M2SD

Macro Specialist Designation

The Lubar College of Business is now offering the course Macro Specialist Designation, a course that will prepare you to take the Level 1 exam for the M²SD.* The Lubar College is one of only three universities in the world teaching this course. 

*The Macro Specialist Designation (M²SD) is a professional education program designed to help people understand how macro trends impact equity markets and apply macro strategy and stock selection techniques when investing. (Macro Institute)

The M²SD is a Practical Skills Module (called Practical Macro) of the CFA curriculum.

Wednesdays: 5:30 pm – 8:10 pm
September 4 – December 18, 2025 (Fall Semester)
This course will be delivered in a hybrid format. In-person meetings will take place every other week in Lubar Hall (room TBD) and on alternating weeks, the class will meet online via Teams.

Taught by award-winning teacher, Dr. Kevin Spellman, CFA, aka “Coach”, who is Professor of Practice and the Nicholas Director of Investment Management at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is known as “Coach” as he loves coaching investments. Coach has over 30 years of investment experience as an analyst, portfolio manager, director of research, and consultant/advisor, and nearly 25 years teaching, advising, and directing investment programs at several universities.

For more information on The Macro Specialist Designation program and exams, please visit The Macro Institute.

Course Outline

Taught by Dr. Kevin Spellman, Director of Lubar’s premier Investment Management Certificate Program. Dr. Spellman is a senior advisor and macro strategist for Institutional Shareholder Services, the largest shareholder governance service firm in the world. He was also a former consultant to Francois Trahan, the only investment strategist inducted to the Institutional Investor Hall of Fame.

Enrollment & Credits

Undergraduate Students:
Lubar undergraduate students can enroll in this course as an elective. Students should enroll in BUS ADM 395 Sec 004 Special Topics in Business: Macro Specialist Designation. Prereq: ECON 104 Macroeconomics; Coreq: BUS ADM 350 Principles of Finance.

Graduate Students:
MBA students can take this course as an elective. Students should enroll in BUS ADM 795 Sec 001 Seminar-in-Management: Macro Specialist Designation. Prereq: Graduate standing; Coreq: BUS MGMT 705 Corporate Finance.

By completing this course, the M2SD course fee of $2,500 is waived by The Macro Institute and students will be able to earn their level 1 designation by passing the exam administered by Pearson VUE for a fee of $70.00.

Community Members

It is recommended that non-degree students have one finance course or the first macroeconomics course or one or more years of experience in investments before taking this course.

Interested community members can take this course for a fee of $1,700.00, with a deposit of $700 due upon registration.

By completing this course for $1,700, the M2SD course fee of $2,500 is waived by The Macro Institute, saving you $800. You will be able to earn your level 1 designation by passing the exam administered by Pearson VUE for a fee of $70.00.

If you are a community member, but would like to receive graduate or undergraduate credit for the course, you can apply to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as a special non-degree seeking student. Preferred pre-requisite includes ECON 104 Macroeconomics; co-requisite of BUS ADM 350 Principles of Finance OR investment industry experience for undergraduate credit. For graduate credit, co-requisite is BUS MGMT 705 Corporate Finance or professional industry experience.

Non-Degree Undergrad: https://uwm.edu/undergrad-admission/apply/non-degree-guest/

Graduate Non-Degree: https://uwm.edu/graduateschool/students/admission/non-degree-candidate-admission/

---