Salve Regina Capstone Experience: Investing

Prepared for: Scott Zeman PhD. & Salve Regina Business Studies Faculty

Prepared by: Alexander Flynn and Zakary Rodriguez

October 16, 2014

E xec ut ive Summa ry Course Description This experience will introduce students to the fundamentals of investing. Members will begin by researching basic finance content. Once a comfortable knowledge of investing is obtained, the group will begin to explore sectors of the stock market. The information and material acquired by studying will then be presented to the entirety of the group. After analyzing and reviewing the content that is researched, the certain members will decide if they should invest in the stock of a profitable company. Objectives The purpose of The Salve Regina Investment Capstone Trial Experience is to familiarize students with investing. At the end of the experience students should be capable of

Analyzing industries Assessing Corporations

Comprehending in-depth summaries of companies financials Rationalizing equity investments

Assessing future growth in sectors Evaluating Corporations through S.W.O.T. analysis, Porter’s Five Forces

Model, PESTEL, and other generic competitive strategies. Mission related objectives After the course is completed, participants will strengthen the following mission related skills:

1. Personal commitment to excellence through self-awareness and accountability

2. Personal responsibility through group- team participation 3. Critical thinking through exploring, analyzing, and evaluating 4. Respect for human values and cultural diversity through the study of

markets and world economics Structure/ Student Responsibilities The group will institute a top down, Y based, organization structure. The student analysts are responsible for handling the group’s investment research. They start off by presenting a macroeconomic analysis and then a company specific analysis. The research will be conducted through a variety of different methods. The group members will have different titles and different tasks. Since members may be limited at first, it will most likely require a team effort on most objectives. This will be challenging, however a family culture will be created.

The group will consist of a president, vice president, portfolio manager, leaders, and analysts of each sector of the market. The sectors of the market that will be researched are consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials, health care, industrials, information technology, materials, telecommunication services, and consumer electronics. Two members will explore a sector at a time. Finally, throughout the experience the group will look for guest speakers to help gain knowledge and interest about investments. Short-Term Goals

Create an educational experience for students

Give members the opportunity to participate in a student- run program Develop a culture that stresses the necessity of accountability and dedication Help students get a head-start on real world investing

Long- Term Goals

Construct the first student-run capstone experience at Salve Donate profits to non-profit organizations and charities at the business

awards ceremony Expand Salve’s business program

Establish a scholarship fund for prospective business students Instill a lifelong culture that enhances students analytical skills

Policies The trial experience will have up to 25 members. At first it will be easier to

facilitate ideas and control the culture within the group with less students. To join there will be a minimum fee of 75 dollars. The 75 dollars will be used to invest in the stock market. The money accumulated at the end of the semester will either be donated to a local charity of the member’s choice. Students will sign a waiver that indicates funds may be gained and lost during the course of the investment activities and a return to the group’s investments is not guaranteed. Students will not earn any profits from the experience and will be informed that their money is kept in the group.

We will meet once a week, on every Monday for the entirety of the spring semester. The first meeting will be on January 26th, a week after students get back from winter break. The meetings will last up to an hour and 20 minutes. Mr. Samuel Sacco will serve as our faculty advisor.

It is our hope that a successful spring extracurricular business event will act as a firm foundation for the inclusion of the capstone investment experience as a new 3 credit course within the financial economics major that is currently being developed by the Business Studies and Economics Department.