in my life,” he said. “It prepared me to move into the business world and helped me become who I am today. I’m very grateful. That is why my wife, Maria, and I decided to establish this professorship. Our hope is that it will add to an already outstanding college and helps prepare future generations for success.”

Schick decided to pursue a degree in finance after completing a tour in the U.S. Air Force. He then joined the Moneta Group, a financial advisory company based in Clayton, Mo. By 1983, he had acquired the company and since then has grown the firm to become one of the largest independent financial planning firms in the country.