Educating students on the fundamentals of investing is an ongoing effort for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. It is an institution for learning, after all.
After opening its Institute of Financial Literacy & Wellness to provide classes and credentials in financial wellness during the fall 2023 semester, the university is encouraging students to advance their knowledge by participating in its inaugural President’s Investment Challenge.
For eight weeks, which started Feb. 14, the university-wide competition encourages students to form teams of two to five members, and manage a $500,000 investment portfolio through an account in a virtual stock trading simulator.
Teams are mentored by faculty advisers and local industry experts such as Diane Tuntland, chief investment officer of the investment manager Endowment Partners.
Competition rules note that eligible assets that may be traded include domestic stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, futures, options and cryptocurrencies. While there is still debate on the fundamental value of digital assets, the topic cannot be avoided and encourages “constructive discussion” as students assess cryptocurrencies in the challenge, noted Daniel Chi, a professor and chair of the Department of Finance at the university’s Lee Business School.
Finalists will present their portfolios to a panel of judges on April 28, when the top-performing team’s members will be awarded a total $4,000 scholarship. The second-place winner will receive $3,000, while the third-place winner will receive $2,000.
Scoring criteria is 50% portfolio performance, 20% strategy and rationale, 20% risk management and 10% team collaboration and presentation.
As of March 3 among 84 teams, a group called “The Big Short” is leading the competition with a portfolio with a value of more than $682,000, and a net return of 36.5%. Used as the benchmark for the competition, the S&P 500 index posted a return of -4.6% during the same period.
While it’s too early to tell if the challenge will encourage non-finance students to consider studying and pursuing careers in the field, Chi said he suspects that a few students may choose to by making informed decisions from what they’ve learned through the period.
“We are in the business of educating students: help them identify their gift and passion, informing their opportunities, so that they can make informed decisions in choosing a field that matches their gift and passion with the opportunities,” Chi added. “We are helping them solve this matching problem.”
