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LSMIF Weekly Newsletter: Inflation, China, Rate Rises, 2007 Borrowing Rates…, Insane Nasdaq Options

Hello All,

This is the fourth issue of the LSMIF newsletter. Please share with your friends and family and message in the Discord to participate and share a story!

Current News and Affairs:

  • Inflation hits UK government pledge to build 40 new hospitals: Although this sounds awful, it’s not really surprising considering the current climate with a £2bn shortfall!
  • China sets 5% growth target to drive economic recovery: Sweeping changes are brought in to further centralise power and recover rapidly from the Zero COVID Policy. Although, this marks a decline in China’s overall GDP expected growth.
  • Chinese companies choose Switzerland over US and UK to raise money overseas: Political tensions with Washington and tougher accountancy standards in London discourage listings in larger markets
  • US-listed tech companies face cash crunch after burning through billions from IPOs: Only 17 of 91 listed groups have reported a profit this year!
  • ChatBot Character.ai valued at $1bn in Andreessen-led funding round: Pioneering tech venture capital firm makes first big foray into generative artificial intelligence sector
  • Surges in UK rate expectations prompts BofE pushback: Stubbornly high US inflation has sparked a global repricing in interest rate markets
  • Deluge of inflation data pushes US borrowing costs to 2007 levels: Yield on two-year Treasury note hovers near 5% as investors brace for further Fed rate rises
  • US stocks edge higher despite latest economic data and dollar strengthens: US jobless claims to drop 190k lower than 195k predicted
  • US adds two dozen Chinese groups to trade blacklist: Targeted companies include chipmakers accused of assisting China’s military and surveillance tech exporters
  • Jay Powell warns Fed is prepared to return to bigger interest rate rises: High-stakes testimony before Senate committee comes as central bank struggles to cool US economy!
  • Data shows $1 trillion in 0DTE options traded per day! 0DTEs are 0 day expiration options which are very risky. For context, the entire Nasdaq sees $200 billion in daily volume. We are now seeing x5 this in Nasdaq daily 0DTE options. Is the stock market more of a casino than a free market?

Fund News:

  • SouthEastern Hedge Fund: The team submitted their strategy called “Dollar Meltdown Galore”, focused on gold, emerging markets, India, and other sectors. They are now awaiting feedback and news on where they have placed
  • SMIF Competition: The team looks set to get the win this Wednesday/Thursday in York, where we look to again win the competition having been put through to the finals, where they will present in hopes for the win! Massive well done to the team! They are down to 1 of 2 finalists!

Our Team, ready to present in the SMIF Competition in York

  • Rebalancing Event: The fund has a mandatory meeting 15th March 1pm-3pm in DCB2104, where we will be going through the submitted ERRs and deciding what to do with current holdings and our cash holdings.

Testimonies/ Member News:

  • Inflation Commentary: Following recent revisions, core services ex-housing CPI (sticky inflation) is still over 4% annualised levels in the US and the labour market keeps adding jobs at an underlying realistic pace of 150-200k new jobs per month. The Fed will be forced to keep risk-free rates at 5% for 9-12 months, meaning the housing market and real economy must handle 7-8% borrowing rates for a long time to come. Between 2010-2020, the US barely managed to produce an average 2% real GDP growth with an average Fed Fund rate of 0.62%. It is highly unlikely a medium-term recession is avoidable. And this has dire carry-over effects for the rest of the world, including the UK.
  • Matteo (CEO): Please know that the fund is in active recruitment of future analysts. However, the way in which we recruit has now changed. There will be an application process to ensure quality members are brought on to the team. We are also starting to consider more senior and the future management team for next year.
    • Two presentations were given in the last week, one in cooperation with the Business Society where 20 students participated and one to future LIBS students with an attendance of 150 students!

Matteo De Rossi (CEO) giving a presentation to 150 students.

Also, I’m still recruiting participants for my dissertation. If you’re interested in why losses are more “painful” than relative gains can be “pleasurable”, have an interest in game theory, or just generally have a spare second, please give my study a go!

https://unioflincoln.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aWOL66qCcoHGM8C

As always, thank you for your participation and attention.

Many Thanks,

LSMIF Management

LSMIF Weekly Newsletter: UK Housing slips, No More Rate Rises?, China, Shell, Aston Martin, Stock Futures

Hello All,

This is the third issue of the new LSMIF newsletter. Please share with your friends and family and message in the Discord to participate and share a story!

Current News and Affairs:

  • Persimmon warns new home sales may fall 40% on current trends; this is in response to the disastrous UK mini-budget and lenders raising rates accordingly
  • UK house prices suffer biggest fall in more than a decade! Interest rates bite back with Nationwide figures showing a greater than expected 1.1% drop in year to February
  • Andrew Bailey signals no pressing need for more rate rises! The markets expect rates to rise to 4.75% by the end of 2023, up from an expected peak of 4.25%, but Bailey, BoE Governor, thinks nothing in the data justifies this…
  • Chinese factory activity expands at fastest pace in more than a decade: This is an early signal of recovery following the zero-Covid reversal!
  • Shell exploring option of quitting Europe and moving to the US! This comes as executives attempt to close group’s valuation gap with US rivals
  • Aston Martin losses more than double to £495mn in 2022! The company still expects to generate cash later this year, expecting to reach its target £500mn adjusted profit by 2025
  • Mali’s Gold Output expected to fall in 2023
  • Stock Futures Rise as Investors Await Manufacturing Data: S&P 500 futures added 0.3% Wednesday. Contracts for tech-focused Nasdaq-100 gained 0.5%

Fund News:

  • SMIF and SouthEastern Hedge Fund competition submissions enter their last few days! Placing and progression within the competition will be included in the following week’s newsletter!
  • Rebalancing: We now turn our attention to our rebalancing event and next steps… Our Senior Analysts and Management Team have been looking at your reports and giving feedback so we hope to transition into the next stage seamlessly
  • Newsletter and Social Media Growth: The newsletter is growing steadily as well as the LinkedIn and Twitter account… again, if you don’t already, please navigate to our homepage and give the accounts a follow!

As always, thank you for your participation and attention.

Many Thanks,

LSMIF Management

LSMIF Weekly Newsletter: BAE, US Stocks Wobble, RR, UK Housing

Hello All,

This is the second issue of the new LSMIF newsletter. Please share with your friends and family and message in the Discord to participate and share a story!

Current News and Affairs:

  • BAE Systems takes in record order flows on back of Ukraine war; UK defence contractor reports 9% increase in sales ‘as government replenish stock… and support allies’ – The FTSE 100 group, which builds everything from Eurofighter Typhoon jets to nuclear submarines and combat vehicles, said it took in a record £37bn in new orders, propelling its order backlog to £58.9bn.
  • Rolls Royce looks promising! RR’s latest profits shows signs of improvement with “materially higher profit, cash flows, and returns”
  • Inflation Predictions: predicted to return to 2% by Autumn , Citigroup forecasts – Rapid falls in gas prices give government hope of solving some of its biggest economic challenges!
  • Russia and China cosy up… – Both vow to strengthen ties despite international ‘pressure’; this is worrying considering the weak position of the Russian economy teaming up with the rising superpower China
  • UK housing downturns tend to live long in our memories; is stagnation worse though? With higher borrowing costs and inflation, and decades of tighter mortgage lending, the UK property market faces the prospect of freezing to a standstill…
  • US stocks fluctuate as investors assess rate risk talk – US markets seemed to retaliate at the prospect of favoured higher rises in terms of point increases in efforts to battle on-going inflation.

Fund News:

  • First round of this year’s ERR’s were handed in (by the majority) yesterday… Management and Senior Analysts look forward to reading and marking these in the lead up to our rebalancing…
  • Again, please make sure this is handed in ASAP as we are now moving forward to actually using these reports for the fund’s benefit!
  • Competitions! The fund is actively involved in the SMIF and Southeastern Hedge Fund competitions, with teams honing down on their strategy and individual picks in the coming weeks!

Again, thank you for your participation and attention.

Many Thanks,

LSMIF Management

LSMIF Weekly Newsletter: CPI, FTSE 100, First ERR’s…

Hello All,

This is the first issue of the new LSMIF newsletter. Please share with your friends and family and message in the Discord to participate and share a story!

Current News and Affairs:

  • The FTSE 100 hits a record high!! Peaking at over 8000! Although a recession seems to loom, the market seems to be bouncing back and this may have to do with the new CPI information that has been released.
  • UK inflation (Consumer Price Index – CPI) records in at 10.1%, down 0.4% from 10.5% in December 2022. This is good news for the market and consumers but this reduction indicates that peak interest rate rises are not in yet!
  • Tech stocks are back! Stocks like Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet A and so on, are back booming after recent layoffs in Silicon Valley as companies and consumers react to the slight cooling of US Inflation.
  • The FED may have to keep interest rates higher for longer than previously expected, and even with this consideration raised, the S&P 500 is still performing relatively well YTD.
  • Centrica profits soar to a record high of £3.3bn! This marks a +5% move in reflection of this news.

Fund News:

First ERR on 22nd Feb. This marks the first purchases and rebalancing of the portfolio marking a new stage of the fund.

In terms of Management’s timeline and plan for the fund, we have achieved a lot together compared to last year. We have incorporated new communication strategies, remodelled training and feedback for tasks, and created a more democratic style for decision making and portfolio decisions.

Member Testimony:

“Being involved in the LSMIF has been a unique experience so far. The LSMIF management team provided guidance and support to complete all training tasks and the final Equity Research Report. Since I learned how to read and analyse financial data, I was confident about managing time and information effectively.

The past four months, I had the chance to work on Lloyds Banking Group PLC profile, while I discovered the macroeconomic factors, inflation that affect the financial sector and banking industry. I feel privileged enough to join the fund and have high expectations in the investment banking sector in the future. I hope more and more students join the fund and enhance their analytical and critical capabilities.” – Athanasios Tsanaktsidis

If any of you, whether Trainee or Senior, have anything you would like to share or add to next week’s newsletter, please feel free to reach out and message Management.

As always, thank you for your effort and participation!

Many Thanks,

LSMIF Management.

Investment Committee

On the 30th of November 2022, the first face to face investment committee was held since lockdown. We were pleased to see over 35 students and board of advisors that attended the event.

Matteo Di Rossi CEO of LSMIF started the presentation by mentioning his future plans for the fund. He stated that in the past there has been some difficulties to manage the fund due to Covid-19, which has made the  progress of P/L slower, therefore his new plans consist of active involvement of all members, creating new roles to better manage the fund and its progression. Also mentioned there will be a democratic system in the future which will allow other members to give their feedback. Carrying on he stated the areas for improvement which he believes are critical for the growth of the fund, recruitment of members in other schools in the university to grow popularity, have a strong social media presence by being more active on all the digital platforms and by adding a key role of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) to the fund.

This session also included the portfolio asset allocation of the fund and which investments have been made, we had different members analysing the investments, and what shall be done for that stock. Some of the stocks that were discussed in this session were Ashtead Group Plc which accounts of 12% of the portfolio, Investec Plc which accounts of 8%, Beazley Plc which accounts of 13%.

Furthermore, we had a few words from our board of advisors. They commented on the presentation and gave a few tips for the future. David Spokes who is the Divisional director of Brewin Dolphin in Lincoln mentioned that the fund is performing well even though compared to FTSE 100 was underperformed, and the reason the he stated it was held up by energy and oil prices. However, he did comment on the fund’s cash holdings which are over 50%, he mentioned that just by being in the market is better that leaving large amounts of cash in the fund. For example, if £100 were invested in 1950 they would be equivalent to £184,000 in 2016. Mr. Howard Gannaway who is a financial expert and an advisor to LIBS viewed the large cash holdings of the fund as positive and mentioned‘Having large amount of cash implies that the fund is positive on new opportunities coming along’, also being impressed with the funds progress from where it started in 2015.

Overall, the event was a great success, everyone enjoyed the session the board of advisors were pleased with the progress made by the fund and the future plans set by the CEO. That is all for this week, make sure follow our twitter https://twitter.com/LSMIF_ , and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for the progression of the fundhttps://www.getrevue.co/profile/lsmif_

Introduction and Recruitment 26th October 2022: Live on Blackboard

Dear students,

The introduction and recrtuiment session for the LSMIF AY 2022/2023 will be at NDH0020. If you are unable to attend face to face, you can watch it live on Blackboard at this address: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/3bd0502494b344ba9300d44751ccbc25

I look forward to seeing you, both in person and online!

Hao Quach

Recruitment Session for the academic year 2022/2023

Dear students,

Annually, we, the LSMIF, hold a recruitment event for those who are interested in joining the Lincoln Student Managed Investment Fund after 2 weeks of the term to ensure late comers have the opportunity to learn about this. This year, we intend to hold this session on Wednesday 26th October 2022 from 1-2pm. This time slot is on timetable for most of you and we will hold training or meetings during the year using this time slot. This means, if you are not joining us, that is your free time.

Most of our information and announcements will be made through the LSMIF’s Discord and you are encouraged to join our digital platform by scanning the barcode in the poster. The room for the info session is DCB2104 as per the timetable but we will also make it live on Collaborate Ultra for those who are unable to come face to face. You will be informed more about this when you join us on Discord.

I hope to see you both on Discord and the info session on 26thOctober.

Hao Quach

LIBS LSMIF are Winners at the SMIFUK22

LIBS LSMIF are Winners at the SMIFUK22 – 1st Prize Investment Competition supported by HSBC Asset Management.

The UK’s First Student-Managed Investment Fund Conference

Student managed investment funds (SMIFs) are big business in the US, often with many millions of dollars of funds under management. SMIFs are an increasingly popular feature of UK universities but until now the only conferences have been in the US. This year it was held at the University of York and with partner Griff Investment Fund.

What the Chief Investment Officer of the LSMIF Harry Mapus-Smith said about the win

“We are thrilled to have won this competition. LSMIF tries to continuously detect and research trends in the equity markets, therefore, it was possible for us to use our experience and effectively put together a portfolio that factors in the many uncertainties of the current market. To win a competition against students from some of the most prestigious universities in the country exemplifies the ability of our senior management team and the fund as a whole. “

LIBS Associate Professor / Programme Leader – Hao Quach

“I am delighted that the team have won the prestigious HSBC competition where students from across UK universities competed to demonstrate key practical employability skills. This means we have done it right for students with the LSMIF approach.”

Third International Student Conference an Overwhelming Success!

Third International Student Conference an Overwhelming Success!

On Wednesday 12th January, the third International Student Conference organised by the Lincoln Student Managed Investment Fund, (LSMIF) and the School of Banking and Finance at the National Economics University, (NEU), in Vietnam was held successfully to much acclaim.

With 196 student and staff participating from the University of Lincoln and the NEU, the conference saw five presentations on the theme “Investment Opportunities for the Future” with a focus on topics such as economic policies and stock markets, GenZ investments and Blockchain.  Students were keen to be involved, discussing topics in-depth and demonstrating insightful knowledge about new investment trends, popular amongst the younger generation.

Dr Hao Quach from the Lincoln International Business School commented,

“I am delighted that the third conference has been successful, particularly as it’s so clear to see our students benefitting from the experience, collaborating internationally on areas of mutual interest.  My aim is to evolve this annual conference series from beyond a purely research focus to become a wider forum in which students from both institutions can learn from each other in terms of culture, heritage and tradition”

NEU’s Professor Hue Nguyen added,

“I am very happy that our students have had an opportunity to exchange academic knowledge with students from the LSMIF.   This activity is part of the International Scientific Conference series, the second of which was held successfully in 2021.  Although the conference was moved to Zoom due to Covid and there were some inevitable technical difficulties, the heat and effectiveness of the conference remained the same. With positive feedback from the students, there will surely be other exchange activities with LSMIF at the University of Lincoln. Stay tuned and don’t miss it!”

Conference Screenshots

 

LSMIF Logo

 

For further information on the Lincoln Student Managed Investment Fund, please click here(opens in a new tab) or contact LSMIF@lincoln.ac.uk

LIBS Student Secures Prestigious Placement at Handelsbanken

Lincoln International Business School MSc Accounting and Finance student, Connor Hobbins, has successfully secured a professional practice work placement at Handelsbanken(opens in a new tab).

Connor, whose interest in finance started during his undergraduate degree in Mathematics at the University of Lincoln, told us about why he chose Lincoln and tips for gaining a placement interview.

“I chose to study at Lincoln due to it being relatively close to my home and, as I had barely been to the city before, it still felt new” says Connor.

“I am really glad that I did” he added. “My time at University of Lincoln was the best time of my life so far and if you get fully involved with everything and fully throw yourself into the experience, it is great.”

Connor decided to study maths at undergraduate after studying the subject at GCSE and A-level. During his second year at university, he realised that he wanted to go into finance.

“Going into third year I knew that I wanted to choose a finance dissertation, which worked out really well in helping me choose the next steps.”

After graduation, Connor started to look for summer internships or placement positions to undertake before returning to study a Master’s degree.

“After my BSc, I started applying for summer internship/placement positions as my plan was to take a year out before doing a Master’s course and that is when I first applied for Handelsbanken along with a few other companies.

“I got through the initial stages and was ready for the assessment centre, however, this got cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic and replaced by a telephone interview. I got through that stage and then the next and final step was a branch manager interview, but unfortunately the whole internship programme ultimately got cancelled due to Covid.”

With the current situation unpredictable, Connor started looking at his options and decided to study the MSc Accountancy and Finance(opens in a new tab) with professional practice year instead.

Connor Hobbins
Connor Hobbins

“The thing that made me choose the course was that it was a finance-based course with a professional practice option, where I could do a placement year. I thought this was the right thing to do, to give me some flexibility, gain some experience in a financial area with a placement that I could source myself and then write my dissertation/final project on something to do with this placement – it was ideal really.

“The Accounting and Finance course was what I hoped it would be, maybe a bit wordy at times, but altogether great. I feel like I got a really good hold on most modules and I would really recommend the course for people that are not quite set on a certain financial area.

“There are modules based on Accounting that go really in depth with the accounting side of finance, while there are other modules that evaluate how a company runs both financially and internally, how financial markets work and then optional modules like investment banking, it all links together.

“For the range it gives in a year it is a challenging course but I personally have learnt a lot from it and it has given me a better idea for what I want to do in the future.”

During his Master’s year, Connor discovered that the Business School had a student-managed investment fund (LSMIF).

“I am really interested in the stock markets and the idea of investing so I joined LSMIF at the start of the year. I put a lot of time and effort into the fund, in doing the tasks but then also doing background reading into what I was actually doing and applying that, which actually helped me out with my course a lot in the end.

“I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I did but I ended up putting together some decent reports for the fund and one of my investment recommendations got actioned in my first couple of months which was pretty cool.

“I would highly recommend it to anyone in the University, even if they have just a slight interest in financial markets and investing as my only regret is that I didn’t hear about it until my Master’s year!”

Whilst undertaking the course, Connor’s attention turned to securing a placement for his professional practice year.

“So, during this last year my main task has been to source a placement, which during Covid was really hard since not that many firms were hiring and there were two or three years of students applying.

“During this time, I was still in contact with Handelsbanken from the previous year but made sure to ask whether they had a year-long placement instead of the normal eight week internship that they ran. After interviews for other places, I got a call from a branch at Handelsbanken asking if I could do an interview the next day which was a bit daunting, so I did the interview and it went really well and then got an offer the next week which was unbelievable!”

Work placements can be invaluable due to the experience and skills you learn putting theory into practice. At his placement, Connor wants to really understand the different roles within the organisation.

Connor Hobbins
Connor Hobbins

“The main thing I want to gain from this is to find out exactly what every role entails, whether it be the role that I am doing, managerial jobs on the corporate or individual (personal banking) sides of things, or in roles that are in support functions, like the finance department. To me it is all about gaining experience and knowledge, so I am just going to try get stuck into as many different things as possible and then hopefully know exactly where I want to move into after the placement year and what career path I want after that point.”

After securing a year long placement, Connor has this advice for those also looking to secure a placement:

“The main tip I would give is to just be yourself and speak to the interviewer like you would to anybody else, after all, it is really just a conversation. If you can make it like a normal conversation you will be a lot more relaxed and come across happier and a lot more confident.

“Before my last couple of interviews I was really nervous, with stacks of notes on what to say if I got asked a certain question and it just didn’t help at all, I sounded like a robot reading off a script.

“Realistically you just need to know the company, know the job role and as strange as it sounds, know yourself since the interview is ultimately about you. After I started thinking like that, the process just became so much easier and I came across so much more confident whilst having a normal talk and laugh with the interviewer.”

Connor believes that his course and extra-currircular activies helped aid him during the placement application process. He said:

“One of the main thing that I learned is time-management. So all of my interviews were around my deadlines and there was so much to do in a really short amount of time so I had to really think about what I wanted to prioritise, whilst also giving myself some time to relax.

“With interviews, the only thing that helped me out was just practice, looking at unsuccessful interviews as practice for my next one and improving the method I approached it.”

 

Find out more about MSc Accountancy and Finance(opens in a new tab) degree or LSMIF(opens in a new tab). For information on placements the Lincoln International Business School Global Experiences team will be happy to help. Find out more here(opens in a new tab).

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