DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton has turned up on the top of the pile in the nation’s first of its kind competition for student investors.
Dayton’s was one of the three college teams of student investors have named national champions in a portfolio management competition. The others are Rice University and Stetson University.
The contest is designed to showcase success in growth, value, and blend styles of management, with the competition based on the investment of real money.
The three winners been invited to open up the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square on April 30.
The competition was part of the April 6-8 Redefining Investment Strategy Education symposium sponsored by the University of Dayton School of Business Administration.
It was based on risk-adjusted performance for the 12-month period ending Jan. 31. The winning teams were determined by performance and presentation before nine portfolio managers from investment management firms from around the country.
Students from 43 universities from 27 states and Canada attended the symposium, with 15 placing their portfolios on the line after one of the worst years in Wall Street history.
Real-world problems.
“The judges asked tough, real-world questions about the portfolios and how the students managed their portfolios in such a volatile period,” said David Sauer, associate professor of finance at the University of Dayton and symposium organizer.
“The students consistently fielded the range of questions with great professionalism, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.”
The team of graduate students from Rice University in Texas took the top spot in the category featuring a value style of management, where finding and investing in underpriced securities is a priority. They posted a 3 percent return for the year.
Florida’s Stetson University’s team of undergraduate students was chosen first in the category for a blend style of management, where a portfolio features both value and growth stocks. Stetson’s team posted a 37 percent return for the year.
The team of undergraduate students from the University of Dayton took the top spot in the category for a growth style of management, where aggressive investing in volatile areas such as technology is a priority. The team posted a 5 percent return for the year.
A growing number of business schools are allowing students to manage portfolios using real money, with nine giving students at least $1 million, according to Sauer.
