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For the first time ever, Master in Finance students will work with real money in their Portfolio Management course thanks to a $10,000 donation from the IE Foundation. Any profit generated by the class will go toward scholarships for future finance students.

“This is a big advance in our programs, the Business School, and the IE Community,” Master in Finance Academic Director Ignacio de la Torre said.  “It is an incentive we have been working to get for a while. Finally getting it, is definitely rewarding.”

The initiative is meant to provide an enhanced learning experience, generating more funds for students’ scholarships as well as contributing to the culture of giving back among the students within the community.

“The foundation’s main goals are to generate projects and resources designed to further improve the quality of education, to create and manage applied research initiatives, to implement and fund scholarship programs, to nurture a culture of giving back, and to bring added impetus to IE’s strategic values,” said IE Foundation Deputy Vice President Tecla Keller, explaining the foundation’s decision to grant the program the funds.

Keller said the scholarship amounts would depend on the fund’s earnings and would be aligned with the foundation’s Talent without Borders mission.

Portfolio Management Professor Kevin Spellman said managing a real portfolio gives students an edge over competitors in the job market and reflects IE Business School’s real-world teaching methodology.

“We are very excited to provide students with an opportunity to manage a real portfolio.”

“We are very excited to provide students with an opportunity to manage a real portfolio,” Spellman said. “Students will be in the thick of the markets, using the software available in the IE Trading Room to research stocks and analyze the portfolio. This will set them apart from other students as they look for jobs and begin their careers, and add to IE Business School’s strengths in investment education.”

To aid the new initiative, the course also has controls in placewhich include processes, policies and procedures that set parameters for the portfolio. Students are equipped with stock screens that reflect the investment approach of very successful investors, including Warren Buffet.

“I hope for the future that it will help students to launch real funds with more money or to manage money for clients,” said Professor Rafael Hurtado Coll, who also teaches the course.

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