At 4:30 a.m., three students from the University’s Investment Group headed for Ohio, carrying luggage filled with suits, shirts and ties.
They hope to come back with the chance to go to New York.
The three-member team will spend this weekend competing against other schools during a University of Dayton student investment conference, “Redefining Investment Strategy Education: A National Student Investment Strategy Symposium” (RISE). The big draw, the team members said, is a chance to go to New York if they win the portfolio management competition.For the first nationwide conference of its kind, Dayton’s School of Business Administration will bring together students, faculty and investment professionals to explore the best practices in investment management.
And members of the University of Oregon’s Investment Group, which is in its second year on campus, will be among those who attend.
The approximately 20-member group invests in the stock market using $50,000 provided by Portland brokerage firm D.A. Davidson & Co.
Director of Operations James Bruce said the group’s current portfolio is down, as is the rest of the stock market. But because the group has invested in only a few technology stocks, it can withstand the stock market’s downward slump. “We have a diversified portfolio, but we’re not down as much as the [Standard & Poor’s 500],” Bruce said.Bruce said the students attending RISE include Director of Information Aaron Pocklington, and analysts Mark Rollins and David Stout. The group’s budget only allowed for sending three members, Bruce said, but those who are going are qualified and will represent the University effectively.
Rollins said he hopes the conference, with highlights such as the portfolio competition and academic program development sessions, will provide the group with new ideas.
Fifteen of the 40 teams signed up for RISE will compete in the portfolio competition, which will judge portfolios based on success in growth, value and blend of management styles. Pocklington said winners will be chosen based on the quality of their presentations and the performance returns of their funds.
The winning teams will open the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square on April 30, with the winners getting to push a button that lights up the eight-story MarketSite “Tower” — the largest video screen in the world — with current financial news and global market information.
Rollins said going to New York would be the experience of a lifetime.
“We are long-term investors,” Rollins said, explaining the group’s strategy, which he hopes will help them win the competition. “We only invest in large cap companies and Oregon companies.”
Rollins, a junior finance major, said the team will be competing against other schools such as the University of Texas and Ohio State University — both of which have more established investment programs.
Pocklington, a senior finance major, said the motivating factor for the team has been the group’s adviser, Professor John Chalmers. Chalmers has been working with the three members to polish their 20-minute presentation, which uses Microsoft PowerPoint. A question-and-answer period with the judges will follow the presentation.
Throughout the conference, Bruce said, the team will be curious to find out how similar investment groups operate.
“We are trying to build a network [with] other student investment groups,” he said.
During the sessions, participants will attend presentations by creators of some of the most advanced investment programs in the country. The students will also have the chance to question some of the speakers after their presentations.”We are going to take information and ideas from these other professors and other students in investment groups across the country and bring it back to our group and see if we can apply it,” Rollins said.
RISE will also serve as a resumŽ-builder for the participants and could provide future employment opportunities and contacts, Stout said. He added that the conference will offer the team contacts in the financial industry, as well as invaluable experience.
“This is a chance for us to put out our name,” Stout said, “and make it known that we are one of the ‘big boys.’”