A group of graduate students at St. Thomas University—Fabian Heinrich, Tony Mamodaly, Elaine Pons, Luis Martin, and Garrick Amedee—is currently participating in the Peeptrade University Challenge, an investment competition, which began Oct. 2, 2017. STU students are among other distinguished universities, such as Princeton, the University of Chicago, MIT, the London School of Business, and the University of Miami, showcasing their investment selection and risk management skills.
As of Nov. 30, STU is in second place. During the first seven weeks of the competition, STU’s portfolio has returned 10.49 percent compared to 2.83 percent for its benchmark, the S&P 500 index. The Top 5 teams, which includes STU, will be presenting their portfolio strategy to a professional panel of judges at the University of Chicago on Dec. 2, 2017.
By creating an investment portfolio and competing against top universities across the globe, this challenge provides real-life experience in the investment management profession. The objective of the competition is not simply the highest return, but rather a broad array of performance metrics including strategy execution, risk-adjusted return, and adherence with the portfolio’s investment policy statement. This process provides STU’s students with valuable training for their future careers.
The competing students are also members of the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) at STU. The SMIF has both undergraduate and graduate students managing a real-money portfolio under the guidance of faculty advisers Dr. Leslee Higgins, Associate Dean Lloyd Mitchell, and Professor Kevin Brady, the latter of which has offered guidance to the Peeptrade competitors through his experience as an equity trader.
The investment competition and the SMIF highlight two ways the students that attend the Gus Machado School of Business enhance opportunities to add value to their classroom training.
