Student investors beat the TSX - fund grows by $110K in 1st year

A group of student investors could give Bay Street financiers a run for their money. The student-run Queen’s University Investment Counsel (QUIC), launched in November, has reported its portfolio returned 17.5% on invested capital, outperforming the TSX Composite Index by 2.2%. The capital in play was $500K seeded by QSB. In its polished Annual Report, QUIC executives and Commerce’11 classmates Jeff Gallant, Mark Vesely and Andrew Iu reported the portfolio’s worth at $611K which includes gains as well as a $21K donation.

Interviewed in March on CBC Ottawa’s All in a Day, Mark observed, “As soon as you start managing real money versus a mock portfolio, the stakes become much higher.” As to the fund’s ultimate objective, Andrew explained to host Alan Neal, “When QUIC becomes valuable enough, it will directly contribute to the Commerce program, whether through a QUIC scholarship or some other initiative. We definitely want to give back to the Commerce program.”

Incoming QUIC executives Danny Hertz, Conor O’Kelly, and Seth Rosenberg agree and are motivated to continue the fund’s strong performance.