Cheng-Han Hu and Yu-Chen Chen, both advised and directed by Prof. Chi-Ming He, Prof. Shang-Tsai Chang, and Prof. Yue-Chong Chu, and Prof. Hui-Cheng Tsai, attended the National Inter-Collegial Mutual Fund Investment Simulation Competition, sponsored by the Securities Trust and Consulting Association of the R.O.C., which attracted more than 3,200 participants from the colleges and universities all over the country. After two months of fierce competition, Hu and Chen won the championship by setting an earning rate of 4.85%. Tzu-Wei Liu, a graduate student from the Graduate Institute of Finance Management, won second place by setting an earning rate of 3.8%. Both outshone the negative earning rate of 1.4% by the overall market.

During the period of competition from November 1 to December 29, 2017, the TAIEX shares dropped by 1.4%. In contrast, Hu and Chen spread their capital over international markets through diversified asset allocation and simulated an allocation of about 20% of their funds to TAIEX stocks. As a result, they had a great return rate. Hu and Chen set up a portfolio by four indicators—namely, Beta Value, Sharp Value, Return Ratio, and Standard Deviation—which they had learned from classes of investment management, fund management, and securities analysis. They placed 75.4% of their investment capital in the cumulative fund shares of JP Morgan and 18% in Fuhwa Economic Funds.

【Cheng-Han Hu (left) and Yu-Chen Chen (right) of the Department of Finance Management, STUST, won first prize and NT$ 250,000 in the 2017 National Inter-Collegial Mutual Fund Investment Simulation Competition.】

Cheng-Han Hu and Yu-Chen Chen said that through this competition, the theory taught by the school could be applied to market analysis, while the combination of theory and practice is the greatest reward. This competition also required the participants to predict the trend. In addition to understanding the fundamentals of mutual fund investment in the country, participants also needed to consider the current situation of the overall economy and the international situation.

As Acting President Deng-Maw Lu said, in the era of inflation and low interest rates, mutual fund investment has become a universal trend. By participating in this competition, students were not only able to enhance their understanding of the risks to the financial market, they but also achieve the combination of theory and practice of educational goals through the practical mode of operation. Prof. Chiming He, Chairman of the Department of Finance Management at Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, also pointed out that the competition fully demonstrated the best embodiment of teacher-student integration in Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology and emphasized the spirit of pragmatism.