Students Share Investment Tips

The Cambridge World Fund, a private, student-run and student-managed investment partnership, consisting of students interested in trying their hands at picking stocks, held its second meeting yesterday.

About 14 students attended the meeting of the Fund, which was founded last fall by 16 students and is open to all undergraduates.

Students who decide to become partners in the Fund pool their money and invest with a spectrum of companies.

"What's great is that the Fund is for students who have no experience and those who have had the real experience," said co-chair Philip Tseng '98.

Co-Chair Kristofer J. Thiessen '98, said the Fund's partners learn about investing first-hand.

Students come to the Fund with different backgrounds and ideas, all of which comes into play when the group picks stocks, he added.

"We have one of our investments in a computer company," said Thiessen, who said he was initially unfamiliar with the field. "Some of our partners knew much more, and they explained to me what a network is, what servers do and why the technology is good."

Some partners also bring experience to stock selection through their work at big-name investment firms such as Goldman-Sachs and J.P. Morgan, Tseng said.

Still, the Fund's first equity investment in a biotechnology company was, at best, a limited success.

The Fund was attracted to the company based on a promising new drug undergoing clinical trials, according to Thiessen. But, after the Fund invested in the company, the trials proved otherwise.

"It turned out though that, in the course of testing, the rats died," he said.

Saadi Soudavar '99-'00, a new partner, said he joined the Fund because the College does not provide channels for students to learn about investing in financial markets.

"A basic skill that any student out of high school, let alone college, should have is the ability to read a balance sheet," Soudavar said. "At Harvard, accounting is not even offered to undergrads. The fund is a great opportunity for students to interact with the market."

Soudavar, who has experience in investment banking, said his work in the financial world has been "another form of education," enabling him to observe and analyze how corporations function-and learn the value of money.

"It's a different way of understanding the world we live in," he said.

No experience is required to become a partner, although there is a minimum investment of "a small amount," said Thiessen, who is also a Crimson editor and President of the Harvard Investment Association.

"It's a way to really understand how investment works without having to really risk a lot of money by yourself," he added.