Whitman School hosts grad student stock-pitch competition

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Martin J. Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University has rolled out its first graduate student stock-pitch competition

The first contest takes place tonight (Feb. 26) at 7 p.m. in the school’s Lender Auditorium, and the school plans two more stock-pitch competitions on Mar. 26 and Apr. 23.

Whitman’s finance department organized the event, which features three graduate-student teams pitching three different stocks.

Joel Redmond, vice president at Key Private Bank and a Whitman adjunct professor, is advising the student teams, the school said in a news release.

A judging panel includes two faculty members, David Weinbaum and Craig Dudczak; Ayesha Sheth, a student pursing a master of business administration degree; and Matt Ramsey, founder and principal of Pico Wealth Management, LLC of Syracuse, according to the news release.

The team that wins the competition earns a prize of up to $500, the school said.

Stock-pitch challenges or competitions are “popular” in business schools because they provide a forum for students to showcase their stock-picking skills and to learn from top professionals in the field, the school said.

Typically, the students prepare and present buy/hold/sell recommendations and defend them in front of a panel of judges.

“Stock pitch competitions replicate the intense competition and fast-pace of sell side and buy side analysts and asset managers,” Ravi Shukla, associate professor of finance and chair of the Whitman finance department, said in the news release. “It’s a way for our students to prepare themselves for what they will face as professional financial analysts.”