UNews - Michael Kawchuk

U of L first Canadian site to host ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge

caroline.zentner — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 17:38:56 +0000

Following the success of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Management team at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge (UTC) in New York City last November, the U of L has been chosen as the location for the first UTC to be held in Canada this November.

“We are proud to host the first ever UTC in Canada and we encourage any interested teams to register for the competition. Lethbridge is an ideal location for university teams from across western Canada and the United States,” says Dr. Shamsul Alam, a Faculty of Management professor and the U of L team supervisor.

Last year’s U of L team, consisting of Devin Phalen, Ashley Tymburski, Matthew Helfrich and Michael Kawchuk, competed against a dozen universities and earned first place in the real-time trading part of the competition and second place overall. Alam says the team’s success reflects on the education and training the students receive at the U of L, including experience in the Centre for Financial Market Research & Teaching, or trading room.

Now, the U of L will be providing the same kind of competition experience to student teams when they arrive on campus on Nov. 20. The UTC, now in its fifth year, has previously only been held in London or New York.

“This competition gives students a unique opportunity to test their financial skills in a real-world setting and having participated in a trading challenge will impress potential employers,” says Alam.

The 2015 UTC includes a month-long portfolio management precursor with one full day of live competition in the trading room. In addition, students will hear from a guest speaker.

The challenge, open to full-time students in finance, economics and allied programs, gives teams the chance to participate in a trading challenge, a portfolio challenge, an investment banking challenge and a case competition.

Interested students are encouraged to form a team and use the online registration form for the UTC. An early bird registration discount is available until Oct. 1.

Industry sponsorship is still available; contact Clayton Varjassy or call 403-332-4121 for more information.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge team brings home hardware in North American finance competition

caroline.zentner — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 23:15:31 +0000

Coaching sessions and simulated trading exercises helped a student team from the Faculty of Management place second overall at the recent 2014 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge in New York City.

The U of L team, consisting of Matthew Helfrich, Devin Phalen, Michael Kawchuk and Ashley Tymburski, were among 80 students from 12 universities to participate in the North American trading competition that started Oct. 13 and finished in New York City on Nov. 14. They were accompanied by Dr. Shamsul Alam, a finance professor and team coach, and Lynda Thai-Baird, manager of the Centre for Financial Market Research and Teaching facility known as the trading floor.

This is the first year the U of L has participated in the contest. To finish two points behind the first-place finisher, Fordham ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, was a big achievement considering the U of L was the only Canadian team and the only undergraduate team to compete.

“It was definitely exciting to place with all those top schools,” says Tymburski.

“I was pretty excited. The team we lost out to is pretty accomplished, so I don’t feel bad losing to them,” says Helfrich.

“They did a fantastic job,” says Alam. “I’m very pleased we came second against all the graduate students. The U of L trading room helped them learn how to trade and the competition was in a trading room like ours, so they were confident when they went into it. I’m very proud of them.”

In the three weeks leading up to competition in New York, individuals from each team participated in a real-time market trading exercise based on daily news events. Tymburski came in first in the competition, with Phalen placing a close second.

U of L team members are, left to right, Lyndai Thai-Baird and Ashley Tymburski (seated) and in the back row from left to right are Dr. Shamsul Alam, Michael Kawchuk, Matthew Helfrich and Devin Phalen.

“I haven’t actually traded personally. The other team members all have a little bit of trading experience so I was a little bit nervous about that. But it ended up turning out well for me,” says Tymburski, a fifth-year student working on a combined bachelor of management and bachelor of science degree.

At the competition, teams presented their investment strategies for two cases, one involving a methanol production company and the other for a gold exploration and mining company. The final part of the competition was a simulated trading exercise.

“We had a really good team. We all got along really well and we were dedicated to putting in the work and the hours to make sure we were successful,” says Helfrich. “The school offers a lot of these simulated market training programs and we do a lot of portfolio management projects, so we’re quite used to it. I think that gave us an advantage there.”

“We are a lot more confident now after going through this competition and are way more comfortable going forward,” says Phalen.

“I think we all took something out of it to help build ourselves and our personal portfolio,” says Kawchuk. “We were all very driven students going into it and I think that gave us the extra drive to do well in the competition. It was a fantastic team to be a part of.”

For Thai-Baird, the team’s performance is a solid indicator of the value of the trading floor.

“For us, as an institution, it shows that the things that we’re doing, especially with the investment that the Faculty of Management and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has made in this facility to give students the practical experience they need, really does translate to how we’ve done in the competition,” says Thai-Baird. “I hope we can continue to provide these types of experiences for students because it appears that it has really changed their outlook and their confidence level. Hopefully we can continue to bring home additional hardware in the future.”

Hadfield signed guitar available in raffle

trevor.kenney — Thu, 03 Apr 2014 21:29:19 +0000

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students’ Union is presenting a chance to own a Larivée guitar signed by Canada’s most famous astronaut – Chris Hadfield.

The Rock’It Man Raffle was launched Thursday, Mar. 27 at the Calgary Alumni & Friends Dinner and with 75 per cent of tickets now already sold, only a few chances remain for those interested in acquiring a unique piece of memorabilia.

Hadfield, of course, became a world sensation over the course of his five-month space journey. As the first Canadian to command the International Space Station, he used the power of social media to make outer space accessible to millions. By sharing his experience in real time, Hadfield brought new life to the wonder of space travel. One of the seminal moments of his mission was when he played his cover of David Bowie’s Space Oddity as he stepped down from command of the station.

“Chris Hadfield serves as an inspiration to students who are exploring their own field of study,” says Michael Kawchuk, ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students’ Union vice-president (finance). “By changing the way we perceive science, he has made it fun and exciting to explore new frontiers. It is a great honour to have had him speak to our alumni and students and to present us with this amazing gift.”

Tickets for the Rock’It Man Raffle are priced at $3 each and are available in the Students’ Union Atrium from 1 to 3 p.m. daily. Proceeds from the raffle will go to support student scholarships.

Draw date for the signed Hadfield guitar is Sept. 6, 2014. If all tickets are sold by the end of next week, the draw will be held at the Apr. 15 Last Class Bash.

New ULSU executive council has big plans

trevor.kenney — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:50:17 +0000

The time of year has come when the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Students' Union (ULSU) has to say goodbye to the executive council members they've worked with all year and welcome a new group of council members.

This year marks a significant change for the ULSU because of a new executive council structure that has been developed that includes a vice-president external position. This new position will play an active role in advocating to all levels of government, one that until now was spread out among all the executives.

Despite the challenges the ULSU will face adjusting to this new structure and lobbying the government regarding the recent post-secondary education budget cuts, the ULSU is lucky to have such qualified and compassionate executive council members for this term.

The new ULSU executive council (L to R) Shuna Talbot, Sean Glydon, Adam Long, Michael Kawchuk and Katie Kalmar.

The new president of the Students' Union, Shuna Talbot, was previously the VP of internal affairs and is very familiar with the importance of her new role. Talbot's platform for presidency revolves around the three pillars of the ULSU, advocacy, representation and service. More specifically, her plans as president include establishing a multi-faith prayer space on campus and strengthening the ULSU's relationship with the Lethbridge College Students' Association.

Taking over Talbot's role as VP internal affairs is Adam Long, whose position has become the VP of student affairs. Over the last four years, Long has been actively involved in planning and organizing a number of events on campus, including Fresh Fest, and has also been president of the Board and Ski Club for the last two years. His goals for his term in office are to organize a club fair to take place during the middle of the first semester and to create more of a community between clubs so that they can collaborate on future endeavours.

The new VP external position is held by Sean Glydon, who has most recently been the founder and president of the Environmental Science Club, as well as an arts and science representative. Glydon's main responsibilities in this new role will be representing the ULSU at both the lobby organizations CASA (Canadian Alliance of Student Associations) and CAUS (Council of Alberta ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Students). During his term, Glydon expects to complete the ULSU external policies, achieve regulation of non-mandatory instructional fees and realize the removal of residence property taxes.

Former arts and science representative, Katie Kalmar, has become the new VP academic, a position she has been training for under the previous VP academic, Julia Adolf, acting as the student commissioner for the last year. The VP academic sits on a number of different ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ committees and is responsible for representing students in all aspects of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community. Kalmar plans to increase the number of academic events available to students by partnering with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ departments such as counselling services, the library and the writing centre to develop more diverse academic workshops.

Last but not least is the new VP operations and finance, Michael Kawchuk. Last year, Kawchuk sat on the ULSU's general assembly as the management representative. As a finance major, he wants to address some of the cost issues that are not deemed 'value added' costs for students and reduce these. He also wants to make the ULSU's finances more clear for the other executives and to work on finding areas where the ULSU can save money.

The ULSU is looking forward to working with all the new executive council members and is excited for the events they will organize for students, as well as the advocacy issues they will address during their terms.

This story first appeared in the May 2013 edition of the Legend. For a look at the full issue in a flipbook format, follow this link.

UNews - Michael Kawchuk

U of L first Canadian site to host ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ Trading Challenge

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