Written by Jack Devlin CEO, Queen's Student Managed Fund

The Queen’s Student Managed Fund was pleased to present at our annual pitching event, in Davy Belfast in April. Following a year of hard work learning about company fundamentals, stock valuation and of course great social activities, the annual pitching event is when the analysts and sector heads have their chance to present their buy recommendations for the Fund to a panel of industry professionals.

Now valued at over £35,000, the Student Managed Fund provides an unrivalled learning experience for Queen’s Students, where they can learn about markets and invest real money in stocks, each year leaving their mark on the fund. Consistently outperforming the market, the Fund has moved from strength to strength in recent years, with special thanks to our sponsors, Davy Group, and the Oversight Committee.

Throughout the year, students gained their Bloomberg Market Concepts certification and learned the principles of investing, followed by industry speakers and an opportunity to complete their own research into companies in the FTSE 350 Index and international Exchange Traded Funds. The pitching event was a culmination of this research, where the best proposals were put forward for the event.

Companies in the Energy, Consumer Staples, Financials, Consumer Discretionary, Real Estate sectors were pitched, with an interesting addition of a Clean Energy ETF pitched from members of the Macro Sector. The standard of pitching was outstanding, with evidence of experiential learning paying off. Students were diverse, with representatives from all academic years and different subjects: from Finance to Politics and International Business with a Language. One key component of each presentation was an Environmental, Social and Governance section, where the standards of responsible investing were exhibited, a key focus for the Fund.

An important aspect of the Fund is the excellent employability benefits, where students can add a fantastic opportunity to their CV, meet with industry professionals and gain from in-depth and real-life experience. Four members of the Fund will go on to work with Davy Group through a Summer Internship while in the past, members have gone on to graduate roles in Davy (Belfast & Dublin). Real asset management during study is extremely beneficial to any student, from both a learning perspective and an employability perspective.

I would like to thank Dr. Alan Hanna, Dr Barry Quinn, Aine Gallagher and Joseph Harrigan who have worked with the fund in developing the strategy and organising events throughout the academic year.

Thank you to Davy for hosting us in their Belfast offices, with a fantastic reception after the event.

After a fantastic year, I am proud of the progress of our analysts, of the insights displayed and the learning opportunities we have had. Of course, it has also been phenomenal to watch the assets under management continue to grow and outperform the market. I look forward to seeing the future success of the Fund as it continues to grow.