Virginia Tech students take second place in commodity trading competition
Commodity Investing by Students (COINS) is the only student-managed commodity fund in the U.S., providing students with the opportunity to analyze commodity markets while actively managing an investment portfolio of approximately $1.3 million.
Virginia Tech’s Commodity Investing by Students (COINS) organization — the only student-run commodities trading group in the nation — earned second place at the 2024 Undergraduate Commodities Competition.
The team finished right behind the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in the annual event involving collegiate teams from North America held at the University of Houston. The top five teams also included students from the University of Calgary and the University of California, Berkeley.
To qualify, 75 teams submitted one-pagers that summarized their trade thesis along with the reasoning, evidence, and mechanics to execute it. Of those, 25 teams were selected to compete.
The Virginia Tech student teams included:
- Arnav Khurma, a junior majoring in computer science
- Shlok Rajeev, a sophomore majoring in fintech and big data analytics
- Jay Rajurkar, a sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering
- Gurkirat Singh, a junior majoring in computer science
- Sakhi Trivedi, a junior majoring in finance
- Sam Yousef, a junior majoring in finance
- Bowen Zhang, a junior majoring in fintech and big data analytics
Daniel Silvestri, COINS co-CEO and a senior majoring in finance and business information technology, also traveled with the teams.
In front of a panel of industry judges, each student team pitched a commodity, equity, or trade idea that exemplified creative thinking related to a specific commodity market.
"I was very proud of our teams and excited to celebrate with them,” Silvestri said. “This result is a testament to the hard work we put into the organization. I knew that we could be competitive due to the experiences our analysts already have trading in these markets."
Real-life trading experience
Students in COINS are responsible for managing about $1.3 million of the Virginia Tech Foundation’s endowment in commodity markets. Nearly 70 members and new recruits from all colleges at Virginia Tech are learning and conducting fundamental and technical analysis of commodity markets while actively managing an investment portfolio.
COINS grew out of an idea and generous gift from Virginia Tech alumnus Bruce Holland ’70 and his wife, Debbie, who partnered with the Virginia Tech Foundation to create an opportunity for students to learn first-hand about commodity markets. Alumni John '91 and Kristi '88 Rowsell have also supported COINS through their endowment of the John B. and Kristi L. Rowsell Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
Each week, teams of analysts concentrate on examining their assigned commodities from the COINS portfolio with the goal of placing profitable trades to surpass the benchmark of the Bloomberg Commodity Index. They collaborate within their respective divisions to brainstorm and then present and defend their innovative trade ideas to the entire COINS membership. Presenters must be prepared to answer insightful questions about their thesis and the underlying market fundamentals.
Similarly, the Houston competition required this same level of rigor and preparation but in a more demanding professional setting, where industry leaders and experienced traders served as judges.
“It’s an impressive accomplishment to do so well the first time they entered this competition,” said Olga Isengildina Massa, COINS lead faculty advisor and the John B. and Kristi L. Rowsell Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. “The opportunity students in COINS have to develop a pitch, put together a presentation, and sell it to industry experts greatly enhances their learning experience and future success in many industries.”
Jay Rajurkar, a sophomore in mechanical engineering and the COINS recruitment co-chair and silver analyst, was a member of the team that placed second.
"What we traded is called the crack spread,” Rajurkar said. “It measures the profitability that oil refineries have in refining a barrel of oil to a barrel of diesel. We bought 10 diesel futures contracts and shorted ten crude oil futures. You make money if the price of diesel rises more than the price of oil or if the price of oil falls more than the price of diesel.”
Before the competition, the students participated in a professional development day by visiting Virginia Tech COINS alumni working in commodity-related careers in the Houston area. They connected with Nicholas Wells '11 and Gabe Plichta ’23 at Amerex Brokers; Max Babka '23 and Colburn Hassman '20 at Trafigura; and Katie McGroddy '22 at Castleton Commodities International.
"Talking to people who are actually in the industry attracts you more to commodity trading,” Rajurkar said. “It opened my eyes to what they do in their day-to-day work.”
Written by Nancy Moseley
