Bull or bear? Either way, students to open Nasdaq

Bull
or bear? Either way, students to open Nasdaq
…………………………………………………………………

BY MAILEEN HAMTO
Special to the Rice News

Three Jones
School students who recently won a national investment contest
have been invited to open trading at the Nasdaq stock exchange
Monday, April 30.

The opening
of Nasdaq’s MarketSite in New York City will be broadcast
live on CNBC at 8:30 a.m. CST.

Jeremy Chio,
Steve Harris and Ross Morgan, managers of the M.A. Wright
Investment Fund at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of
Management, won the Redefining Investment Strategy Education
Symposium, a national student investment strategy symposium
and portfolio competition held April 6-8 at the University
of Dayton in Ohio.

More than 40
schools from 25 states and Canada participated in the competition
that showcased student-run investment portfolios at various
business schools.

The Jones School’s
Wright Fund, an actual portfolio of equities managed by
a select group of students, was chosen as one of five finalists
in the value category by beating the fund’s index,
the S&P 500, by almost 6 percent from January 2000 to
2001. Grading criteria was approximately 50 percent for
returns and 50 percent for the presentation, followed by
a question-and-answer session.

Quality of presentation
and management strategy were key factors in securing the
win for the Jones School team, Chio said.

“One of
the judges in the value category paid a very nice compliment,
saying that the team was clearly the best presenter and
that he wished his own analysts could articulate their strategy
as well as the Wright Fund team,” he said. “We
demonstrated understanding of investment concepts and sound
methodology, displayed by our ability to clearly and concisely
field some tough questions by the judges.”

The invitation
to open Nasdaq trading places the students in an elite group
of company executives, politicians and celebrities who previously
opened the Nasdaq MarketSite.

“We’re
very excited by the opportunity to do something that few
people get the opportunity to do,” Chio said.

Winning the
national competition and the invitation to open Nasdaq trading
both are very meaningful rewards for the fund managers,
Harris said.

“Despite
our small portfolio size relative to other universities,
we have managed to distinguish ourselves among other student-run
funds across the country through our commitment and dedication
to the goals and objectives of the Wright Fund,” he
said.

We take our responsibilities
on the fund very seriously, and we’ve implemented many
systems and methodologies to help us realize our objective
of outperforming the S&P 500 and providing scholarships
to Jones students.”

The winning
team, along with adjunct faculty adviser Rocky McAshan,
received a bronze cast statue of a bull and bear in conflict.

The Wright Fund
was established in 1996 to provide students with hands-on
experience in both stock research and portfolio management.
Each student in the program is required to research and
present attractive opportunities to the entire membership,
which then votes on the action recommended by the student.
The membership decides the weightings of the particular
sectors in the fund. Currently, the fund attempts to allocate
investments in proportion to the S&P 500 weightings.
Periodically, the fund is rebalanced to adhere to these
requirements.

The competition
featured globally recognized investment strategists whose
firms manage between them more than $1 trillion of assets
and often are quoted in the financial press. Among the judges
were: Robert Froehlich, vice chairman of the Kemper Funds
Group and a managing director of Scudder Kemper Investments
Inc.; Joseph Battipaglia, chief investment strategist for
Gruntal & Co.; Ned Riley Jr., chief investment strategist
for the Global Fundamental Strategies team of State Street
Global Advisers; Elizabeth Mackay, chief investment strategist
and senior managing director at Bear Stearns; and Alfred
Goldman, corporate vice president and chief market strategist
for A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.

For more information
about the M.A. Wright Fund, visit <www.ruf.rice.edu/~admn543/>
or contact Jeremy Chio, chief operating officer, <chio@rice.edu>.

— Maileen
Hamto is assistant director of public relations at the Jesse
H. Jones Graduate School of Management.