On November 16, our team, Luka and Josh, two Accounting and Financial Management students, had the opportunity to represent the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) at the Northeastern Student Value Fund Boston Stock Pitch Competition. This competition partners with Alta Fox Capital and is held at Northeastern University’s campus in Boston, Massachusetts.
Our “buy” recommendation of Pet Valu (TSX PET), supported by our strong understanding of the business and diligent research, propelled our team to a third-place finish! We credit much of our success to extracurriculars we are a part of at the University of Waterloo, including Waterloo Private Capital, the Student Investment Fund, Waterloo Business Review, the University of Waterloo Investment Council and others, helping us refine our skillsets.
In our pitch, we cited that Pet Valu is becoming a better business in the face of adversity and was trading significantly below its intrinsic value. We backed up these claims with primary research, including web scrapers, SEO analytics and maps imaging.
The trip to Boston was an eventful one. After receiving short notice that we advanced to the in-person round, we booked our flights and prepared our pitch on a time crunch. We arrived in Boston at midnight the night before the competition, and we were refining our lines at the airport to prepare for the early morning ahead. Once we arrived at the Northeastern campus, we were greeted by the hosts at the university and were given an overview of the day which would include a semi-final and final round of pitches, a presentation from Alta Fox Capital founder Connor Haley, and networking after the finals.
Our group from the first round was comprised of schools including University of Michigan, Arizona State University (ASU) and Carnegie Mellon University, with only one team from our group selected to progress to the final round. After presenting our first round, we had the opportunity to listen to a talk given by Haley, the Alta Fox founder, in which he gave an overview of the fast-growing fund and their unique investing strategy. We then learned that we were 1 of 5 teams to make the final round alongside teams from The Wharton School, University of Virginia, and New York University (NYU) and started to refine our pitch with feedback the judges gave us from our prior round. After presenting in the finals to the full panel of judges and all the other competitors, it was announced that we placed third overall in the competition.
Reflecting on the experience, it was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity. Being able to represent SAF in a different country and connect with so many like-minded people, on top of having the chance to explore the beautiful city afterwards, was truly incredible.
Our advice to fellow SAF students is to learn as much as you can from alumni and fellow students and to attend as many competitions as possible, as this is how we learned the skills necessary to compete in Boston. It’s also crucial to ask for and implement feedback, as we were told that hedge funds prioritize hiring students that are quick learners and adaptable. Overall, it was an amazing experience, and we hope to compete in more stock pitch competitions in the future!