What is UR Investing?

UR Investing is a university sanctioned, student run investment fund. Team members gain practical experience by investing over $1,400,000 in capital markets, performing sector and company specific research, pitching buy/sell recommendations, as well as attending & hosting industry events. The team invests in Canadian & US Equities, Canadian Fixed Income and Canadian & US REITs. The program is structured to incorporate four different tiers of team members: mentees, research associates, sector managers and executives.

UR Investing offers the tools necessary to enable students to accelerate their financial careers. In addition to regular weekly meetings, the team has access to research and financial modeling tutorials. The team brings in guest speakers from the finance industry and hosts a career night once a semester to bring in professionals from the community.

Our Team

We will be announcing our full team in late September!

Executive:
Chief Investment Officer
Chief Investment Officer

Directed Research – Cyclical:
Sector Manager
Research Associate

Directed Research – Non-Cyclical:
Sector Manager
Research Associate
Research Associate

Energy:
Sector Manager
Research Associate
Research Associate

Financials:
Sector Manager
Research Associate

REITs:
Sector Manager
Research Associate

Fixed Income:
Sector Manager
Research Associate

Materials:
Sector Manager
Research Associate

Role Descriptions

Chief Investment Officer

The Chief Investment Officer (CIO) is a part of the executive team and is typically in their last year of school. The CIO will look after the allocation of the fund as a whole and decide where capital should be placed in order to be suited to beat the benchmark. They will allocate capital from the fund to the 7 different sectors and provide input and guidance to Sector Managers to perform buy/sell recommendations. The CIOs will be the direct correspondence with the team’s investment committee and the fund’s client. Another large aspect of the CIO is to manage the team members themselves and to assemble the team after every semester as they see fit.

Sector Manager

There are 7 Sector Managers on the team who manage their given sector and allocate their funds into their respective sub-sectors. The Sector Managers report to the executive team but will make the investment decisions for their sector with assistance from the CIOs. They will use a top-down approach to select superior stocks/bonds to be best positioned to beat the benchmark. To execute a proper buy/sell recommendation the Sector Managers will put together a pitch book along with a presentation that they give to the team. Each Sector Manager will have 1 – 2 Research Associates that report to them.

Research Associate

There are anywhere from 7 – 12 Research Associates (RA) on the team on a given semester.  There will be 1 – 2 RAs allocated in each of the 7 sectors.  The RA is given the task of updating the team on their sectors current holdings along with providing research about any other securities that the team may be interested in investing in.  Along with this, the RAs will perform sector and industry specific research which they will then share with the team in a presentation format.

Mentee

There are 2 Mentee’s on the team at any given time.  The Mentee is a first year student who has not taken entry level finance but shows an interest in the finance industry along with the capital markets.  They are put on the team to be get an understanding of what the program is and how it operates.  After they are enrolled in their entry level finance course they are eligible to be promoted to a Research Associate position.

Sector Breakdown

Fixed Income

Fixed income is a type of investing or budgeting style for which real return rates or periodic income is received at regular intervals at reasonably predictable levels. The Fixed Income portfolio focuses on investing in a variety of Canadian Corporate, Government and Provincial bonds. This sector will also focus on providing the team with continuous economic reports and updates.

Energy & Utilities Sector

The Energy sector is a category of stocks that relate to producing or supplying energy. This sector includes companies involved in the exploration and development of oil or gas reserves, oil and gas drilling, or integrated power firms. The Utilities sector is a category of stocks for utilities such as gas and power. The Utilities sector contains companies such as electric, gas and water firms, as well as integrated providers.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) Sector

A REIT is a type of security that invests in real estate through property or mortgages and often trades on major exchanges like a stock. REITs provide investors with an extremely liquid stake in real estate. They receive special tax considerations and typically offer high dividend yields. Our benchmark is set up in such a way that allows the fund to separate REITs from the Financials sector, a relatively uncommon portfolio structure.

Materials Sector

The Basic Materials sector is a category of stocks that accounts for companies involved with the discovery, development and processing of raw materials. The Basic Materials sector includes the mining and refining of metals, chemical producers and forestry products.

Directed Research (DR) - Cyclical Sector

The DR Cyclical sector is comprised of three sub-sectors: Consumer Discretionary, Industrials and Information Technology. Consumer Discretionary include industries such as automotive, housing, entertainment and retail. The category can be further divided into durable and nondurable subsectors. The durables subsector includes physical goods such as hardware or vehicles, while non-durables represent items like movies or hotel services. The Industrial sector is a category of stocks that relate to producing goods used in construction and manufacturing. This sector includes companies involved with aerospace and defense, industrial machinery, tools, lumber production, construction, cement and metal fabrication. The Information Technology sector is the category of stocks relating to the research, development and/or distribution of technologically based goods and services. This sector contains businesses revolving around the manufacturing of electronics, creation of software, computers or products and services relating to information technology. These sectors were combined into one sector because they move in similar cyclical patterns. The companies that fall into these three sectors typically follow the business cycle in terms of generating profits.

Directed Research (DR) - Non Cyclical Sector

The DR Non Cyclical Sector is comprised of three sub-sectors: Consumer Staples, Healthcare and Telecommunications. Consumer staples are goods that people are unable or unwilling to cut out of their budgets regardless of their financial situation: Essential products such as food, beverages, tobacco and household items. The Healthcare sector is the category of stocks relating to medical and healthcare goods or services. The Healthcare sector includes hospital management firms, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), biotechnology and a variety of medical products. The Telecommunications sector comprises companies that make communication possible on a global scale, whether through the phone or Internet. These companies created the infrastructure that allows data to be sent anywhere in the world. The largest companies in the sector are wireless operators, satellite companies, cable companies and Internet service providers. These sectors were combined because they also move in very similar non-cyclical patterns. This means that they are always in demand, no matter how well the economy is performing.

Get Involved

Term Structure

The fund operates all year as this is an actively managed fund that needs constant attention. New team members will be brought on each new semester as existing members graduate and become ineligible to participate further. During the Fall and Winter semesters, the team will have a board meeting once a week for a few hours to discuss existing holdings, current economic conditions, pitch buy/sell recommendations, provide educational presentations, or have guest speakers come in.. During the Spring/Summer semesters the team will meet once every second week or whenever immediate action needs to be taken.

Ideal Candidate for Each Level

The way the team structure has adapted over the years has allowed so any student, no matter the year of study they are in, can be apart of the team. The team will have 2 mentee’s that are in their first year of University. Research Associates are typically in their second or third year but there have been fourth year students as Research Associates. Sector Managers are typically in their third or fourth year of study. And finally, the executive team members are in their final year of their undergrad degree.