Students in the Minor in International Financial Management at the University of Aruba are combining professional equity research with practical AI training as part of their Comprehensive Business Analysis course.
This semester, students at the Faculty of Accounting, Finance and Marketing (FEF) completed the Comprehensive Business Analysis (CBA) course, taught by Jorrit van Spaendonck and Anika Stevens. As the minor’s capstone course, it brings together the knowledge students have acquired and challenges them to apply it to a real publicly traded company.
Over eight weeks, four student teams each analyzed a publicly traded luxury company, examining its strategy, market position, operations, governance, financial performance and valuation. Each team prepared a professional equity research report similar to those used by financial analysts, banks and investors. Teams were also paired with opposing teams that challenged their findings, putting their conclusions to the test before the final presentations.
AI as a professional skill
This year’s course placed a stronger emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI). Stevens led three full mornings of introductory classes covering prompt engineering and the AI tools available to financial analysts. The sessions gave students the foundational knowledge they needed for the advanced workshops that followed.
The workshops were led by guest lecturer Dr. Tarek Ali, an entrepreneur from Austin, Texas, who has acquired more than 100 small and medium-sized businesses. Drawing on his experience, Ali explained how to value companies, avoid common mistakes and negotiate a fair purchase price that offers an attractive return at an acceptable level of risk.
The final day of his visit focused entirely on AI. Ali introduced students to AI algorithms and agentic AI, then guided them as they built their own AI agents and bots.
The course reflects the faculty’s approach to AI in education: students are encouraged to use the technology while remaining accountable for their own work and transparent about how and why they use it. Teams must disclose the AI tools they use in every assignment and presentation.
The faculty thanked Ali for sharing his expertise and leading the workshops, as well as Van Spaendonck and Stevens for developing a course designed to prepare students for the realities of today’s professional environment.
