From Ryan Baker of Coburg Consultants

 

How would you like to spend a lot of someone else’s money? You could buy land or a house, you could buy gold, or stocks, or a priceless piece of art. If you can make it bright and early on Tuesday mornings, Chris Mckenney and the Dalhousie MBA Hedge Fund can show you how, albeit with a little new lingo.

Each week, first and second year CRMBA students meet to manage their portfolios – fixed income, commodities, energy and utilities, foreign exchange and financial markets. With second years as portfolio managers and first years as associates, the Dal MBA Hedge Fund allows new students to utilize investment and risk management techniques in ways they would never see in the classroom.

“The purpose of the fund is to educate anyone interested in financial markets,” says David D’Cruz, first year MBA candidate, and next year’s chairman of the hedge fund.

“From active versus passive management, to growth versus value stocks, to risk identification and mitigation, the fund does an excellent job of really trying to bridge academic theory with practical application.”

That may be exactly what employers are looking for says Rick Nason, MBA finance professor . “Most finance careers are now in risk management or alternative assets. Having the group operate a paper hedge fund allows them to be more meticulous in their trade management.”

“When life gives you no money, you can still make lemonade,” says Dr. Nason.

After three years the Dalhousie MBA Hedge Fund has grown from modest roots. Kareem Sobaih, one of the founding members of the fund and current analyst for BMO’s Bank Credit Group recounts,  “It was literally just a bunch of students throwing around investment ideas, but it has transformed over the course of years from casual investment banter to an organized and complex paper fund.”

More than just talk, the hedge fund helps students prepare for a life in finance. This year, the Rowe School of Business introduced 12 new Bloomberg terminals to the investment and risk lab and offers free training for students to become Bloomberg certified.

While it has a modest past, there are high aspirations for the fund moving forward. In an effort to gain notoriety and maintain full transparency, next year’s fund managers will be publishing a monthly newsletter showcasing their investment strategy. This not only builds the reputation of the current and future fund managers, but allows the Dal MBA Hedge Fund to potentially expand into marketing, public relations and sales activities.

All in all, the Dal MBA Hedge Fund has been a venture built and run by CRMBA students, seeking to take their own education to the next level. Current fund chairman Chris Mckenney is excited about this ‘passing the torch’ mentality.

“This year, we were successful in earning positive returns, and most importantly, getting a very strong group of first year CRMBA’s interested in taking the fund to the next level. It is my hope that this will be something that future MBA students can use to differentiate themselves and the Dalhousie CRMBA program.”

Title quote attributed to Richard Nason, Ph.D