Ballentine Institute plans April visit with Warren Buffett

Ballentine Institute plans April visit with Warren BuffettOctober 11, 2006Amy Schmitzaemehrin@syr.edu

Through the Ballentine Investment Institute in the Whitman School of Management, students in the Applied Portfolio Management program (the portfolio managers of the Orange Value Fund, LLC) will have the unique experience of an audience with financier Warren Buffett. The students will travel to Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway headquarters in Omaha, Neb., on April 20, 2007, to “rub elbows” with one of the most successful investors in history.

The 75-year-old Buffet, whose personal fortune measures $42 billion dollars, lives in Omaha and is ranked by Forbes as the second-richest person in the world. The “Oracle of Omaha” makes headlines not only for his wealth but also for his generosity — he recently pledged 85 percent of his fortune to charity. Buffett also gives his time — despite his busy schedule, he devotes part of each year to meeting with business students and offering them advice on how to succeed in a rapidly changing work world.

“This is an amazing opportunity for our students and a great start for the Applied Portfolio Management program,” says Fernando Diz, the Martin J. Whitman Associate Professor of Finance and director of the Ballentine Investment Institute. “The Ballentine Institute is proud to be able to organize this trip and give our students the opportunity to learn from one of the most influential and successful investors in the world.”