SPX Corporation

I visited SPX Corporation on December 2, 2005 in Charlotte, North Carolina. SPX Corporation was originally an automotive supplier founded in Muskegon, Michigan in 1911 as The Piston Ring Company and adopted their current name in 1988. Today, SPX Corporation is a global multi-industry company focused on profitably growing a number of businesses that have scale and growth potential. SPX is a specialized provider of 21 structured products, divided into four major sectors, namely Thermal Equipment, Flow Technology, Test and Measurement and Industrial Products and Services. It operates in more than 20 countries, with 10% of its annual revenues coming from Germany. Last but not least, SPX is ranked 345th in the Fortune 500 companies,

I started the day meeting Jeremy Smeltser, Director of Corporate Finance, who personally picked me up from my hotel and was in charge of my program for the day. He planned my itinerary to ensure that I had enough exposure to all the different finance departments at their headquarters. I visited Financial Planning & Investor Relations, Financial Reporting, M&A, Auditing and the SEC Reporting departments respectively. In the financial planning department, Senior Financial Analyst Ryan Taylor explained the responsibilities of his department to me. An important aspect of their job also included making successful sales pitches of their firm to draw new investors.

Next, I visited the Financial Reporting department where Financial Analyst Matt Hanna, who was ex-Michigan alumni, explained his job scope to me, in which the most important aspect of his work was to evaluate segments of their businesses which were underperforming to be sold off. I also met COO Mike Reilly, who explained the function of his auditing department to me. Lastly, Scott Sproule and Brian Wood, both in charge of SEC reporting, highlighted the importance of their division in preventing fraud and ensuring that accounts were recorded strictly according to GAAP rules.
The most compelling aspect of the firm was that they put you into a financial rotation program for all analysts who join the firm. The program consisted of placing each analyst into three divisions in their first two years with SPX, with each rotation lasting about eight to nine months. The purpose of the financial rotation program was to allow analysts to have a feel of the responsibilities of each department and ultimately decide for themselves which department fits best. This would also give them extra exposure from working in different divisions. The area that the company needs to improve most would be the lack of summer internships offered. I feel that it is imperative for SPX to offer internships to students in order to build up their reputation within the schools that it recruits from.

The most important part of my visit was the sales pitch that Senior Financial Analyst Ryan Taylor did for me. I played the role of an investor interested in purchasing a stake in the firm and Ryan did the pitch. This was really an eye-opener. I think one thing students should definitely note is the hospitality SPX offered to students who were visiting. The HR corresponded immediately whenever there was a problem, and the people working at SPX were extremely warm, friendly and sincere to help students get a feel for what a day at the desk was like.