1st PLACE at the 2021 CFAOC RFP Competition
COB 2021 Winners Student Managed Investment Fund.
The Finance Department’s Beach Investment Group (BIG) won first place in the CFA Society of Orange County Foundation's (CFAOCF) RFP Competition for Student Managed Investment Funds. CFAOCF created the competition to provide an innovative way to educate students on the fundamentals of investing and portfolio management. Undergraduate student teams from local universities competed for the opportunity to manage a portfolio that has historically averaged about $100,000. Cal State Fullerton finished second in the competition, followed by Cal Poly Pomona, Chapman University, and UC Riverside.
The experience of competing gave students like Adam Presnall a great opportunity: “We were surprised when the judges announced CSULB BIG program as the winner. The other schools did an excellent job. Since every group presented a different way to analyze the same financial environment and optimize different solutions, it was difficult to know until the end who was best. The overall experience was very enlightening, additionally, it gave us the opportunity to meet other students with shared interests and meet many CFAOC members. I cannot recommend it enough.”
Ulises Guzman, another BIG student, shared his thoughts about being a part of the program and having access to resources like the Bloomberg Terminals: “The Beach Investment Group (BIG) has been a great hands-on experience, often working on many complex analyses of the economy, sector reputation, and security evaluation. We have to stay up to date on current events and come to a conclusion that is best for the portfolio. This year we experienced a sector rotation moving away from Covid-friendly securities to more value and safe plays. We also experienced high inflation rates and volatility that we haven’t seen in decades. Nonetheless, BIG has been a great learning curve as my peers and I have helped each other learn more about portfolio management through the Bloomberg Terminals.”
Serving as the Executive Vice President of the Beach Investment Group, Bridgett England said of her experience: “The CFAOC RFP competition was one of the most rewarding parts of Beach Investment Group. My team and I worked incredibly hard, long, tiring hours to perfect the pitch and ended up with 1st place for the first time in over 5 years. BIG taught me what it is like to be a leader not just throughout the CFAOC RFP, but throughout the entire year. I want to thank Dr. Ammermann for helping teach me those skills.”
Special thanks to all the CFAOC Judges, and of course CSULB College of Business Program Director Peter Ammermann for their effort and support in making this event happen!
The team of students from CSU Long Beach will be managing the Foundation's largest portfolio for the 2022 calendar year.
Student Managed Investment Fund are preparing the Requests for Proposal for the 2022 competition.
The date for the 2022 RFP Competition is scheduled for the first week in December of 2022. We welcome all membership and corporate leadership to attend and see some of Orange County's brightest students in action.
Check out the video recording of the presentations.
For more information, view the CFAOCF SMIF Program Flyer.
