SMU alumnus John Phelan discussed SMU’s Common Reading program, ‘The Big Short’ with students on Monday. (Sidney Hollingsworth/The Daily Campus)

SMU alumnus John Phelan pushed students not to chase what’s hot, but to chase the best environment for him or her when looking for a career.

Phelan, co-founder and co-managing partner of MSD Capital, L.P., was invited to serve as the guest speaker for “The Financial Crisis of The Big Short: An Investor’s Perspective” of the Gartner Honors Lecture series. About 400 members in the audience of the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom attended the free lecture Monday at 5 p.m. to continue the 2012 Common Reading discussion.

“There’s a committee here at SMU of faculty and staff who really pushed for the book to be selected as this year’s Common Reading discussion book,” David D. Doyle, Jr., Dedman College assistant dean and University Honors Program director, said.

“[The book] is unusual but it is reflective on the students’ interests.”

The SMU University Honors Program decided having an insightful perspective from an investor within Wall Street would benefit the students attending the lecture. Phelan graduated cum laude with distinction back in 1986 with two B.A. degrees in economics and political science. He then went on to earn his M.B.A. degree from Harvard University.

“I really came to realize that this is a one-sided and very anti-Wall Street oriented book,” Phelan said. He understood and believed that Michael Lewis’ The Big Short was written from an unfair and biased standpoint belonging to fraudulent investors.

As a renowned and credible Wall Street investor, Phelan could not relate to some of the content of the nonfiction work and even had trouble interpreting some of Lewis’ words.

“Wall Street investment banks are like Las Vegas casinos: they set the odds,” Phelan quoted. He referred to this being an example of how the media puts out a significant amount of information that is fashionably inaccurate. That is why he encouraged students to keep true to their ambitions without having to pay attention to the misleading media.

Phelan’s main emphasis throughout his lecture consisted of promoting that the students follow their dreams and stick to their goals.

“The best way to be successful in life is to pursue your passions,” he stressed as the highlight of his lecture.

“I like the fact that he took the book for face value,” first-year student Sean Milmoe said. “We got to hear from another perspective, someone from Wall Street.”

The lecture ended with a brief question and answer session, as Phelan was applauded for an insightful perspective from a Wall Street investor.

His lecture convinced many students in the audience to learn about their future career paths from multiple perspectives, philosophies and sources.