Over the past weekend, a select group of Houghton business students put their financial skills to the test and learned what it means to apply faith to the world of finance.
On Nov. 3, three students—Yonatan Fessehaye ’17, Tyler Stetson ’20, and Jonathan Niles ’17—travelled to Temple University in Philadelphia to participate in the University Trading Challenge. The challenge, open to graduates and undergraduate students, realistically mimics the world of capital markets and help participants hone their trading, portfolio construction, and risk management skills. Established in 2010, it also aims to “foster innovation and creative thinking for students looking at careers in the financial markets.” Students participate in an investment banking presentation, trading competitions focused on current events and foreign exchange markets, and a portfolio management challenge.
“It’s a good experience for students interested in finance because it’s a high-pressure situation and is very competitive,” said Stetson, who won the individual portfolio management competition and hopes to apply his studies in mathematics in the investment management or investment banking fields. “It was especially intense and humbling for us because we were the only undergrads there.”
On Nov. 5, Karl Sisson, Houghton’s Vice President for Advancement and External Relations, accompanied a larger group of students to New York City to participate in the 2017 Collegiate Faith & Finance Day, which was hosted by Archegos Capital Management, an international investment firm, and The Grace & Mercy Foundation, a grant-making charitable organization.
The highly selective event invited only students from four schools—Houghton, Columbia University, The King’s College of NYC, and the University of Pennsylvania—and included a variety of panels and presentations related to the topic of Christians in finance.
Participants immersed themselves in the action of the trading floor at Morgan Stanley and Nomura Security. In the afternoon, they visited the offices of Archegos Capital Management and The Grace & Mercy Foundation to enjoy industry presentations on diverse topics as mentorship, human capital, and Christian vocation. “They are a bright light in the midst of a lot of darkness,” Sisson said of the event’s sponsors.
To Wall Street . Bill Hwong and Andy Mills, the CEO and Executive Chairman of Archegos and two of the event’s main speakers, have spoken at Houghton chapel services in the past. Hwong also serves on the Fuller Theological Seminary board alongside President Shirley Mullen.
“Our students were fantastic,” Sisson said. “They represented Houghton exceptionally well in a setting we are not normally accustomed to.” Sumi Kim, president of the Grace & Mercy Foundation, echoed Sisson’s praise, commenting that her organization was “very impressed with the high level of engagement, energy and dialogue of the Houghton students!”
In the future, Houghton hopes to continue collaborating with the Grace & Mercy Foundation on outreach and service. “They see us as a partner school,” Sisson said. “They like what they see from Houghton students, and they are really intrigued by what we’ve done with refugees in Buffalo and Utica.”