Illinois Tech Team Advances in Global Finance Competition
Team Sovereign Delta from Illinois Institute of Technology has advanced to the semifinals of the prestigious McGill International Portfolio Challenge (MIPC). Of the 93 university teams from 18 countries that entered this year’s competition, 25 have been selected to compete in the virtual live semifinal sessions on Thursday, November 5, with the top five teams facing off in the MIPC finals the following day.
The MIPC is a buy-side competition focused on societal issues in which large institutional investors play a critical role. In response to the contest’s case study, participants create and present proposals for innovative investment portfolio strategies that address those societal issues and satisfy the needs of a broad range of stakeholders with competing interests. The competition awards a total of $50,000 in cash prizes.
Three of the four students on the Illinois Tech team—Zijaada Abdulfatai, Mohamed Shamel (accelerated master’s student), and Le “Sherry” Sheng—are enrolled in the Master of Science in Finance program at Stuart School of Business, and one student, Souporno Ghosh, is in the Master of Computer Science program with a Specialization in Finance. Senior Lecturer of Finance Michael Rybak serves as the team’s faculty adviser.
In the weeks leading up to the semifinals, team members will further refine their written case study report, produce a slide deck, record a 10-minute presentation of their proposal, and prepare for a 15-minute live question-and-answer session with judges at the competition. In addition, the students will have opportunities to learn from leaders in institutional finance at an MIPC symposium and speaker series and to engage with industry professionals during networking and recruiting sessions.
Teams from Illinois Tech have now made it to the MIPC semifinals in each of the four years that the contest has been held, with the 2017 and 2019 teams earning spots in the finals.
