MCGREGOR, TX (June 2, 2016) — TFNB Your Bank for Life announced Travis Kemp earned his Professional MBA (Masters in Business Administration) in finance from SMU’s Cox School of Business on May 14, 2016. Kemp heads TFNB’s credit department and was recently promoted to vice president.
In addition to the courses required for his MBA, Kemp applied for and was accepted into The Practicum in Portfolio Management course. This course provides real-time money-management experience by allowing students to run the Nancy Chambers Underwood Fund, one of the oldest student-managed portfolios in the country.
As a student in this course, Kemp was selected to compete in the CFA Institute Research Challenge. This challenge requires students to research an assigned company and write a research report presenting and defending their investment thesis. The SMU team won their competition at the local level and were flown to Chicago to compete against the best teams in the world.
Kemp believes he now has a deeper understanding of business and finance, which can benefit both TFNB and its customers. He says as the bank continues to grow, opportunities will emerge for the bank to increase its services to both new and existing customers. He feels that now he is much better equipped to assist with this growth.
SMU’s Cox School of Business’ Professional MBA is a 24-month, 48-credit-hour program that gave Kemp the flexibility to customize his learning experience.
He worked full-time at TFNB’s South Bosque location while commuting to Dallas several times a week for classes.
“When I was in high school I thought I wanted to be CFO of a Fortune 500 company, and I found that a master’s degree was a consistent theme in how to achieve that goal,” said Kemp. “As I have grown older, my goals changed to be more about me and furthering my education for myself.”
“I am not surprised that Travis excelled in this MBA program,” said David Littlewood, president of TFNB. “That he balanced working full-time and driving to Dallas and back twice or three times a week is a testament to his dedication to his profession.”
“I don’t look to inspire others at TFNB to get their masters,” said Kemp. “In general, I am a believer in self-improvement and self-betterment, and I tend to always be hungry for knowledge. I want to try to inspire others to be hungry for self-improvement as well. I want people to be the best that they can be, regardless of their formal education.”
Kemp received his bachelor’s in finance and management from Baylor University in 2009, and he was hired at TFNB in 2010.
