Finance 300: Business Finance, Summer Session III, 2002Dr. Pete’s Finance 300 Investment ChallengeThe “Homework Projects and Virtual Stock Exchange” portion of your grade for this class will entail your participation in Dr. Pete’s Finance 300 Investment Challenge on the Virtual Stock Exchange (http://www.virtualstockexchange.com/). In this simulation you and a group of four to six of your classmates will perform the role of the management team for a small start-up equity investment fund with $1,000,000 to invest. As part of this challenge, each investment management team must develop a mission statement for their fund and then derive a portfolio investment strategy that is consistent with that mission. The investment strategy can be altered over the next four weeks to match current market conditions, but it must remain consistent with the fund’s mission statement. (Fund investors don’t like investing in one type of fund only to have their portfolio managers change course in midstream and turn into another type of fund!) Some of the specific information necessary to get started on this project are as follows: Specifics: 1. Each student will become part of a portfolio management team with no fewer than four and no more than six members. 2. To enter the simulation, you must first go to the VSE homepage (www.virtualstockexchange.com). From there, go to the competition by entering the competition’s ID (“DrPete300_4”) in the space provided. Once you have entered the competition’s homepage, click on the “Join!” button. From there, the VSE will prompt you the rest of the way.3. All trades will be executed through the www.virtualstockexchange.com website. The competition ID is: DrPete300_4. The password for the competition is: Simpson (as in both Lou Simpson, GEICO’s chief investment officer and also Homer Simpson, the head of America’s favorite cartoon family). Please note that the competition ID and password are case-sensitive! Registration for the simulation begins on July 19, 2002, and trading will run through August 19, 2002. 4. All trades will be charged a commission ($19.95 per trade), and unused cash balances will earn interest at a rate of 1.7% per annum. Short selling and margin purchases are not permitted.5. A few homework assignments and projects will be given throughout the term. The first assignment will be to develop your fund’s strategy and mission statement. Remember that this mission statement should guide your transactions throughout the term. In addition to this assignment, a brief weekly update on your portfolio’s status must be presented to the rest of the class each week. 6. A minimum of eight different stocks must be purchased over the course of the simulation; there is no maximum. 7. The end goal of investing, of course, is to make money, both in absolute terms and on a risk-adjusted basis, by maximizing the final total portfolio value. Consequently, 10% of your final “Homework, Participation, and Integrated Portfolio Projects” grade will come from finishing above the median performance for the class. Throughout the semester, total portfolio values will be posted on a periodic basis. 8. Please note that while 10% of your Homework, et. al., grade is dependent on final investment results, the remaining 90% of the points are independent of performance, but will instead depend upon such factors as the thoroughness with which the various assignments are completed, their overall presentation, and, finally, an intra-group assessment of the extent of each team member’s contribution. Thus, while performance is important, the process and learning are of much greater importance than the actual performance. Good luck trading, and HAVE FUN!!Finance 300: Business Finance, Spring 2001Dr. Pete’s Finance 300 Investment ChallengeTeam Sheet Team Name (Username) _________________________________________ Team Captain ________________________________________Captain’s E-mail Address ________________________________Alternative E-mail ______________________________________ Last Name First Name 4-Digit ID #Instructions: One page per team, please. Submissions are due no later than February 22.Team Name: up to you. Creativity is encouraged; just don’t be TOO creative!Finance 300: Business Finance, Spring 2001Dr. Pete’s Finance 300 Investment ChallengeIntra-group Assessment Team Name _________________________________________ Team Captain ________________________________________ Last Name First Name ID # Grade Instructions: One page per team member. Submissions are due no later than May 17.Please list each team member (including yourself), his or her student ID number, and a grade reflecting that person’s contribution to the team. Each team member should be graded on a scale of 1 to 10. Team members who contributed more should receive a higher grade, while those who contributed less should receive a lower score. Results of this assessment will be kept