Massey University is committed to research and teaching relevant to the business environment, Associate Professor Associate Professor Russell Gregory-Allen said.
He said that Massey Business School offers students a unique combination of a strong academic grounding and practical, real-world learning.
The University is marking the first anniversary of its own ‘Trading Room’ that offers not only real-time situation but also features a state-of-the-art facility with cutting-edge equipment including Bloomberg financial terminals, a livestock price ticket and information and news screens.
Innovative learning
“The Trading Room provides students with an innovative learning environment where they can access and use the information sources employed in the real business world,” Dr Gregory-Allen said.
Massey Business School offers top quality business programmes at its Auckland, Palmerston North and Wellington campuses, with a wide range of distance study options, he added.
“Massey is in the top 100 universities globally for finance and the Albany campus is home to New Zealand’s first and only university trading room. This allows finance students to gain real-life fund management experience with Massey’s own student-managed investment fund,” Dr Gregory-Allen said.
Pierre Burgers, a student at the University, agreed, saying “Massey is making us more marketable. We can say that we are already working on a Bloomberg terminal,” he said.
The following is a modified version of a report that appeared in our October 15, 2013 issue:
The Massey University Trading Room is the initiative of Dr Gregory-Allen, who is its Project Manager. Stated to be seven years in the making, the Trading Room provides finance students real-life fund management experience.
Modern equipment
NZX Chief Executive Tim Bennett described the Trading Room as ä great addition to a lovely campus.
“Future Fund Managers of the University are fortunate to have the facility within their place of study comprising the state-of-the-art equipment, among which are Bloomberg financial terminals, a live stock price ticker and information and news screens,” he said, during his visit to the Campus on October 4, 2013.
Additional Funding
Dr Gregory-Allen said that Massey already had a student-managed investment fund, students can now make use of modern technology to learn and do research.
The first groups of finance students are going through the process of gaining their Bloomberg Essentials Certification and using the facility for research projects, including stock report assignments. We can look up every single index, virtually every single stock in the world, with information updated in real-time,” he said.
Student Pierre Burgers said that the university is making students more marketable.
Dr Gregory-Allen’s vision is to establish an integrated finance research facility at Massey, and a Trading Room with more terminals, and access data not only from Bloomberg but also from Factset, Reuters Eikon and Capital IQ.
“The planned facility will include a market simulation lab where researchers can run trading and market interaction experiments. I am seeking $1 million endowment to go into the Student Investment Fund, which will then be able to produce income for research grants and student scholarships,” he said.
Established in 1996, the Fund has performed well against the NZX50.
Postgraduate student Daniel Feller said that Massey students currently manage about $28,000 and that working with $1 million would enhance their experience.
Dr Russell Gregory-Allen with students at the Massey Trading Room
