Introduction
During the quarter that ended on March 31, 2024, the GW Investment Institute (GWII) hosted ten industry professionals across two finance classes. GWII launched the Quantitative Investing Project, with 13 students working to create a Python model that applied the GWII Framework. At the GWII 2024 Annual Conference, we connected over 60 students, faculty, and alumni with industry professionals to discuss the intersection of finance and artificial intelligence (AI). The following commentary was written by Laura Null, a GWSB junior graduating in 2025 with a major in Finance.
Market Commentary
Prepared by Laura Null, GW ’25
The first quarter of 2024 was marked by heightened anticipation of a recessionary downturn and interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. However, a stronger-than-anticipated economic performance, a steady 1.6% GDP growth rate, and persistent inflation have delayed rate cuts until an anticipated hawkish pivot in June at the earliest. Further, weakened bond market yields propelled the bullish trajectory of the U.S. Equities despite diminished global economic activity.
The first quarter of 2024 demonstrated solid economic growth, with notable performances from Energy (13.6%) and Technology (8.5%), primarily driven by optimism around the AI revolution. Additionally, a drastic increase in demand for data centers drove demand for electricity and NVIDIA’s spotlight 19.0% Q1 revenue growth. The anticipated lower interest rate environment provided significant tailwinds for Financial Services (12.5%), which is expected to continue throughout the year. Other notable performances include Communication Services (12.8%), Industrials (11.0%), Materials (9.1%), Health Care (8.9%), Consumer Staples (6.9%), and Utilities (4.6%). Real Estate was the only sector in the red, undermined by the weakened bond market and the aforementioned outlook for rate cuts.
The performance of the GWII Student Investment Funds in Q1 2024 was 15.0%, outperforming the benchmark by 4.4%. This growth was led primarily by the GW Ramsey Fund, which delivered 18.2%, outperforming the S&P 500 Index by 7.6%. The GW Phillips Fund and GW Quant Fund delivered 10.3% and 9.7%, respectively, modestly underperforming the S&P 500 Index return of 10.6% for Q1. The GW Real Estate Fund was down -2.6%, which is in line with macroeconomic trends for that sector.
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