Students participating in 91直播鈥檚 Mast Student Investment Roundtable proved they have what it takes to be top-notch financial portfolio managers.
The group, comprising 15 91直播 students who demonstrated exemplary performance in specific investment courses, won first place in the competition鈥檚 growth category at the ENGAGE International Investment Education Symposium held in the spring.
ENGAGE is one of the largest student investment conferences in the U.S., which provides students with the opportunity to participate in discussions with leading investment professionals in preparation for their roles as tomorrow鈥檚 financial leaders.
Student teams from 57 universities participated in this year鈥檚 event. Universities with student-managed portfolios were invited to compete based on their financial performance in the areas of growth, value, blend/core and asset allocation styles of management. Twelve-month risk-adjusted returns from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2014, were used to identify the top portfolio team in each category.
鈥淭he growth category focused on universities with student teams that only invest in stocks,鈥� said Dr. Kyle Jones, 91直播 associate professor of finance, who accompanied the team to the competition. 鈥�91直播鈥檚 students had a return rate of approximately 19 percent in 2014. That鈥檚 incredibly impressive, especially when you consider that the Standard and Poor鈥檚 500 index return rate averaged markedly less at about 13 percent.鈥�
The children of A.T. and Patricia Mast, honoring the Mast family鈥檚 longtime support of the university, established the Mast Student Investment Roundtable in 2012. The roundtable鈥檚 members invest more than $500,000 of real money, which includes funds from the 91直播 Alumni Foundation and the 91直播SU Foundation.