Ideas with Impact
UNB Faculty of Management

Members of the Student Investment Fund (SIF) and the UNB Finance Group got to experience Toronto in a unique way this past January (12th-15th).  Most people go to Toronto to see the sites, but these students went for another purpose.

The three day trip was arranged by the Centre for Financial Studies (CFS), as a learning experience. Finance students gathered information on interest rate forecasts, and got a better understanding of the investment industry by looking at the buy side versus the sell side. They also had the opportunity to network with some very important financial leaders.

The SIF team is no stranger to Toronto, as they have made quite a name for themselves over the past few years, winning several major investment competitions. However this was the first time Finance Group members have had the opportunity to attend one of these trips.

To really understand how the investment industry works, students had to see for themselves. On the Buy side, students visited McLean Budden, UBS Global Asset Management, Fidelity, Sprucegrove investments, Brandes, and Phillips Hager & North. While on the Sell side they visited Desjardins, TD Securities, Versant Partners, and RBC Capital Markets. Seeing both the buy and sell sides, allowed students to see how the investment industry works as a whole.

The trip wasn’t all business though. When students weren’t visiting the major investment companies or attending events organized by the Toronto Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) society, they had the opportunity to do some really fun and exciting things, such as opening the Toronto Stock Exchange.

This was a great way for students to get hands on learning experience, and to make the ever important contacts they will need to help them with their careers. Overall the trip was a great success, and students can look forward to many more similar trips in the future.