A Look Inside: Mason Investment Club

With all the ‘grown-up’ decisions that must be made in college, selecting a major is arguably one of the most difficult. My fascination for finance originated as a wee freshman, and before I knew it I was a member of all five Boehly Center clubs. Imagine a club centered around investments, a commonplace for students to come to understand the true art of investments; I present to you the Mason Investment Club.

At Investment Club, analysts have the opportunity to apply their knowledge of the markets at 7PM on Tuesday nights. First, analysts give quick updates on the current portfolio holdings, shortly thereafter we either welcome a guest speaker to discuss a current trend like blockchain/cryptocurrencies, or a student who will give a stock pitch recommendation.

I fondly remember attending my first investment club meeting. It was one of those nights that a student was going to pitch a stock, and from that night I fell in love with the thrill of keeping up with the stock market. Unfortunately, that semester I was obliged to attend an evening class every Tuesday at the same time that Investment Club met. I couldn’t officially call myself an analyst until the fall of my sophomore year.

If I am being honest, I didn’t feel I had the ‘bandwidth’ to join another club following my first year, however my passion for understanding the equities markets, valuing a company based on quantitative metrics, and interest to pursue investment management resulting in me making the exception to join investment club. I covered Nvidia for the majority of the fall semester, until the analysts decided that the stock had realized all our original theses, and Nvidia was an overvalued semiconductor.

One opportunity led to another, and in October, I was selected to pitch a stock at the University of Michigan’s Interactive Investment Competition alongside five brilliant peers. It was an incredible learning experience, as I was able to apply my self-taught knowledge to a stock pitch presentation. Our team decided to short (bet-against) Carmax, and if this was an internship interview I could go into more detail on our rationale; but I digress.

Just last week, I had the opportunity to pitch Texas Instruments to ~20 analysts, and the club decided to invest to add a safe value stock to our holdings. Every Tuesday from here on out, I will present the latest news on TI until we decide all catalysts/drivers have been priced in, and it would be in the interest of the fund to lock in our gains.

I enjoy how directly this organization’s purpose aligns with what I can envision myself doing upon graduation. More often than not, I am one of three girls (if that) who attend these meetings on Tuesday nights, and truly encourage all interested in the future of our economy to consider attending a meeting. There’s no need for me to reiterate, but how else would you understand my desire to share this article. Simply put, I love intellectual discussion on how international events, politics, and even how technology may impact the financial markets, and I always anticipate Tuesday nights in Miller 1088.