Club Biomed &endash; Meeting Minutes &endash; May 15, 2002

 

1. The meeting began at 6:30 p.m. As this was the first meeting, there was no old business, nor any reports by the officers.

2. Dr. Wagner kicked off the initial Club Biomed meeting by introducing himself, and starting "the name game" to allow partners to get to know each other. He repeated that meetings would be held once per month, on the third Wednesday of each month. He also mentioned the initial officers, who are:

3. During introductions, money was collected from each partner, E*Trade agreements and the Club Biomed Partnership were signed, and personal information was entered into Club Biomed's database. Carlos D. (Treasurer) and Steve P. (Asst. Treasurer) oversaw the collection and recording of dues payments. Garrett D. oversaw entry of personal information into the club's database.

4. Following introductions, Carlos made a presentation on how to read a balance sheet.

5. Next, Dr. Wagner made a presentation that got the club thinking about developing an "Investment Philosophy". Specifically, issues/questions raised included: "what sectors might we target?" definitions of big pharma, biotech companies, etc. He listed topics that we should consider including: controlling risk, transaction costs, our time horizon, our buy and sell discipline, our expectations about performance of our holdings. He also talked a about how we might pick companies to follow.

6. Following Dr. Wagner's presentation, there was brief discussion among the group-at-large concerning what Club Biomed's philosophy should be. Joel S. mentioned that we should use our scientific expertise to our advantage and not try to "outsmart the professionals". He also mentioned a publication "BioCentury" that costs $1200/year but is used by financial industry experts for valuation of biotech/pharma portfolios. Garrett D. offered that his philosophy was to simply make money and that he didn't necessarily want to focus only on one sector. Enrique suggested that we get a speaker from the FDA. Several members suggested that we get a lecturer who works in the financial industry and /or runs a fund in this sector.

7. Dr. Wagner mentioned that he has arranged free web access through a commercial online database vendor to investment research content.

8. No finalizations were made concerning the club's investment philosophy.

9. Champagne was served to celebrate the kick-off of the club.

10. Dr. Wagner showed the club's library of investment research tools and materials, which will normally be kept outside Room E-615.

11. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 8:10 p.m.

12. Next meeting: Wednesday, June 19, 2002 at 6:30 p.m. Room E-415 (Pharmacology Library).

 

Graciously submitted by Club Biomed's Recording and Procedural Partner, Mr. Garrett DeYulia.

 

Note added: We have become aware that the Club Biomed is scheduled at the same time as GSEC. The officers will explore ways of avoiding this conflict.