Four Manning School Students Attend CQA Institute’s Advanced Investment Management Course
Image by courtesy
06/24/2019
By Ed Brennen
Manning School of Business student Greg Montemurro did some quick back-of-the-napkin math and came up with an astonishing figure: $4 trillion.
That’s the combined assets managed by the lecturers at the Chicago Quantitative Alliance (CQA) Institute’s second annual Advanced Investment Management (AIM) course, an intensive two-week summer seminar that four Manning School finance students recently attended at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.
Katie Sanchez, Bony Ganugapanta, Thavady Pech and Montemurro were among just 26 undergraduate business students from around the world to participate in the highly selective program, which is led by experienced investment management professionals.
Students developed software and systems skills, competed in teams to establish and present investment strategies, networked with CQA members and visited Wall Street during a trip to New York City.
“It was an absolute honor to participate in the course,” says Sanchez, a rising senior business administration major from Lawrence with concentrations in finance and marketing. “Not only did I learn from the real-world experience of accomplished investment professionals, but through the team capstone project, I got to present an investment strategy to a mock board and convince the board to allot us additional capital for a portfolio.”
“I can’t thank the CQA Institute enough for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime and letting me show other Hispanic women in finance that we can do it.” -Finance student Katie Sanchez
Manning School students also participated in the inaugural AIM course in 2018. Students were nominated for the course by faculty members and then had to write essays for scholarships. Funding for the students’ $2,500 tuition once again came from a mix of college funds and scholarships, which included contributions by alum Ed Keon ’77, a CQA member who manages over $50 billion in multiasset portfolios with Prudential Financial.
“The course was incredible,” says Montemurro, a rising junior business administration major from Westford with concentrations in finance and analytics and operations management. “I have no doubt that some of the mentors I gained will have an impact on my career.”
Montemurro, whose team won the investment strategy competition, is attending a CQA event in Boston in July where members will review quantitative investment research as part of an academic competition.
As one of only seven women chosen for the course, and as the only Hispanic student, Sanchez felt an additional sense of pride in attending.
“I can’t thank the CQA Institute enough for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime and letting me show other Hispanic women in finance that we can do it,” Sanchez says. “I am now a better student, a more knowledgeable person and have gained forever friends from all over the world.”