Rev. Brian J. Shanley, O.P. President | St. John's University website

Students at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business, St. John’s University, presented investment recommendations for three university endowment funds on December 12. The event featured six teams proposing cryptocurrency transactions for the Student-Managed Blockchain Fund (SMBF), and eight teams pitching ideas for the undergraduate and graduate Student-Managed Investment Funds (SMIF).

These presentations marked the culmination of courses in Crypto Trading, Trading Strategies, and Managing Investment Funds within the Bachelor of Science in Finance program, as well as Quantitative Asset Management in the Master of Science in Finance and MBA programs.

The presentations were held at St. John's Manhattan campus before a committee comprising faculty, administrators, and alumni who evaluated the proposals. Each presentation included detailed reports on stocks or cryptocurrencies.

Senior finance major Brianna Garrison expressed her enthusiasm about conducting qualitative and quantitative research: “It was our first attempt at doing an equity report for all of us, and we all learned so much. It was very rewarding.” Alongside classmates Karina Bono and Katrina Heckman, she recommended investments in Spotify and Verizon.

Katrina Heckman noted that understanding company valuations is crucial: “As you do these valuations, you can find that the true value of a company might not be what the market perceives it to be.”

The undergraduate SMIF began in 2001 with a current valuation of $7.04 million; its graduate counterpart started a year later with $4.7 million. Both have yielded annualized returns between 9% to 10%. The SMBF launched in May 2022 has seen its market value nearly triple since inception.

Jonathan Byrne from Strategas Research Partners highlighted St. John’s commitment to experiential learning through initiatives like the Executive-in-Residence Program and other business-development opportunities.

The blockchain portfolio started with $100,000 now stands at $285,000 amid Bitcoin's resurgence past $73,000 earlier this year. Marc Melone advocated for increased investment in Bitcoin: “It’s a leader among coins and its community is always going to grow.”

Assistant Professor Zenu Sharma emphasized students' ability to explore beyond Bitcoin: “Volatility is at the heart of the crypto market...students seem more bullish than in the past.” Recommendations included Avalanche, Chainlink, Polkadot, and Polygon due to their potential growth prospects.

Vincent Caterina's team praised Polygon's low fees and transaction speed: "it has a tendency to gain in price at the start of new years."