Category: Investment funds

During the quarter ended March 31, 2023 the GW Investment Institute (GWII) hosted 15 industry professionals across four finance classes, continued to integrate FactSet into class curriculum and worked with BlackRock to introduce a new cohort of students to their Aladdin technology. Additionally, on March 24 the GWII held the 2023 Annual Conference – Quant Investing for over 60 attendees with alumnus Aron Kershner as the keynote speaker. The following commentary is written by Alyssa Shen, a GW School of Business senior, graduating with a B.S. in Finance and B.S. in Economics. Alyssa is the Co-President of the GW Finance and Investment Club and is an incoming investment banking analyst at Citigroup.

Full Report: GWII Quarterly Report March 2023

At the start of the quarter, equities and fixed income reacted positively to falling inflation (CPI 5.1%), signs of slowing monetary tightening, and China’s economic reopening. Inflation was the focus of 2022 and now is beginning to ease in Q1 of 2023 following lower energy prices and rate hikes. In March, the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank shook the financial sector, leading to major sell offs in the U.S. and European markets. The Fed increased the federal funds rate by just 25 basis points. As businesses rebalanced their inventories and pulled back spending, GDP growth slowed to 1.1% year over year, below expectations of 2.0%. Further, the geopolitical backdrop remains challenging with the continued war in the Ukraine and tensions between the U.S. and China. 

The S&P 500 closed the first quarter with a growth of 7.5%, bringing the year over year decline to 9.6%. Consumer Discretionary (+16.2%), Technology (+21.6%), and Communication Services (+21.3%) rebounded drastically in Q1, with Consumer Staples (+0.7), Real Estate (+1.9%), Industrials (+3.5%), and Materials (+4.3%) sectors remaining positive. Energy (-4.4%), Financials (-5.6%), Health Care (-4.31%), and Utilities (-3.2%) were the greatest laggards.

The quarter ended in March 31 2023, the GWII’s Student Investment Funds in aggregate outperformed the benchmark with a return of 12.2% vs. 7.5% for the S&P 500, while also outperforming the benchmark year over year at -5.5% vs. -7.8% for the S&P 500.

Last weekend (April 29 and 30) students in Applied Financial Securities Analysis (FINA 4101) class pitched their buy and sell stock recommendations for the GW Phillips Student Investment Fund. The fund was launched in 2008 and it currently has over $2.5 million in assets under management (as of 5/2/2023). Check out the most recent GWII Quarterly Report for the fund’s performance details. 

During the Stock Pitch Days each student used the collective knowledge that they have 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 for the recommendation to be accepted for the portfolio. 

Here is a brief summary from the GW Phillips Stock Pitch Days:

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

A special thank you to our teaching assistants Trevor Haen and Shirin Rateshari as well as alumni speakers. 

Professor Lake and Song look forward to teaching two sections of the FINA 4101 class in the Fall of 2023.

Last week students in our Quantitative Investing class presented their quantitative models and investment recommendations for the GW Quant Student Investment Fund. The fund was established in 2021 and currently has over $98,000 in assets under management (as of 5/5/2023).

Further, thank you to Aron Kershner, our portfolio advisor, who has supported us since the inception of the GW Quant Student Investment Fund. Also thank you to our guest speakers Ethan Baron and Joseph Pecora for your valuable feedback and insights into the quantitative investing world. Mr. Baron and Mr. Pecora are alumni of the class who now work as quantitative analysts.

We look forward to running the FINA 4103 Quantitative Investing class in the Spring of 2024.

Last week we held final startup idea presentations in our venture capital class co-taught by Professors Bill Collier and Rodney Lake. During the semester the student teams built startup companies and also competed with their ideas in the New Venture Competition (NVC). Five teams made it to the semi-finals of the NVC. 

For the students’ culminating course experience, teams pitched their startups ideas to professors and alumni: Dr. Randy Graves, James Huckenpahler, and Bojana Jankovic. All student teams focused on building product solutions within the tech industry, see below for more information:

In the fall 2023 semester Prof. Collier is teaching another Foundations of Venture Capital class, stay tuned for more details. 

Thank you for your generosity on GW’s Giving Day and your continued support for the GW Investment Institute! Stats for the GW Investment Institute (GWII) on GW Giving Day April 4/5, 2023:

Special thanks to our student and alumni advocates; and our GWII Team:

Check out a brief video by our team from April 5th:

You can still support us by giving via go.gwu.edu/givetogwii.

Thanks for your continued commitment to support experiential investment learning at GW.

Raise High!

Rodney E. Lake, Director, GW Investment Institute

The GW Investment Institute hosted the 2023 Annual Conference on Friday, March 24th in Ric and Dawn Duquès Hall, connecting 60+ students, faculty, and alumni with industry practitioners and professionals to discuss the latest developments and advancements in quantitative investing. The conference brought together invaluable perspectives and insight into the rapidly developing space and offered students an opportunity to hear first-hand how to prepare to enter this emerging career opportunity. To learn more about the conference and our featured guests, please access the GWII 2023 Annual Conference Summary and Booklet.

GW graduate student advocate Hilal Uyanik reflected on her experience in the GW Ramsey Student Investment Fund class. Hilal is graduating in May 2023 form GWSB with MS in Management with a concentration in portfolio & investment management.

“My time at The GW Investment Institute has provided me with invaluable experience and knowledge I can apply in future full-time roles. The institute presents students with many opportunities such as panel discussions with alumni in the field, real-time market exposure, and the opportunity to learn software essential to the industry, such as FactSet. FactSet provides students useful analytics including global market and individual stock data to further aid in decision-making while analyzing the portfolio. With the use of FactSet, I was successfully able to analyze risks associated with the energy & utilities sector of the GW Ramsey portfolio and eventually manage the risk by constructing a buy-sell pitch to present to fellow analysts within the fund. 
This Giving Day I invite you to support GWII so that students like me can continue to have access to FactSet.” 

Tomorrow is an exciting day at George Washington University – it’s Giving Day (April 4-5, 2023), and I’m reaching out to ask for your support for the GW Investment Institute.

The GW Investment Institute (GWII) teaches GW students how to invest by managing real endowment capital (currently managing over $6.5 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 enable GW Investment Institute students to have FactSet, an industry tool for financial research. FactSet enables our students to become real-world practitioners of finance, but we need your help. Our current subscription expires at the end of the fiscal year and we ask for your help in securing $30,000 for this excellent investment in our curriculum. Every dollar counts.

How is FactSet used in our classes and what are the benefits of using FactSet?

– Our teaching assistant Trevor Haen shared more about how we currently use FactSet to enhance learning opportunities in finance classes. Please read Trevor’s blog post to learn more. 

-Sophomore Will Ahrens reflected on his experience in Phillips Student Investment Fund class in a blog post.  

We’re counting on our dedicated alumni and supporters to help us reach our goal and continue to provide our students with resources to help them succeed in their careers. Thank you for your continued commitment to support experiential learning through the GW Investment Institute.

Raise High!

Rodney E. Lake

Professor and Director, GW Investment Institute

There was always a buzz in the Wellde Capital Markets Trading Room (Duquès Hall 155) each time I walked by during my freshman year at GW: small cohorts of students seemingly the most engaged I had ever seen, the tops of heads poking above the Bloomberg Terminal monitors, and the ticker tape infinitely scrolling. I knew I wanted to be in that environment the second I walked by.

With the start of the fall 2022 semester, I found myself sitting in the Wellde Capital Markets Trading Room room taking the GW Phillips Student Investment Fund course. The semester quickly picked up pace as I began scouring the Consumer Discretionary & Staples sector for interesting long-term investment recommendations. Armed with FactSet, my peers and I were equipped with an industry tool to evaluate comparable companies, perform transaction analyses, conduct detailed stock screenings, and read Wall Street equity research reports. FactSet was an invaluable tool in forming my investment recommendation to buy Kellogg Co., (K) and sell General Mills, Inc., (GIS). My investment thesis was to add value to the portfolio through Kellogg’s proposed spin-off transaction.  

Similarly, the incorporation of FactSet enabled me to seamlessly integrate its tools into how I began to think about investing and capital markets. When I hear of an interesting opportunity, the first thing I do is check FactSet, giving me a general overview and understanding in order to develop an informed opinion. The vast amount of information has enhanced my comprehension of financial markets and analysis furthering my interest in a career in investment management.

My experience in the GW Phillips Student Investment Fund course was one of the most memorable and truly engaging courses I have taken at GW. Having access to tools used by investment professionals in an academic environment is an enriching experience.

On GW’s Giving Day (April 4th and 5th), the GW Investment Institute needs your help continuing to provide students like me an experiential learning experience. Please support the GW Investment Institute in reaching its goal of $30,000 to provide students FactSet for the year. 

Best regards, 

William Ahrens, BS ‘25, Finance

In the fall of 2022, Will was enrolled in the GW Phillips Student Investment Fund course and this spring he is enrolled in Venture Capital course with the GWII.

This upcoming GW Giving Day (April 4 and 5, 2023) we are raising funds for a FactSet subscription! Access to FactSet is instrumental for the research that our students perform in our classes and ultimately helps to improve the probability for higher performance for our GW Student Investment Funds. Our alumni advocate and Teaching Assistant Trevor Haen shared how FacSet is incorporated into weekly assignments and class overall. 

Additionally, the FactSet platform is available to all students, faculty and staff at GW.

“FactSet is a comprehensive financial information system that provides accurate and timely data on financial statements, real-time market tracking, industry analysis, and more. The GWII has quickly and fully incorporated the resource into the curriculum, aiding students in fundamental and quantitative stock research. Through conducting company research, forecasting financial statements, and creating valuation models, students generate high-quality analyses of portfolio holdings and investment recommendations. The industry standard software has facilitated a unique hands-on learning experience for students and prepares them for careers in the financial services industry.”

During the upcoming GW Giving Day please consider making a gift to support students’ access to FactSet! Click to donate: go.gwu.edu/givetogwii