Competition shines a light on finance students

(Left to right) Carlos Consuegra, Maria Chahin, Jacob Grohoski and Daniel Riley represented the FIU Phoenician Investment Fund at the 2016 National Investment Banking Competition in Vancouver.

At first glance, spending seven hours locked in a hotel room doesn’t seem like much of an honor. But that’s what it was for four undergraduate College of Business students, all members of the Phoenician Investment Fund (PIF). The quartet was chosen as one of 24 university teams to participate in the 2016 National Investment Banking Competition, held this spring.

Phoenician’s case during the competition centered on AT&T acquiring a cable and satellite firm. They had to emerge with a presentation based on a transaction, complete with financials and forward-looking contingencies.

“Everything you do in the competition is what you would do working as an investment banking analyst,” said team member Carlos Consuegra, who is working on his BBA with a focus on finance and international business.

In the end, Phoenician Investment wasn’t one of the two teams picked for the finals. But that did little to dampen their enthusiasm.

“We had opportunities to network with top representatives of the visiting firms,” said team member Maria Chahin, who is also working on her BBA in finance and international business.

The Phoenician Investment Fund was started several years ago. Its name evokes the ancient trading nation that plied the Mediterranean and Aegean centuries before Greece reached its glory. The FIU group’s trades are now made without actual money, but students are working on creating a funded option – another way to prepare for finance and investment jobs.

To read the full story on the Phoenician Investment Fund, click here: Competition shines a light on FIU Finance students.