Sydney again comes home a winner from global finance competition

Up against teams from some of the world’s leading universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, Stanford and Cornell, the Sydney team came second in the Stock Pitch Competition in which members argued in favour of buying Nike shares.

"Team members Chloe Segal, Nola Xie, Alice Cao and Wendy Yang are amongst the brightest talents produced by the Business School," declared an elated coach Angelo Aspris following the final.

"This competition is a leading forum for women in finance to showcase their work to an audience of fellow students, academics, and industry participants," said Dr Aspris. "It draws participants from the finest institutions across the world and it is sponsored by some of the most recognisable names in finance."

Sydney team members, all of them 4^th year students, described the competition as a "very rewarding" experience.

"It provided an opportunity to improve our technical skills and our understanding of different stock markets," said Chloe Segal. "We gained insight into global finance and the career opportunities available to us."

The judging panel was fulsome in its praise for the Sydney team. "Strong and confident," said one judge. "Extremely convincing," said another. "I asked the hardest questions I would ask professional managers and [the Sydney team] nailed them," commented a panel member.

In addition to the competition, Sydney team members took part in a leadership summit and were able to network with industry professionals "who had a wealth of experience working for investment banks, law firms, consulting firms and private equity."

Mentors were drawn from firms such as JP Morgan, UBS, IBM, Blackrock, CFA and Morgan Stanley.

The Dean of the Business School, Professor Greg Whitwell, described the team’s performance as "outstanding" and pointed out that Sydney had competed in the competition only twice and had taken out a top position on both occasions.

Last year’s team of Alexia Photios, Joy Chen, Katherine Guo and Alice Yang took out first place in the William & Mary Stock Pitch competition.

"Our results in this competition, against the world's leading universities, clearly demonstrates that we are a world class institution and that we are successfully breaking down the barriers to what were once male dominated sectors," said Professor Whitwell.

"Our Business Not As Usual vision, with its focus on diversity and inclusion, is bearing results," he said.

When asked why he was involved in the competition, coach Angelo Aspris simply replied, "for a chance to see what our best students can accomplish when they take on the world!"