New Finance Lab Opens in Babson Commons

Cutler Center Finance Lab
Listen

Peter Lynch H’96, one of the most successful and well-known investors of all time, grew the famous Magellan Fund from $18 million to $14 billion in 13 years. You could say he knows a thing or two about investing.

It was only fitting then that Lynch joined Babson, where finance represents the largest undergraduate concentration and the most common field for graduates, for the grand opening of its new finance lab at the College’s Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance.

Finance’s Role in Entrepreneurship Education

This lab, which has a 20-year history at Babson, “is representative, in so many ways, of the entrepreneurial process,” opened President Stephen Spinelli Jr. MBA ’92, PhD.

Entrepreneurship isn’t just about startups or growing a firm, Spinelli shared. “It is about continually renewing and creating value.”

And what immeasurable value the Cutler Center has created indeed.

At the heart of campus, the new state-of-the-art Finance Lab holds 42 workstations equipped with Bloomberg, FactSet, and other tools used by industry professionals.

It provides Babson students with “unique opportunities to learn and lead through signature learning experiences designed to prepare them for successful careers in financial services,” boasts the Cutler Center.

Through course integration and exclusive workshops, the lab will continue to change the educational experience for students interested in finance and will also allow faculty from other disciplines to collaborate and utilize the Cutler Center resources in the courses that they teach.

“I love being around the energy here,” said Spinelli. “The finance components of a [Babson] education instill [a] kind of discipline and rigor” that enables entrepreneurial problem-solving and success “in almost anything you do in business, finance, and entrepreneurship,” he added.

“Today, roughly 25 percent of Babson students pursue a degree in finance,” said Patrick Gregory, CFA, senior lecturer, and managing director of the Cutler Center. “The integration of the Cutler Center resources into our graduate and undergraduate programs dramatically improves the skill set and marketability of our students.”

Returning the Investment

Peter Lynch at BabsonAdjunct Lecturer Rick Spillane, former director of the Babson College Fund, moderated a discussion with Lynch about his many endeavors in the industry and the impact of his work.

“The part [about Peter Lynch] that might not be as visible to you, is the philanthropist,” said Spillane.

Lynch and his late wife, Carolyn, started the Lynch Foundation 30 years ago—and it has continued to use the power of smart investing to support the Greater Boston community.

Together, they “have given away $130 million so far with $120 million left for other causes,” Spillane said.

From successes to failures, ups and downs in the market, one thing remained constant for Lynch—his eager ability to learn about the companies in which he plans on investing, and to find the uniqueness that would allow them to prosper and provide appropriate returns on investment.

“If you call enough companies,” said Lynch, “you’ll find some that are doing something interesting.”

Answering audience questions, Lynch also advised that “getting rid of good companies and adding bad companies is like watering the weeds and cutting the flowers. Just because a stock goes up doesn’t mean it can’t keep going up, and just because it goes down doesn’t mean it can’t keep going down.”

Lynch shared that he sold early stock in Home Depot after it doubled. “Then it grew 100-fold . . . that would have made up for a lot of mistakes.”

In closing, Lynch turned to perspective. While most people are worried about the economy and its future, Lynch says that it’s important to know what’s happening now.

“What’s really important is airline reservations, and hotel reservations—not who is building buildings . . . When people stop booking . . . you [need to] start saying ‘something’s happening.’ You want to have a finger on the pulse now, not on the future.”

After the fireside chat, Lynch joined students Isabelle Tabak ’20, George Massey MBA’20, and Blake Greenhalgh ’20, who earned the opportunity to pitch him their stocks. “These students have honed their stock pitching skills through the Babson College Fund, a two-semester program where the students manage a portion of the College’s endowment,” said Gregory.

Cutler Center Completes Centennial Campus Transformation

The Finance Lab sits within one of the College’s newest campus buildings: Babson Commons at Horn Library. This centralized convening space also is home to three technology-enabled classrooms, group and informal study spaces, academic and extracurricular resources centers and offices, a student-named Centennial Café, and the Bala Iyer Gardens.

Babson Commons and the Cutler Center Finance Lab are part of a larger physical transformation on campus, including new buildings like Park Manor West and the Weissman Foundry, the move of both Roger’s Pub & Grille and Babson’s historic World Globe and Fountain of Flags to Kerry Murphy Healey Park, and the reinvigorated Babson Recreation and Athletics Complex.

Babson Commons has been made possible by the continued generosity of Robert (Bob) Weissman ’64, H’94, P’87 ’90 and his wife, Jan Weissman P’87 ’90, as well as Stephen Cutler MBA’61.

 

Posted in Community

More from Community »

Latest Stories

Sheikha Al-Otaibi sitting outside
Sheikha Al-Otaibi ’25 Wants to Talk to You Sheikha Al-Otaibi ’25 spent her time at Babson finding out what she’s really passionate about. As the undergraduate Commencement student speaker, she’s ready to tell the whole story.
By
Melissa Savignano
Writer
Melissa Savignano
Melissa Savignano, a content marketing manager at Babson College, has worked in higher education for almost a decade, where she tells authentic, compelling campus and community stories. Before Babson, she managed communications for Boston University’s largest college, the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. She previously worked in client relations, helping brands of various sizes launch content marketing strategies and storytelling initiatives. When not at work, you will find her in the city of Boston, probably at the movie theater.
May 13, 2025

Posted in Community

The Boston Celtics play a game at their home arena of TD Garden
Big Bucks for the Boston Celtics: What a Record-Breaking Sale Means for the Brand and Its Fans Babson Associate Professor Anjali Bal looks at the $6.1 billion sale of the Boston Celtics, what it says about the team’s winning brand, and whether such an exorbitant price tag is good or bad for a fan base.
By
John Crawford
Senior Journalist
John Crawford
A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.
May 12, 2025

Posted in Insights

Kai Ogenah shaking hands with Arthur Blank
Class of 2025: How Sports Shaped One Student’s Babson Experience Kai Ogenah ’25, an ardent sports fan, found a way to spread joy on campus on and off the court while at Babson.
By
Melissa Savignano
Writer
Melissa Savignano
Melissa Savignano, a content marketing manager at Babson College, has worked in higher education for almost a decade, where she tells authentic, compelling campus and community stories. Before Babson, she managed communications for Boston University’s largest college, the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. She previously worked in client relations, helping brands of various sizes launch content marketing strategies and storytelling initiatives. When not at work, you will find her in the city of Boston, probably at the movie theater.
May 12, 2025

Posted in Community