Beedie MSc Finance students take top prize at RISE investment portfolio competition

The Beedie School of Business RISE team. From left to right: Raymond Chan, Ehsan Seyedin, Gary Gu and Allen Liu.

For the second consecutive year, MSc in Finance students from Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business have won a major award at the prestigious RISE (Redefining Investment Strategy Education) investment competition hosted at the University of Dayton in Ohio – the world’s largest competition of its kind.

The Beedie students won first place in the Balanced Investment Style category for their work on the Student Investment Advisory Service (SIAS) fund, the student-run investment fund which sees Beedie students managing $11.8 million of the university’s endowment portfolio.

Ehsan Seyedin, Raymond Chan, Gary Gu, and Allen Liu attended RISE to represent the SIAS fund and present the entire team’s work on the risk-adjusted return of the portfolio from December 2012 to January 2013.

The SIAS fund was judged to have the best risk adjusted return in its category, underscoring the quality of mentorship and teaching from which the current cohort has benefited, along with the hard work they have put into the fund.

“It was truly a privilege for the four of us to represent the SIAS fund at the 2013 RISE Conference in Dayton,” said Chan. “Winning first place in the Balanced Investment Style category for the second consecutive year is testament to the hard work that both our current team and the previous cohort have invested in SIAS.”

The SIAS fund is Canada’s largest student-run investment fund, and one of the largest such funds in North America. The fund is managed by students from the Beedie School of Business Master of Science in Finance program, providing them with invaluable real world investment, risk management and compliance experience.

Now in its thirteenth year, RISE is the world’s largest and longest running student investment forum, each year bringing finance industry leaders together to share their perspectives on economic and market trends, forecasts and critical issues with students, faculty and professionals.

This year’s forum ran from April 4 – 6, and attracted nearly 2,400 participants including two Federal Reserve Bank presidents, stellar panelists and moderators from the finance industry. CNBC’s Steve Liesman and Bloomberg Radio’s Kathleen Hays broadcast live from the event.

For more information on RISE, visit www.udayton.edu/business/rise/

For more information on the SIAS fund, visit https://beedie.sfu.ca/sias/