James Cullen ’10 has published or been cited in such places as MSN Money and Yahoo! Finance. (Photo by Christopher Huang)
The Business of Writing About Business
Carroll School senior James Cullen cultivates reputation as finance writer on ’Net
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His quiet demeanor and wry, self-deprecating sense of humor belie James Cullen’s willingness to make his opinions known on matters that could, at the end of the day, cost or make people a lot of money.The Carroll School of Management senior tries to downplay the success he’s had as a freelance finance writer. Really, he argues, he’s just a guy who’s been interested in the topic since middle school, and who’s now trying to start a career in portfolio management.
While many a finance student has ridden a high-flying internship to a first job with an investment bank or money management firm, Cullen has approached that goal using his own sweat equity in the form of hours of research and reasoning that have gone into nearly 200 articles that have circulated broadly across financial sites on the Internet.
Through outlets such as seekingalpha.com and AOL Daily Finance and the website he co-founded, collegeanalysts.com, Cullen has seen his opinions on companies like Accenture, Apple, Moody’s, CIT Group, Primus Guaranty and others attract the attention of a readership that includes money managers, research analysts, investment bankers, and serious individual investors. Along the way, his work has appeared or been cited in places such as BusinessWeek, TheStreet.com, Yahoo! Finance and MSN Money.
Cullen, an individual investor and the vice president of the BC Investment Club, which manages a portfolio or more than $250,000, said the public scrutiny his articles receive has improved the quality of his research.
“It’s changed my approach a lot,” said Cullen, a New Jersey native.
“You do get feedback – on anything from a typo to oversight of an important fact. You hear about it. It has definitely made the research process more rigorous.”
Cullen, who has concentrated on finance and corporate reporting, likes to comb through balance sheets and income statements, break down financial ratios and talk to people as he analyzes a company or industry. While he wants as much quantitative proof as the next
analyst, he says sometimes the numbers offer an incomplete picture.
“A business may be down at the time you look at it, but a company can have good traits not captured on the balance sheet, yet very real to the people who own that company,” he said.
Cullen said he’s been influenced most by the courses he’s taken with Associate Professor of Accounting Amy Hutton and Professor of Finance Helen Peters. He’s also enjoyed the guidance of Associate Professor of Economics Harold Petersen, the advisor of the Investment Club.
Petersen says Cullen has quietly gone about making a name for himself in the ever-expanding world of online financial analysis. Similarly, he’s helped guide the club’s portfolio in a low-key, thoughtful manner.
“James is bright, he’s level-headed and thorough,” said Petersen. “He’s always come up with good ideas for the club to consider.”
While the world of finance has taken a beating in the year since the economic crisis, Cullen is still bullish on the industry, where he plans to work in either investment banking or equity research. Eventually, his goal is to run his own investment fund.
“Finance isn’t the driving force of the economy,” Cullen said. “But having healthy, working financial markets is very important. You need a working banking system. You need credit markets.”
He admits he’s been interested in finance since he was 13 or 14. Part of it is the competitive side of investing.
“I enjoy the process,” he said. “It’s very challenging when you’re going up against lots of smart people. It’s competitive, as well as an
intellectual challenge. There’s always more information to digest and always something you can learn.”
Ed Hayward can be reached at ed.hayward@bc.edu