SUNY Plattsburgh Takes Third Place in Investment Competition

A team of SUNY Plattsburgh business students claimed third place for the inaugural Adirondack Cup investment competition, sponsored by Adirondack Small Cap Mutual Fund.

Eric Alvayero, Charles Linder, Daniel McKenna, Stefano Mineo, C.J. Saunders and Khary Ward comprised the team. They were among students from 18 colleges and universities across the Northeast who participated in the competition.

Throughout the fall of 2011 into 2012, students managed a hypothetical small-cap portfolio of stocks valued at $1 million each while benefitting from the knowledge and experience of the Adirondack portfolio managers, SUNY Plattsburgh alumni Matt Reiner and Greg Roeder. The goals of the competition are to teach students the difference between trading stocks and thinking through their investment decisions for the long term and to help them make appropriate connections in the financial services sector as they enter the job market.

“The Adirondack Cup was highlighted by an impressive performance by the top teams,” Reiner said. “The winner, Ithaca College, posted a 36.3 percent return during the contest.”

Hofstra University posted a 33.8 point return, taking second place, and SUNY Plattsburgh’s team posted a 32.6 percent return for third.

Other colleges participating included Siena College, Skidmore College, St. John Fisher College, St. Lawrence University. Wesleyan University, Union Graduate College, Simon School at Rochester and SUNY colleges and universities in Albany, Stony Brook, Bingham, Brockport, Geneseo and Buffalo.

At the start of the competition in October 2011, students were expected to do their research, create a thesis on their stock picks and determine investments and allocations by Oct. 14. Each portfolio had to include a hypothetical $1 million invested in five small-cap stocks. Each of the five stock picks had to be from a different industry — technology, health care, consumer staples among them — and each holding had to be at least five percent but not more than 50 percent of the portfolio. Teams were allowed to make changes to their portfolio only twice during the contest period, on Dec. 16 of last year and Feb. 17 of this year.

The winning teams were presented with awards at a reception held in Guilderland in April where team members met with the Adirondack team and dozens of members of the financial services industry.

“The great part of this contest was meeting the various teams and discussing their investment philosophies,” Roeder said. “The students were well prepared and took the competition seriously. It was fun to see the Adirondack Cup reignite a few longtime college rivalries and perhaps start some new ones.”