UVic MBAs place first in annual stock competition

(L–R): Coach Mia Maki with the winners Kourosh Ahmadian, Rodrigo Teixeira, Ryan Bradford, Sukhchain Gill, Tristan Hasselback, Tolgahan Yildiz and Chisato Komamiya. PHOTO: UVic Photo Services

For the second time in five years, UVic MBA students have emerged on top in the annual Financial Post MBA Portfolio Management Competition. The challenge sees Canadian MBA students invest $100,000 in fantasy money with the goal of earning the highest total return.

The UVic team won by a “landslide,” according to organizer David Pett of the National Post. Team UVic ended the competition with a 43-per-cent return, adding $43,000 to their initial amount. Each participating team used its pretend money to buy, sell and even short any stock or exchange-traded fund listed on the TSX, NYSE, Nasdaq or AMEX during regular trading hours.
“Our strategy focused on three main areas of the market—energy, commodities and technology stocks,” says team member Kourosh Ahmadian. “By engaging in prudent stock analysis and research, we were able to identify value stocks that provided short-term gains and limited downside risk.”

“This shows the incredible calibre of students here at UVic Business,” says Mia Maki, FCMA, coach and senior instructor in the entrepreneurship program. “Not only did they master many aspects of stock market trading, the team was very diverse and they had to quickly learn how to work together to develop and execute a winning strategy.”

A diverse group of seven students with undergraduate degrees in finance, business and economics representing Canada, India, Brazil/USA, Turkey, and Japan formed the team: Ryan Bradford, Rodrigo Teixeira, Chisato Komamiya, Kourosh Ahmadian, Sukhchain Gill, Tristan Hasselback and Tolgahan Yildiz.
The competition began Oct. 15, 2009, with 15 MBA schools competing.