Campus News

Westminster Students Outperform the Dow in DA Davidson Student Investment Competition

Westminster Places Fifth in 2009-10 Investment Competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 20, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY – With $50,000 to invest, Westminster student investors once again proved they could outperform the major stock indexes as part of the D.A. Davidson & Co Student Investment Program. After the year-long competition, Westminster’s team grabbed an impressive 5th place, beating out schools like Gonzaga University and University of Washington.

D.A. Davidson’s Student Investment Program provides 20 participating schools in the Western region with $50,000 each to invest as they choose. Over the course of a year, the teams pay execution costs and earn interest on cash and dividends on securities. At the end of the school year, each school receives one-half of its team’s earnings above 5 percent, to spend as it chooses.

For the 2009-2010 school year, the Washington State University student team had the program’s top-performing portfolio, earning 12.5 percent on its $50,000 investment. That compares with a 7.6 percent gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average for the same period and a 5.1 percent return on the S&P 500 index. Westminster’s portfolio boasted an 8.8 percent gain.

“I’m particularly pleased with these results given that the emphasis in the class that manages the portfolio has always been to help students develop sound investment research and analysis skills and not construct a portfolio that could win,” said Robert Patterson, Westminster faculty advisor and professor of finance. “We’ve also had some good luck.”

Westminster student investor Pat Mullen elaborated by adding, “The team worked to build a comprehensive template that was of the highest quality, ensuring each one of our stock pitches was well thought out and worthwhile. As a result, our portfolio preformed very well, we invested in a wide array of stocks, and also were able to get a glimpse of what real-life stock investing was like.”

Over the past four years, Westminster has demonstrated a pattern of excellence placing within the top six schools, and even winning the overall competition in 2008. This year’s program ran September 1, 2009 through August 31, 2010. Each of the eight schools whose portfolios gained in value during the year exceeded the 5 percent threshold to earn a share of the gain.

For the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 7.56 percent, the S&P up 5.14 percent, the NASDAQ up 7.37 percent and the Davidson 99 Regional Stock Index was up an impressive 15.84 percent. Using the S&P as the benchmark, seven of the eight gaining college teams came out ahead. Comparing to the Dow, five schools beat the index. Thirteen schools underperformed against all major indexes.

D.A. Davidson & Co. has donated more than $375,000 to participating schools since the program’s inception in 1985. The firm also has provided a hands-on education in finance, stock research, portfolio management and other investment issues to senior-level students at colleges and universities across the Northwest and Rocky Mountain region. D.A. Davidson absorbs any losses in the competition and provides a financial consultant to serve as an advisor to the students.

Westminster’s 2009-10 student investment team included: Ryan Donovan, Jonathan Ellsworth, Anthony Englert, Michael Flavin, Dennis Garrett, Fei He, Brett Jolley, William Kuang, Eric Loftin, Andrew Masuda, Patrick Mullen, Elizabeth Nielson, Marco Schafferer, Chad Tohinaka and John Tupuola.

This year’s overall results are:

1. Wash. St. Univ. 12.52%
2. Univ. of Col. Col. Sprgs 11.89%
3. Univ. of Utah 10.71%
4. Brigham Young Univ. 9.28%
5. Westminster College 8.83%
6. Portland State University 6.04%
7. Univ. of Oregon 5.89%
8. Idaho State University 5.01%
9. Univ. of Montana -0.47%
10. Boise St. Univ. -0.61%
11. University Of WY -5.74%
12. Gonzaga Univ. -6.02%
13. Eastern Wa Univ. -6.40%
14. Utah St Univ. -6.73%
15. Mont. St. Univ. -7.59%
16. Univ. of Washington -8.77%
17. Carroll College -11.07%
18. Univ. of Idaho -14.43%
19. Seattle University -17.17%
20. MSU Billings -18.65%

About D.A. Davidson & Co.
D.A. Davidson & Co. (www.dadavidson.com) is one of the largest full-service regional investment firms, providing financial services to investors and corporate clients nationwide, with a strong focus on the West and Midwest. The company is recognized for its award-winning research, as well as the Davidson 99 Regional Stock Index®, a benchmark of the Northwest’s economic landscape. Founded in 1935, D.A. Davidson & Co. is an employee-owned company headquartered in Montana, with offices in 18 states. The company is part of Davidson Companies, a regional financial services holding company that is celebrating its 75th year in business (www.davidson75.com).

About Westminster:
Westminster is a nationally recognized, comprehensive liberal arts college. With a broad array of graduate and undergraduate programs, Westminster is distinguished by its unique environment for learning. Westminster prepares students for success through active and engaged learning, real world experiences and its vibrant campus community. Westminster’s unique location, adjacent to the Rocky Mountains and to the dynamic city of Salt Lake, further enriches the college experience. For more information, visit www.westminstercollege.edu or follow WestminsterSLC on Twitter.