A group of Galway students managed to secure €4,000 for COPE through their business acumen at a national investment competition.
The team of nine students from Atlantic Technological University in Galway City placed second at the Goodbody Student Managed Fund National Final last week.
William Figueras, Ikechukwu Ogbuchi, Frederick Kee, Arlene McGrath, Hans-Magnus Rüdinger, Ross Severs, Nessan Leahy, Connal Reilly and Zara Feeley competed against teams from some of the most prestigious universities in the country.
As the runners-up prize, they received €4,000 for the charity of their choice, and donated the money to COPE Galway.
Team captain William Figueras won best overall speaker at the event on March 31, the last day before GMIT transitioned to its new university status.
William, the fund’s CEO, said that the competition was a great experience for everyone on the team.
“To be able to represent GMIT on the eve of Atlantic TU’s birth and give back to our community is a memory none of us will ever forget.”
“I truly couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to share this experience with.”
He added that the mission of COPE Galway, looking after people who are homeless, older, or the victims of domestic abuse, resonated with their desire to give something back to the community.
The Goodbody Student Managed Fund Programme is an education initiative where staff from financial services firm Goodbody volunteer their time to help undergraduate students to get hands-on experience of managing equity funds.
Students are exposed to a variety of disciplines, including research, asset allocation and portfolio management, before competing with other teams.
While the ATU Galway City Student Managed Fund is driven and managed by students from the Bachelor of Business in Finance and Economics in the ATU School of Business, it involves students from all disciplines.
This year, the fund included students from the Computing and Digital Media degree, Event Management degree, and Masters in Computing.
