Five STU graduate students at the Gus Machado School of Business came out in the top three at the Peeptrade University Challenge, an investment competition that pitted them against graduates from around the world including top-tier business schools like Princeton, MIT, John Hopkins University, London Business School, University of South California, and several others.
From Oct. 2 to Dec. 2, STU students Fabian Heinrich, Tony Mamodaly, Elaine Pons, Luis Martin, and Garrick Amedee successfully managed a $1 million virtual money portfolio, and presented their investment methodology to a panel of judges at the University of Chicago.
St. Thomas finished with a 12.24 percent return, and ranked third in the world, and was the top performing school in the United States. Vlerick Business School in Belgium came in first place with a 13.33 percent return; and Nanyang Technological University came in second place with a 8.55 percent return. The winners were judged on several factors in addition to the return on investment.
Peeptrade formed the challenge with the objective of giving students hands-on experience in the financial markets.
“Competitions like this are a more realistic, yet fun experience than any classroom or textbook exercise could have given them,” said Somnath Bhattacharya, dean of the Gus Machado School of Business. “This has been a fantastic opportunity for our students that simulated a real world investment environment.”
