The Fund @ Sprott: An investment in real-world success
Real Funds and Real Experience Result in Big Returns for Students
Today’s class assignment? Work out a great investment strategy. The Fund @ Sprott has been providing real, hands-on learning opportunities that provide students with a tremendous advantage once they graduate, whether they go on to further education or enter the professional world. This year, 22 finance students in the Sprott School of Business will work together to manage and grow the portfolio’s million dollars in assets and get a taste of what their futures may hold.
“Coming out of the fund, we have very successful student placements including Export Development Canada (EDC) and at Brookfield Asset Management,” said Howard Nemiroff, faculty advisor for the Fund @ Sprott and an associate professor with the Sprott School of Business. “We have graduates working in Toronto on the Direct Energy trading desk, at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in wealth management and at Barclays working on the energy desk.”
Students working with the fund are given the opportunity to learn investment strategies in a team environment. All members contribute to the analysis process; helping to assemble the ideal portfolio that safely and wisely grows the fund’s capital.
“I would go so far as to say that those who participate in the fund for a year or two will do more in that time than graduates will do in their first two or three years on the job,“ said Nemiroff. “Typically, you will see students who have been involved with the fund proceeding along a very successful career path at an accelerated rate. They are often looked at first when entering competitions for jobs or graduate school admissions.”
“I credit the fund with getting me into a top American graduate finance program,” said James Heard, MSF, energy analyst with Barclays investment banking. “After just a month in graduate school, Barclays hired me. I think it is fair to credit the fund and Sprott for getting me my first job. My graduate school interview focused on the intangible skills I learned at the fund, including leadership, teamwork, recruiting and motivational skills.
“Working at the fund gave me the confidence to communicate value related material. When I am discussing business or investment decisions, I lean on my time at the fund, which gave me the skills to defend my recommendations. That is interviewing 101 in investment banking, having these discussions on the fly as people pepper you with questions.”
The fund’s goal has always been to give as much responsibility and direction to students as possible. The students, with faculty oversight, take the fund where they want it to go. This enables students to pursue whatever avenues they deem to be prudent or interesting. They must stay grounded in theory and answer the hard questions. They bring ideas and tasks to the faculty advisor, not the other way around, and that is unique.
This opportunity attracts a wide variety of students and it’s difficult to identify any single characteristic that makes a candidate ideal for the fund. However, one thing that is always desirable in a candidate is a spark of curiosity.
“I am looking for the student who is willing to lift up the rocks and see what is underneath, rather than just looking at the textbook and saying this is what I need to know as part of the exam, “ said Nemiroff. “They must want to go that extra mile and think outside the box. When it comes to finance and specifically to money management, there is a lot outside the box. Nobody really knows the right answers because there are no right answers. Those that are willing to go out and explore and do their due diligence are those that shine. They are the ones that also shine when they go out for interviews.”
“To me the decision to join the fund was very personal, as I have always been curious about the financial markets,” said Sydney Van Vierzen, portfolio manager at the Fund @Sprott and Bachelor of Commerce student. “When I heard about the fund, it wasn’t so much an opportunity to answer the questions I already had, it was an avenue to discover new questions I hadn’t realized. I wanted to expand my understanding and immerse myself in the world of finance.
“I was trying to explore the opportunities here at Carleton and learn more about various business disciplines when I discovered the fund,” said Mimi Lam, sector manager with the Fund @ Sprott and Bachelor of International Business student. “It was through the fund that I discovered my passion for finance. Work on the fund takes the knowledge you gain in class and removes it from the classroom setting. It gives you a better sense of what real life is all about.
“It is hard to say what opportunities may be right around the corner for me. I am open to anything finance related. However, I am confident the fund has prepared me for anything I’ll encounter after I graduate.“
About the Fund @ Sprott
The Fund @ Sprott was established in September 2007 with $50,000 of endowment capital and the mandate to give standout students in Carleton’s Sprott School of Business the opportunity to engage in real investment management. During the first four years, the students managed to grow the capital base by 25 per cent, despite one of the worst economic recessions in history. In 2011, the Sprott School committed an additional $1 million in the fund. Alumni of the fund have gone on to successful careers in investment management at such organizations as Bank of Canada, Barclays, Barra MSCI, Brookfield Asset Management, Export Development Canada, Morgan Stanley, RBC Capital Markets and TD Waterhouse.
(Reprint of article posted in Carleton University Newsroom)