UWF business students pitch stock recommendations for Argo Growth Fund, debate future of cryptocurrency

Three University of West Florida College of Business students delivered their stock investment recommendations for the University’s student-managed Argo Growth Fund at a public presentation on Nov. 7 at the UWF Commons Auditorium.

The Argo Growth Fund is part of UWF’s Argo Investments program. Established in 2019, the program gives College of Business finance students real-world fiduciary experiences. In 2020, the UWF Foundation Board approved the use of real money for the program’s students to manage under the guidance of Dr. K.C. Ma, Mary Ball Washington/Switzer Bros. endowed professor of finance in UWF’s College of Business. 

“Wall Street treats students’ investments just like any other money managers’ investments,” Ma said. “You don’t get any special credit just because you are young.”

Three business majors researched and analyzed publicly traded stock offerings to determine companies they believed to be worthy of investment. Luke Racine presented Nvidia Corp, Nicolas Mielke presented BYD Company and Pedro Pilli presented Kratos Defense and Security Solutions.

A panel of student trustees in Ma’s Securities Analysis and Portfolio Management course selected Racine, Mielke and Pilli’s presentations on Nvidia, BYD and Kratos to each receive $50,000 in funding from the student-managed Argo Growth Fund.

The event also featured a debate by undergraduate business students Robert Sherlock and Aaron Korel on the future of cryptocurrency, a form of virtual currency that is exchanged online rather than through a central authority.

At the conclusion of the event, audience members were invited to participate in a popular vote via a mobile device app. They selected Racine’s presentation on Nvidia as the top stock recommendation pitch and Korel as the winner of the cryptocurrency debate.

For more information about UWF’s College of Business, visit uwf.edu/cob.