Nichols College expands Bloomberg Finance Lab through grant from Affinity Group

Nichols College has expanded its on-campus Bloomberg Finance Lab with four new Bloomberg terminals, made possible by a six-figure grant from Affinity Group, Inc., announced in June. The new terminals have been installed and are operational, bringing the total number available to students to 20. Nichols continues to be a national leader in the number of Bloomberg terminals per student and the number of certifications achieved annually.

Nichols launched its Bloomberg Finance Lab in fall 2018 with 12 terminals and expanded to 16 terminals in 2020, with support from Affinity Group. In its first semester of use, more than 250 students earned Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) certification, quickly elevating Nichols to Bloomberg Experiential Learning Partner status. The Bloomberg ELP group comprises institutions that incorporate Bloomberg terminal usage into their curriculum and have at least 100 students who earn certification each year.

Since the Bloomberg Lab’s inception, more than 1,500 Nichols students have achieved Bloomberg certification, including the BMC; the Bloomberg Finance Fundamentals Certification (BFF); and the Bloomberg Environmental, Social and Governance Certification (BESG). All first-year business students are required to complete the BMC certification — a notable professional advantage as they apply for internships and jobs.

The Bloomberg terminals are also vitally important to the success of the student-managed Thunder Fund, an experiential learning opportunity that enables students to manage a stock portfolio. Students enrolled in Thunder Fund I and Thunder Fund II courses serve as associate, junior or senior stock analysts, using Bloomberg financials, analyst reports, Bloomberg Intelligence and other platform features to prepare their own equity research reports and guide their financial decisions.

“We continue to be enormously grateful to Affinity Group for its investment in Nichols College and our students,” said Nichols President Bill Pieczynski. “The grant directly supports our institutional focus to provide a hands-on, experiential education that prepares students for career success. The Bloomberg Finance Lab, Bloomberg certifications and Thunder Fund offer our students the practical experience that employers value most.”

There are currently more than 350,000 Bloomberg terminal users worldwide, including student users at the nation’s top business colleges and universities. The Bloomberg network also includes financial professionals, corporate executives and government officials who rely on the platform for real-time analytics and financial news and to evaluate companies, monitor markets and make data-driven decisions.

Affinity Group, Inc. includes the Southbridge-based professional cutlery manufacturer Dexter-Russell. President and CEO Alan Peppel, an MBA graduate of Nichols, added, “As a leading employer in central Massachusetts, including the Southbridge and Dudley communities, the Affinity Group and Dexter-Russell continue to view Nichols College as a worthy investment. Nichols alumni contribute significantly to the growth and success of our communities, and we see the expansion of the Bloomberg Finance Lab as a means of ensuring that Nichols remains at the forefront of business education.”