Tag: Heath Johnson

22 Inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma

Beta Gamma Sigma Inductees - 2015
Beta Gamma Sigma Inductees – 2015

On April 13, Michigan Tech’s School of Business and Economics inducted 22 members into Beta Gamma Sigma, the international honor society serving business programs accredited by AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.

Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest recognition a business student can receive in a business program accredited by AACSB International.

The 2014-15 recipients are:

  • MBA:  Brian Hutzler and Charles Ouellette
  • MS in Accounting:  Duan Ximeng, Judy Isaacson and Ji Zhou
  • Seniors:  Yinan Chen, Yi Chen, Fangliu Huang, Heath Johnson, Yudan Lurong, Arissara (Kwang) Suthijindawong, Kayleigh White, Dylan Whittaker, Yingxin Wu, Wenyu Xu and Chang Zhang
  • Juniors:  Abbey Halonen, Nora Pennala, Kaila Pietila, Yuxin Shao, James Sturos and Kendall Ward

Beta Gamma Sigma’s mission is to encourage and honor academic achievement in the study of business and to foster personal and professional excellence and to advance the values of Society.  It is an international honor society and only selects the upper 10% of undergraduates and graduate students.

This article was originally posted in Tech Today on April 22, 2015.

APMP Team Repeats Win in New York City

Cory Sullivan participating in Nasdaq closing
Cory Sullivan participating in Nasdaq closing

March 31, 2015 – It’s been said the only thing more difficult than winning a championship, is repeating. That is exactly what an Applied Portfolio Management Program team from Michigan Technological University has done.

For the second year in a row, the School of Business and Economics’ APMP team won the global investment competition at the Global Asset Management Education (GAME) Forum V, hosted by Quinnipiac University in New York City. The event, held March 19-21, attracted more than 1,200 students from 140 colleges in 40 countries and 39 states.

While in New York, the team participated in the NASDAQ Stock Exchange closing, attended presentations by some of the biggest names in the world of finance and visited with  APMP alums.

Keynote speakers included: Guy Adami, chief market strategist for Private Advisory Group and contributor to CNBC’s Fast Money; Joseph Terranova, chief market strategist for Virtus Investment partners and another “Fast Money” contributor; David M. Darst, former managing director and chief investment strategist for Morgan Stanley Weather Management; Abby Joseph Cohen senior investment strategist and president of the Global Markets Institute at Goldman Sachs; and Tom Keene, editor-at-large at Bloomberg News.

Tech Team

The APMP sent three students to the competition, Cory Sullivan, who participated in the NASDAQ closing ceremony, Heath Johnson and Derek Menard.

The results of the team’s investments were impressive according to Dean Johnson who is the James and Dolores Tretheway Professor in the School of Business and Economics and the APMP’s founding director. He says what sets the competition apart is the fact the students are investing real money–a lot of real money.

“The team manages $1 million through the Michigan Tech Fund,” Johnson explains. “These funds were explicitly donated to be managed by the students.”

He says the APMP team has done well with the fund’s money. Johnson says the team practices the concept of Risk Adjusted Returns, In which an investment’s return is measured by how much risk is involved in producing that return. Even more impressive is the fact the students themselves make all investment decisions. “They have complete control,” Johnson says. “They are hired by the APMP Advisory Board, but the students make each and every decision.

Heath Johnson, the only returning member from last year’s winning  team, says while there was a sense of pressure to repeat, the experience of having done it before was beneficial.

“After experiencing the competition last year I knew that we had to be mindful not only or our returns, but also the risk subjected to our portfolio.” Heath Johnson says.

“Our team really wanted to repeat last year’s impressive performance. Winning two years in a row out of 141 schools was incredibly exciting. We were able to outperform the market through very consistent returns while minimizing risk.”

NASDAQ Closing

Cory Sullivan says the overall experience was impressive on several levels. “From participating in the NASDAQ closing and having my picture appear in Times Square, to receiving advice from the biggest names in the finance industry, I realize the great opportunities APMP provides students,”

Indeed, the students hardly have time to enjoy the repeat victory. Heath Johnson, president of the SBE’s Finance Club and other members of the club traveled to the Chicago the following weekend for their annual trip to visit investment firms. Other members of the APMP traveled to Detroit Thursday and Friday to compete in the ENGAGE Investment Education Symposium and competition, hosted by Wayne State University.

Sullivan says the New York trip is just one of many experiences available to the team.  “We interact with great guest speakers on campus and via video conferencing, but we also get the opportunity to travel to both Chicago and Detroit to interact with investment professionals. “

Professor Johnson echoed that sentiment. “APMP students are gaining the experiences and education to be successful in the finance industry. Indeed, their success is already evident in their investment results.”

This article was written by Mark Wilcox and originally published on Michigan Tech News.

APMP Scores Big… Twice!

The Applied Portfolio Management Program is one of the most unique student organizations on campus.  Every year, two teams each comprised of six students are selected to create stock market portfolios using $1.3 million of real money.  These students have the opportunity to use one of two Bloomberg Terminals in the Upper Peninsula, right in their very own LSGI Trading Lab.

Senior APMP team member, Mason McGrew, utilizes the Bloomberg Terminal in the School of Business and Economics

APMP has always been considered successful, but 2013 was a banner year for the team.  Director Dean Johnson described a return of 29.66%, with a standard deviation (aka risk) of around 1.7%.  Senior Brett Ludwig reminisced about the teams’ investments in 2013, stating, “It was really cool to watch the stocks go up, and tough at times not to sell others.”  With a portfolio that grew in one year from $397,000 to $515,000, the Gold Team recently participated in two global investment competitions.  It may come as no surprise that they walked away with not one, but two victories.

After APMP member Heath Johnson appeared on the Market Site display in Times Square and closed the NASDAQ on Wednesday, March 19, it was announced that the team had won the 2014 Quinnipiac G.A.M.E. IV Forum investment competition in the value category.  This achievement was particularly impressive considering that there were over 1,000 participants from 118 colleges and universities!

Most recently at the 14th Annual Redefining Investment Strategy Education (RISE) competition on March 28 at the University of Dayton in Ohio, team members Ludwig, Nathan Sturos, and Judy Isaacson were on hand to snag the first place title of Gold Portfolio in the Value Investment Style category.

Competing at RISE in Dayton was the icing on the cake after APMP’s successful year.  Their dedication won them the ultimate Gold Portfolio, and Sturos remarked, “It was a humbling experience to be recognized at such a distinguished conference.”  Isaacson was proud of her team and grateful for the “great opportunity to see many different perspectives on the world of finance… and it was a fun experience!”

Are you a current student interested in joining a future APMP team?  The APMP application is available online!  Interested in becoming a student in the School of Business and Economics?  Apply for free today!

Johnson Conquers NASDAQ

Members from the Applied Portfolio Management Program (APMP) were in New York City last week for Quinnipiac University’s Global Asset Management Education (G.A.M.E.) IV Forum, co-sponsored by NASDAQ OMX.  The event allowed 1,000+ participants from 118 colleges/universities a chance to network while gaining insight into the opportunities and challenges experienced by investment professionals.

Photo courtesy of Heath Johnson
Photo courtesy of Heath Johnson

Current SBE students and members of APMP, Heath Johnson and Claire Johnson, were on site at G.A.M.E. for the student-managed portfolio competition, which is open to students nationwide who have successfully managed their own actual portfolios.  Dr. Dean Johnson, Founding Director of the Applied Portfolio Management Program, stated, “By providing the opportunity to attend this investment conference in NYC, APMP continues to offer Tech students with direct educational experiences.”

Photo courtesy of Heath Johnson

Not only did current SBE student Heath Johnson gain the educational experience of competing at G.A.M.E., he was also able to close the NASDAQ and appeared on the NASDAQ Market Site display in Times Square!  Heath remarked, “Attending an investment conference with current Wall Street professionals and participating in the NASDAQ closing ceremony was a great experience.  Having my photo up on the NASDAQ Market Site in Times Square was a motivating taste of where my business education could take me.”

Would you like to see where your business education could take you?  Apply today to begin your undergraduate studies at Michigan Tech’s School of Business and Economics!