GW INVESTMENT INSTITUTE INSIGHTS

The GW Investment Institute (GWII) recently hosted an Alumni Reception in New York City. Held at Spyglass Rooftop Bar, the event brought together over 30 alumni. The GWII team extends its gratitude to all the attendees for making this gathering so memorable. We are appreciative of your continued support of GWII.

We look forward to the next opportunity to bring together our alumni for another evening of connection. Stay tuned for future events and updates as we continue to foster connections and knowledge-sharing within our community. Thank you also to GWSB Development and Alumni Relations who supported this event.

The George Washington University Investment Institute hosted the 2024 Annual Conference on March 22nd in Duquès Hall. The conference connected over 60 students, faculty, and alumni with industry practitioners and professionals to discuss the intersection of finance and artificial intelligence (AI). The conference featured opening remarks by GWSB Interim Dean Vanessa Perry, a keynote by Professor Patrick Hall, a student showcase by William Ahrens, Elizabeth Ellis, and Yaseen Shah, and a panel on the Future of Work with AI featuring GW alumni Francisco Solorzano Fakhri, Data Strategy Manager at EY, and Fiona Zhu, Senior Client Executive at Gartner. To learn more about the conference and featured guests you can access a summary below.

Next week is an exciting day at George Washington University – it will be Giving Day (April 3-4, 2024), and I’m asking for your support for the GW Investment Institute. The GW Investment Institute (GWII) teaches GW students how to invest by managing real endowment capital (managing over $9 million). Our team at GWII is dedicated to providing students with tangible skills and tools that they can leverage to advance their careers. This Giving Day, your support will provide GW Investment Institute students access to FactSet, an industry tool for financial research. FactSet enables our students to become real-world finance practitioners, but we need your help. Our subscription expires on June 30th, and we ask for your help securing $30,000 for this excellent investment in our curriculum. Every dollar counts. What do our students say about FactSet? “I currently use FactSet for my Applied Financial Securities Analysis class, and I love the platform as it allows me to have great exposure to the markets and also to data analysis. I encourage you all to keep donating for this amazing platform.” -Gabriela Giraldo, BS Business Administration & Management “I love using FactSet not only as a student analyst in the Applied Financial Securities Analysis class but also for Vice Dean Lake’s Quantitative Trading Project. FactSet is a crucial part of all of my work across multiple funds at the GW Investment Institute, and I can’t wait to see all the  contributions of students to come.” -Laura Null, BS Finance & Statistics

We’re counting on you, our dedicated alumni and supporters, to help us reach our goal and continue providing our students with resources for career success. Thank you for supporting experiential learning through the GW Investment Institute. Raise High! Rodney Lake Director, GW Investment Institute

It’s week three of the spring 2024 semester here at the GW Investment Institute (GWII), and I’m reaching out to update you on our latest endeavors, achievements, and upcoming events.

GWII offers two classes this semester, engaging 60 undergraduate students and over $2.9 million in Assets Under Management (AUM). These classes allow students to gain practical investment management experience and develop critical skills for their future careers.

I am grateful to Professor Song for teaching FINA 4101 – Applied Financial Securities Analysis for the third time. Undergraduate students in this class manage the GW Phillips Student Investment Fund, a diversified listed equity portfolio with over $2.9 million in AUM as of 1/29/2024.

Further, I’m grateful to Professor Bill Collier for teaching FINA 4104 – Foundations of Venture Capital again. Undergraduate students in this class build start-ups throughout the semester and receive feedback from venture investors and founders, then pitch their start-up ideas during the last week of classes.

Awards & Scholarships Available to GWII Students

We look forward to allocating the following awards this semester:

• Ramsey Scholars Awards – the top 10 students from academic 2024 will each receive $5,000, for a total of $50,000
• Leadership Awards – three students will receive $2,000 each for their contributions to the community at GW during the academic 2024, for a total of $6,000
• Charles Schwab Stock Pitch Awards – first place will receive $600, second place $400, and the third place will receive $250 for their stock pitch presentation, for a total of $1,250

Quarterly Report

Our students outperformed the benchmark during the 2023 calendar year; returns for GWII’s portfolios were 31.10% vs. the S&P 500’s 26.30%. Please see the most recent quarterly report as of December 31, 2023, with market commentary by GW senior Yaseen Shah.

Save the Date

• GW Investment Institute Annual Conference | Washington, D.C., March 22nd, 2024
• GWII Alumni Reception | New York City, TBD
• VC Pitch Day | Washington, D.C., April 26th, 2024
• Stock Pitch Day | Washington, D.C., April 27th, 2024

I’m thankful for all your support and look forward to the exciting developments and achievements in 2024 and beyond.

Best regards,

Rodney E. Lake
Director, GW Investment Institute

Introduction

During the quarter that ended on December 31, 2023, the GW Investment Institute (GWII) hosted an alumni reception in NYC, took a group of students to Sands Capital and Cushman and Wakefield, and held three Stock Pitch Days as well as awarded the first three Charles Schwab Foundation Awards to three students with the best pitches for a total of $1,250. The following commentary was written by Yaseen Shah, a GWSB senior graduating in 2024 with a major in Finance. Yaseen will be an Investment Banking Analyst at Clearsight Advisors after graduation.

Market Commentary

Prepared by Yaseen Shah, GW ’24

2023 concluded with a strong rally in the equity markets – the S&P 500 Index jumped (11.70%) in the fourth quarter and grew (26.30%) for the year. The main driver behind this quarter’s growth was the market’s anticipation of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in the coming year. Given inflation easing closer to 2.00% (3.10%) and low unemployment (3.70%), the Fed has maintained a federal funds target rate of 5.25% and 5.50%. 

All sectors, with the exception of Energy, ended 2023’s final quarter in the green. Real Estate (18.83%) was the top-performing sector in the quarter as optimism brews for a 2024 comeback for residential and commercial real estate. Technology (17.71%) also performed exceptionally, with the Magnificent Seven (AAPL, AMZN, GOOG, META, MSFT, NVDA, TSLA) and large-cap tech names advancing in the AI space. Other notable sectors that grew were Consumer Discretionary (11.33%), Consumer Staples (5.47%), Financials (14.03%), Health Care (6.41%), Industrials (13.05%), Materials (9.68%), Utilities (8.56%), and Communication Services (11.04%); Energy (-6.35%) was the only sector in the red as oil prices declined below $80 per barrel amid geopolitical tensions. 

For the fourth quarter of 2023, GWII’s Student Investment Funds underperformed the benchmark by 40 basis points at (11.30%) vs. (11.70%) for the S&P 500 Index. However, individually for the quarter, the GW Ramsey Fund (11.80%) and the GW Real Estate Fund (16.30%) surpassed the S&P 500’s growth. For the calendar year of 2023, GWII’s portfolios outperformed the benchmark (31.10%) vs. (26.30%) for the S&P 500 Index.

We invite you to review the full report below:

We’re thrilled to announce that the GW Investment Institute has received a grant from the Charles Schwab Foundation for the academic year 2024, furthering our mission of experiential investment education. With their generous support, we’ve awarded financial prizes for the first time ever to the top three pitches, recognizing Serena Colyer with $600, Yaseen Shah with $400, and Richelle Charisse with $250, based on the outstanding quality of their research and presentation delivery. Congratulations to our deserving recipients!These top three pitches were selected from among 39 presentations during our Fall 2023 Stock Pitch Days, showcasing the impressive talent and dedication of our students. We eagerly anticipate awarding three more accolades in the Spring semester of 2024.

Last week, students pitched investment recommendations for the GW Phillips Student Investment Fund (GW PSIF) and the GW Real Estate Student Investment Fund (GW RESIF).

The GW PSIF was launched in 2008 and currently has over $2.7 million in assets under management (as of 12/12/2023). The GW RESIF fund was launched in 2017 and currently has over $145,000 in assets under management (as of 12/12/2023). Check out the most recent GWII Quarterly Report for performance details for both funds. 

During the Stock Pitch Days, each student used the collective knowledge they gained throughout the semester to develop an investment pitch while utilizing the GW Investment Institute Framework of BMPB: Business, Management, Price/Valuation, and Balance Sheet. After each student gave their pitch, the investment committee, i.e., the other students in the class, voted on their recommendation. Students must convince at least 80% of the investment committee members to accept the recommendation for the portfolio. 

Here is a summary of December 2023 Stock Pitch Days:

• 39 student pitches
• 24 student pitches accepted for investment, or 62% 
• 11 existing positions were increased
• 11 new positions have been added to the fund
• Number of trades by sector:
  • 7 in Consumer Discretionary and Staples
  • 5 in Tech & Telecom
  • 2 in Healthcare
  • 3 in Financial Services
  • 5 in Industrials & Infrastructure
  • 2 in Data Centers & Self-Storage

Thank you to all of the students for their hard work and dedication.

A special thank you to our teaching assistants, Will Ahrens and Leon Kamenev, the 15 guest speakers, and Cushman & Wakefield for hosting an industry visit.

Stay tuned for the spring 2024 update from Prof. Lake!

The GW Investment Institute (GWII) teaches students at the George Washington University how to invest and how to think about investing. Our students serve as analysts and portfolio managers, managing over $7.7 million (as of 12/13/2023) in university endowment funds across four student investment funds covering: equities, real estate, and quantitative investing. The institute also offers a class on venture capital. In the GW School of Business finance classes taught by the GWII, students:

The GWII has over 1,400 alumni worldwide. Our alumni make contributions by providing guest lectures, mentoring, advising, connections, and donations. 

Your financial support for the GW Investment Institute enables real-world learning and networking opportunities for our students. It improves a student’s experience at GW and contributes to better industry placement.

Support Student Experience

• $2,500 – Part-time Student Intern for one semester.
• $5,000 – One GW team at the Cornell’s Women in Investing Conference.
• $10,000 – One GW team at the McGill’s buy side competition in Canada.
• $10,000 – Alumni reception in New York City or Washington, D.C.
• $20,000 – Finance Career Trek NYC for 10 students from our classes.
• $30,000 – Student Teaching Assistants helping with our classes.
• $30,000 – FactSet annual subscription. 

Serve

• $50,000 – Advisory Board membership. Learn more.
• $1,000 – GWII Alumni Advisor and Luther Rice Society membership.

Build Legacy

• $25,000 – Lead GWII Conference sponsor.
• $100,000 – Name endowed scholarship.
• $1 million – Name fund and serve on the GWII Governing Board.
• $5 million – Endow the Institute Director position.
• $21 million – Name the Institute.

Your support is much appreciated and every dollar donated to the Institute will go toward providing more opportunities for our students. 

***Donations to the George Washington University are tax deductible.***
Questions? Please reach out to Bojana Jankovic, bjankovic@gwu.edu. 

Dear Friends and Supporters of the GW Investment Institute,

I am delighted to present the GW Investment Institute’s fiscal year 2023 annual report, celebrating a remarkable academic year. Along with esteemed Professors Matt Miller, Christine Song, and Bill Collier, we taught nine finance classes as part of the GW Investment Institute (GWII). We hosted 57 industry professionals, both in-person and virtually.

I am proud to share that we awarded $50,000 in financial accolades to our top 10 performing students, acknowledging their exceptional dedication in our classes. Furthermore, we coordinated the allocation of the first endowed scholarship to support women in finance.

Additionally, we expanded access to new tools for financial research. Namely, we integrated FactSet into our class curriculum and worked closely with BlackRock to introduce our students to their Aladdin technology.

Last fall, we hosted an alumni reception in New York City and enjoyed connecting with former students. Further, our Annual Conference on Quant Investing brought together more than 60 students, faculty, and alumni, fostering insightful discussions on the latest advancements in quantitative investing.

Regarding student competitions, for the fifth year, our students showcased their exceptional talent at the McGill International Portfolio Challenge, reaching the semifinals. Further, we sent one of our students to Cornell’s Women in Investing Conference for the first time.

Even though our primary goal is to teach students how to invest and preserve endowment capital, our Student Investment Funds continued outperforming the S&P 500 Index.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our dedicated students, professors, staff, teaching assistants, advisory and governing board members, portfolio advisors, and guest speakers who consistently go above and beyond to advance our mission of excellence in experiential investment education. It is through your collective efforts that we have achieved such remarkable success.

Our accomplishments and the exceptional performance of GWII’s Student Investment Funds reflect the hard work and dedication of 1,400+ alumni, faculty, and staff. On behalf of the GWII, thank you for your continuous support and unwavering engagement. With great enthusiasm, I eagerly anticipate the future of GWII and our continued growth, further shaping the landscape of investment education.

Sincerely, 

Rodney E. Lake
Director, GW Investment Institute

We invite you to review the full report below:

Introduction

During the quarter that ended on September 30, 2023, the GW Investment Institute (GWII) began the 2023 fall semester, sent a student team to compete in Cornell’s Women in Investing Conference in Boston, and held the inaugural Ramsey Scholars Investment Summit. The following commentary was written by William Ahrens, a GWSB undergraduate student graduating in 2025 with a double major in Accountancy and Finance.

Market Commentary

Prepared by Will Ahrens, GW ’24

During the quarter, markets remained dynamic in response to the Federal Reserve’s evolving macroeconomic policy and heightened geopolitical tensions. On the domestic front, a high inflationary environment compounded with a strong labor market has influenced investor expectations of the Federal Reserve’s potential interest rate increases, with Federal Reserve officials signaling a single hike remains. While the outlook for future rate changes remains uncertain, the federal funds rate remains steady within a target range of 5.25% – 5.50%.

Notable performances were observed in the Energy (11.33%) and Communication Services (2.84%) sectors. Upstream and supermajor companies played a central role in the standout performance of the Energy sector throughout the period. However, other

sector equity returns remain depressed, facing a continued inflationary and uncertain environment returning: Utilities (-10.10%), Real Estate (-9.65%), Information Technology (-5.84%), Materials (-5.25%), Healthcare (-3.06%), and Financial Services (-1.60%). The Consumer Staples (-6.61%) and Consumer Discretionary (-5.00%) sectors remained negative throughout the quarter as companies and investors evaluated the impact of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) drugs on consumer habits, spending, and consumption.

Overall for the quarter, the GWII’s Student Investment Funds, in the aggregate, underperformed the benchmark with a return of -4.6% vs. -3.3% for the S&P 500 while outperforming the benchmark year over year at 24.5% vs. 21.6% for the S&P 500.

We invite you to review the full report below: