Leeds team wins 2018 CQA Investment Challenge

Two teams from the Leeds School of Business took first and sixth in the fifth annual, nationwide Chicago Quantitative Alliance (CQA) competition. The first-place team was comprised of John Palmer, Harrison Pearl and William Sun. The other team included Leeds students Daniel Bae and Wyatt Guernsey. 
 
The CQA challenge gives students first-hand experience in managing a portfolio, ranging from thesis construction, portfolio construction and portfolio rebalancing throughout the semester-long competition. Teams made up of graduate and undergraduate students from top schools around the country competed for a first-place $2,000 prize from October through March. The process required a disciplined quantitative approach to express an investment thesis, manage the portfolio over time and ensure that it is cash and beta neutral. 

“The CQA Challenge empowered me to see the investing world from a professional perspective,” said William Sun from the first place winning team. “We faced many similar challenges as professional investors in keeping a portfolio beta neutral, showing that investing is much more than just predicting which stocks will go up and down.”
 
The Leeds teams thank their external advisors as well as faculty advisor, Roberto Caccia. Jon Tesseo, Managing Director and Head of Quantitative Research at Signal Analytics and Trent Ambler from Trepco Capital Partners have both assisted with the competition in the past. This year, the advisors presented on quantitative methods for short and long-term equity investments, which helped the teams to think critically about their goals for the challenge. 
  
The students will be recognized for their achievement at the Leeds Centers Showcase on April 18th from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in room S135.