DePaul Student Team in Houston
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The M Demon Fund (Driehaus College of Business, DePaul University) prepares students for careers in finance, especially in the areas of trading, risk management (market, credit and operation) and operations. Part of this preparation is teaching alternative finance subjects: commodity trading and energy market and risk management. In an attempt to help students apply this tricky subject matter, Prof McNew is taking 12 students to Houston in March, 2015, to visit more than 15 companies, to learn exactly what they do from real professionals at site visits. This is a costly venture. The University does not fund these trips and the entire cost of running the M Demon Fund (minus trip expense) is covered by McNew. However, site visits (both in Chicago and at the energy center hub) are valuable teaching tools. We are asking for help in raising funds for this trip as our students come from diverse financial backgrounds.
The M Demon fund is currently the only student-run proprietary foreign exchange fund in the nation, trading a spot EUR non-discretionary, non-coded low frequency algorithmic model incorporating exponential moving averages, stop losses and limits set by GIRTH. Alpha produced by a trend following system. Highest beta is operational risk. Fund leverage is approximately 2:1. Owner/Managing Director of M Demon Fund Leslie K. McNew and is treated as an experiential learning tool.
Preparing students to enter careers in trading, modeling, risk management and operations requires the student to self-regulate their learning, applying traditional academic knowledge to practical market issues and increasing their professional, quantitative and behavioral skillset. The M Demon Fund is a self-regulated learning vehicle to promote the acquisition of this knowledge, demonstrating that the student can both produce returns above and beyond what was expected (“alpha”) and actively take ownership of their own learning process. The Fund is a student managed proprietary foreign exchange vehicle trading spot EUROs, using a non-discretionary, low frequency algorithmic model. Besides trading and modeling, students develop a framework for risk management, operations, compliance, and marketing; the results are quarterly reported to an Advisory Board by the more outstanding students. We demonstrate that directed tasks for the goals of a business can lead students to gain understanding of the value and application of financial knowledge; team members are encouraged to choose the method to complete the task based on individual and team skill sets, with an eye towards successful execution and sustainability. Accountability is left to the individual department, the team and the professor. Students that grasp the importance of learning more complicated knowledge are rewarded with leadership positions within the fund, the ability to present quarterly to the advisory board, networking opportunities, internships and exciting careers. Our challenge empowers and embeds within the students the concept of self-sufficiency; as markets change or the trading models are improved, students must improve foundation knowledge to adapt to real time markets.
The M Demon fund is currently the only student-run proprietary foreign exchange fund in the nation, trading a spot EUR non-discretionary, non-coded low frequency algorithmic model incorporating exponential moving averages, stop losses and limits set by GIRTH. Alpha produced by a trend following system. Highest beta is operational risk. Fund leverage is approximately 2:1. Owner/Managing Director of M Demon Fund Leslie K. McNew and is treated as an experiential learning tool.
Preparing students to enter careers in trading, modeling, risk management and operations requires the student to self-regulate their learning, applying traditional academic knowledge to practical market issues and increasing their professional, quantitative and behavioral skillset. The M Demon Fund is a self-regulated learning vehicle to promote the acquisition of this knowledge, demonstrating that the student can both produce returns above and beyond what was expected (“alpha”) and actively take ownership of their own learning process. The Fund is a student managed proprietary foreign exchange vehicle trading spot EUROs, using a non-discretionary, low frequency algorithmic model. Besides trading and modeling, students develop a framework for risk management, operations, compliance, and marketing; the results are quarterly reported to an Advisory Board by the more outstanding students. We demonstrate that directed tasks for the goals of a business can lead students to gain understanding of the value and application of financial knowledge; team members are encouraged to choose the method to complete the task based on individual and team skill sets, with an eye towards successful execution and sustainability. Accountability is left to the individual department, the team and the professor. Students that grasp the importance of learning more complicated knowledge are rewarded with leadership positions within the fund, the ability to present quarterly to the advisory board, networking opportunities, internships and exciting careers. Our challenge empowers and embeds within the students the concept of self-sufficiency; as markets change or the trading models are improved, students must improve foundation knowledge to adapt to real time markets.
Organizer
Leslie McNew
Organizer
Chicago, IL
