A Win for UP Students
University of Portland School of Business finance students comprised of a four-member team including: Max Daniels (Senior), Shane Fuse (Sophomore), Chelsey Chan (Sophomore), and Toby Okoji (Sophomore), participated in the first annual Alternative Pitch Competition for the Portland Alternative Investment Association (PAIA) last month and placed second overall!
The prize for second place featured a one-year membership to PAIA for the students’ university. This means that all UP students can attend 2025 PAIA events (held monthly) for FREE! This is an incredible benefit for students as they work on professional development and growing their networks.
Congratulations Shane, Max, Chelsey and Toby for your great work and thank you for securing some great perks for UP students!
How UP students can attend Events
To attend upcoming PAIA events, students must register. The events page and registration links are located at: https://www.portlandaia.org/upcoming-events
Q&A with the Team
Who:
The Portland Alternative Investment Association (PAIA) Comp Team
Why did you decide to participate in this competition?
We decided to participate in this competition because we saw it as an excellent opportunity to apply the financial concepts and skills we’ve learned individually through extracurricular activities.
It provided a platform for us to challenge ourselves, gain real-world experience, and test our abilities against talented peers. We wanted to push ourselves out of our comfort zone and develop a deeper understanding of investment strategies and market analysis.
What was it like to compete (and win 2nd place!)?
Competing in this competition was an intense and exciting experience. It allowed us to showcase analytical and strategic thinking while working in a team. The pressure was high, but it was incredibly rewarding to collaborate with others who shared the same passion for finance.
Winning 2nd place was an amazing feeling; it validated the effort and teamwork that we put in, and it gave us a greater sense of confidence in our abilities.
How is UP equipping/preparing you for your career goals?
The rigorous coursework, combined with leadership opportunities in clubs like the University of Portland Investment Association (UPIA) is truly valuable.
However, it is important to note that there are many things outside of the classroom that aren’t taught early at UP. In our opinion, this is where we truly succeeded, as our team consisted of three sophomores.
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“The University of Portland is providing us with both the theoretical foundation and the practical experience I need for my career goals.” (Shane Fuse, UP Finance student, UPIA President)
More About UPIA
The University of Portland Investment Association (UPIA) assists in the professional, educational, and social development of students interested in finance, banking, and investments. We aim to provide all students with exposure to investing in public markets so that they can manage their own finances throughout their lives. UPIA members and student leadership manage a $700,000 portfolio.
For more information, contact President, Shane Fuse at – fuse27@up.edu or via LinkedIn at – https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanefuse/
More About PAIA
The Portland Alternative Investment Association (PAIA) is a non-profit organization, formed to help promote and enhance communication among all participants in the alternative investment community by hosting and facilitating networking and educational forums. Our membership and educational content encompasses a wide range of private and public alternative investment strategy types, and our members and speakers include allocators, portfolio managers, analysts and product specialists, as well as service providers such as legal, accounting and compliance experts who specialize in alternative assets.
For more information, please visit – https://www.portlandaia.org/