UNews - Cameron Pituley

U of L team sweeps up the competition at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge

caroline.zentner — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 17:43:04 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge teams proved their mettle on the trading floor during the recent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge (UTC), with one team capturing first place in all categories.

Cameron Pituley, the winning team’s captain, said their success was part hard work and part commitment. Other team members included Conner Williams, Brooke Winarski and Jason Murray.

“It was truly a team effort to bring it all together and it would be difficult for me to find a better group of people to work with,” says Pituley. “In each of the activities, we had one person who would shine. All of us are fairly involved as students and do as much as we can. Our extra level of interest in the competition helped drive us to succeed.”

Dr. Vishaal Baulkaran, far left, coached U of L students, from left to right, Conner Williams, Brooke Winarski, Jason Murray and Cameron Pituley, to a first-place finish in the recent ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge.

This was the first time the U of L hosted the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge, an honour the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ received after its Faculty of Management student team placed first in the real-time trading challenge and second place overall in the UTC in New York City last year.

“We were pleased to welcome five teams to the first ever ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge to be held in Canada,” says Dr. Shamsul Alam, a Faculty of Management professor. “The students performed well, responding to all the challenges put in front of them. We hope they not only had the opportunity to test out their financial skills, but also to enjoy themselves.”

Three U of L teams, two from Lethbridge and one from Calgary, one Lethbridge College team and one team from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ont. participated. The U of L Calgary team captured second place and third place went to the Ontario team.

“A competition like this gives students the chance to test their financial skills in more of a real-world setting where pressure can be constant. Our program always emphasizes integration of theory into practice and the trading room facility helps our finance students experience real-world scenarios in a classroom setting, resembling a students-in-training program,” says Alam.

The UTC began with a month-long portfolio challenge and a case study. Pituley executed the trades and each morning he’d check in with his teammates to get their recommendations on buying, selling or holding. The team split up the work so that each member had about a quarter of the portfolio.

The team decided to take longer positions, instead of trading on a daily basis. They wanted to maximize their return and decided that holding their positions longer was less risky, a strategy that paid off at the end of the day.

For the case study, students presented their analyses and recommendations on competition day, Nov. 20. In addition to case presentations, students participated in two short-term trading challenges, a currency trading challenge and a fund management challenge.

“Conner was the shining star on the fund management challenge. He got first place in the individual category,” says Pituley. “Each person traded individually but the score was averaged as a team and we could co-ordinate what we wanted to do.”

Winarski’s skills in presentation proved invaluable after team members realized they had to rework their entire presentation a week before competition day. Murray’s financial acumen in the individual portfolio management category secured him first place and boosted the team’s overall performance.

The UTC was Pituley’s first competition and he heartily encourages other students to give it a try.

“I had a lot of fun. It was very stressful at times but when the day of the competition came around, I was excited to be in a room full of people who were not only as interested as I am in finance, but also really wanted to be there,” says Pituley.

Pituley had high praise for the team’s coach, Dr. Vishaal Baulkaran.

“He took time out of his days leading up to the competition. He provided excellent guidance and we would not have been able to succeed in the investment banking case without him. He was always available to meet if we had questions or got stuck on a concept,” he says. “I’m really happy with how everything went. I really am proud of my team and the work we put in. I would do the entire experience again if I had the chance.”

Management students gain valuable work experience in Hungary

caroline.zentner — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 19:34:17 +0000

The 11 students who participated in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s first Hungary Work Study program gained new experiences and knowledge and a few even came away with job offers.

The students faced the challenge of working at a job in a foreign country where the majority of their co-workers didn’t speak English.

“I would highly recommend it,” says Kathy Hong, a Faculty of Management student majoring in marketing and kinesiology. “You learn a lot more from this kind of experience than you do sitting in a classroom.”

“I personally enjoyed the challenge and taking whatever they threw at me and seeing what I could do with it,” says Cameron Pituley, a student working on a combined Bachelor of Management degree, majoring in finance and music.

“All the students did extremely well despite some language barriers and culture shock. Their professionalism and positive attitudes helped them overcome the difficulties they faced. I am very proud of them,” says Gizelle Tiponut, course instructor and co-ordinator for International Programs, outgoing exchanges, with the Faculty of Management.

Among the first group of students to participate in the Hungary Work Study are, from left to right, Daniel Brisebois, Kathy Hong, Cameron Pituley and Hannah Steenwyk.

Both Hungarian speakers, Tiponut and Michael Lanyi, an instructor in the U of L’s Department of Economics and Tiponut’s husband, found suitable placements for each of the participating students. Lanyi joined the trip as resource person and chaperone. The group stayed at a private hostel in the outskirts of Budapest, commuting to their workplaces using public transit.

A work-study program gives students insights into other cultures and foreign workplaces, all the while providing them with a valuable credential for their resume. In addition to their duties at their Hungarian workplaces, the students were required to work on assignments, participate in field trips and attend academic seminars related to the Hungarian culture and workplace, economy and history.

Hong, who has an interest in sports marketing, worked at the Budapest Honvéd Football Club for five weeks and then for Red Bull Hungary for one week doing web analysis.

“I learned the importance of marketing research. They’re always pushing it in class but it’s not an area of interest for me. I always pushed it aside,” says Hong. “But I learned, especially when I was doing the web analysis for Red Bull, how important it is to know the numbers.”

Hannah Steenwyk, (BMus ’14), a management student majoring in human resources, worked in sales and development at Atalian Global Services, a multinational facility management company. She also conducted market research and created a performance management system to reward lower level employees.

“I learned to work in a high pressure situation with deadlines and how to work with people when you are just plunked into an office,” she says. “It was a cohesive little unit. Everyone was really helpful. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.”

Daniel Brisebois, a management student who’s majoring in marketing and minoring in international management, worked at Enco Software. He created a marketing brochure, translated two websites into English, and crafted a marketing plan for the company’s expansion.

“I learned to overcome adversity. Nothing’s ever going to be perfect so you have to get around it somehow,” he says. “I’d tell any student who’s interested to absolutely do it. Even if it’s not part of their degree, the combination of the internship as well as the study allows you to really get to know what it’s like to be abroad instead of just being a tourist.”

Pituley worked for Bonafarm Group, the largest agricultural company in Hungary, which includes feedlots, a meat-processing facility, wheat production, dairy and a winery. He worked for Bonafarm’s dairy company and was tasked with doing a top-down industry analysis and creating a detailed competitor comparison.

“I had an amazing experience,” he says. “I learned so much about so many different things. It wasn’t just academic. Every time we went out for lunch I would be sitting with CEOs and CFOs gathering information about potential career paths and life experience.”

The Hungary Work Study Program, a 4000-level management course, will be offered every other year and was designed after the Faculty of Management’s Malaysia Work Study Program, which has been operating for 17 years.

“Some of the initial employers are still with us and this past year we had 12 students participate,” says Andrea Amelinckx, director of International Programs and First Nations Governance in the Faculty of Management. “Whether Kuala Lumpur or Budapest, you’re being immersed in a totally different culture. We want students to be exposed to situations with great learning potential.”

The students also had high praise for Tiponut and Lanyi.

“They had to put up with 11 students in the same house for six weeks,” says Pituley. “They were very accommodating and very willing to help us whenever we had a problem.”

“It was a really good experience for both the students and us,” says Tiponut. “We’ll do it again, for sure.”

UNews - Cameron Pituley

U of L team sweeps up the competition at the ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge

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Management students gain valuable work experience in Hungary

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U of L team sweeps up the competition at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge