One of the best-supported student societies among the full-time MBA class is the MBA Investment Club. The club is focused on education and events, and is a great way for students to apply the theories studied in class to real-world investments. We manage an investment fund which encourages students to put forward case studies to support the inclusion of a stock or exchange-traded fund into the portfolio or to argue in favour of closing out a position.
Once the case study is presented, shareholders in the fund then vote on whether or not to buy or sell. Given the turmoil in the financial markets, it is unsurprising that caution has been the order of the day so far, with student investors opting to have a high proportion of the portfolio in cash with only defensive businesses with strong balance sheets being considered for inclusion to date.
In addition to running the fund, we have also presented a seminar series on the financial markets from a practitioner’s perspective which was held over the course of one week earlier this term, while meetings are occasionally convened (open to all MBA students) at which investment case studies are presented along with an overview of what is happening in global equity markets. We are hoping to arrange a number of ‘site visits’ to some of Dublin’s principal financial centres in the New Year to help further the class’s understanding of how the markets work and to give an opportunity for students to get to know and learn from some of the leading figures in Ireland’s investment community.
– Philip O’Sullivan