Students from the Stillman School of Business won the inaugural CBXmarket University Challenge, defeating 30 teams comprised of more than 100 students from various colleges across the country. The challenge was created by CBXmarket, a software company that provides market research, portfolio management and analytics on investment opportunities.
The challenge focuses on bond investment rather than equity, providing students an opportunity to work with their professional software.
According to Mark Schild, assistant dean at the Stillman School of Business, the group comprised of Anthony Pulverenti, Alex Pozesky, Aaron Varghese and Caroline Weeks, and advised by Professor Leo Cheung, won a rigorous, real-life example of fixed income portfolio management and trading.
“The team spent hours reviewing various fixed-income ideas for their portfolio decisions based on macro and micro issues,” Schild said. “The CBX platform was relatively easy to use and the experience was a great opportunity to practice.”
“I believe the key to winning the challenge was having a clear strategy and sticking to it,” senior finance and marketing major Anthony Pulverenti said.
“Decisions were made based on the idea that federal interest rates would increase over the course of the competition.”
Pulverenti went on to say that, “the prediction proved to be correct, which was reflected on the portfolio.”
“Ultimately I can say we had a great and supportive group dynamic,” Pulverenti said.
“Our team worked as a team and won as a team,” finance professor Elven Riley said. “I believe their centeredness is why they succeeded in the first place.”
According to Riley, accomplishments come with a number of benefits and opportunities.
“Doors can be opened and networks built from the individuals connected to the event as participants and very much as audience,” Riley said.
Professor Cheung said he is very proud of the
“This win demonstrates the student’s expertise in a highly important concept, as well as their ability to analyze the complex information they were given,” Cheung said. “The victory reflects the students’ ability to transform concepts into business practice. As well as the strong preparation that they received from Stillman and the entire Finance faculty over the years.”
The Stillman mission consists of “taking
“The educational experience of performance in the wild, not a classroom, dramatically crystallizes the skill set and brings life to the book knowledge we work so hard to deliver.”
“Having a great coach also helped,” Riley added.
“As for how this win can affect my career in the future, I honestly don’t know,” Pulverenti said. “It was a great way to test what we have learned in school and apply it into a real world situation. I’m not sure if winning this challenge opens any new career opportunities for me. But it certainly instilled in me a new confidence that I’m ready to apply what I’ve learned at Seton Hall to the real world after my graduation in May.”
Emilio Garcia can be reached at emilio.garcia@student.shu.edu.
