Team Memorial is back on top of the podium at a national finance competition.
Business students Kirk Edwards, Russell Noseworthy, Luke Sullivan and Nathan Young won the John Molson School of Business Van Berkom Small-cap Case Competition at Concordia University in Montreal, Que., last month.
It’s the first time a university has earned back-to-back wins.
“We came into the competition with the goal of defending the title, but we understood it would be a challenge,” said Mr. Noseworthy, a fourth-year commerce student who returned from last year’s winning team. “With Memorial placing first the year prior, there was additional pressure but also a sense of familiarity.”
Mr. Young also returned from the 2024 team with new members Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Edwards making up the quartet.
“Memorial winning last year did of course add some pressure but from the moment we walked in, it was obvious we were underdogs,” said Mr. Sullivan, a third-year commerce student. “That feeling of being underestimated actually settled our nerves and lit a fire under us to show what we could do as students of Memorial.”
Nine finalist teams
Teams from across North America apply for the Van Berkom competition by completing a detailed analysis of a small-cap company.
Nine schools are then invited to participate in the live finals over two intensive days of competition. Each day, teams have five hours to analyze the same small-cap company and then present an investment recommendation to a panel of industry judges.
The cumulative scores over both days determine the top three teams.
Memorial was in second, just one point behind the leader, after day one.
At the end of day two, Memorial earned 55 points for the win.
The University of Laval placed second with 52 points and HEC Montreal was third with 50 points.
“If there’s one thing I’ve taken from this experience, it’s to never underestimate Memorial students.”
The Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa; Asper School of Business, University of Manitoba; John Molson School of Business, Concordia; Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University; University of Waterloo; and Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, rounded out the finalists.
‘Deep end of finance’
All four members of the Memorial squad are members of The Fund, a student-run investment portfolio at Memorial, which they say is critical to developing the skills and confidence to succeed in competitions.
“The quality of the commerce program and the experiential learning environment that The Fund champions allows us to compete and win against large universities, proving that the programs here are the highest calibre among national and international peers,” said Mr. Noseworthy.
Mr. Sullivan agrees.
“The Fund throws passionate students into the deep end of finance and pushes them to achieve more than they ever thought possible,” he said, adding, “If there’s one thing I’ve taken from this experience, it’s to never underestimate Memorial students.”
Dr. Yang Xu, assistant professor of finance at the Faculty of Business Administration, is faculty advisor to The Fund.
Travel and registration for the competition was provided by the Associates Program, a membership-based program that funds scholarships and experiential learning opportunities for business students.
