Rookie of the Year: Investment Society

By Soha Mohammadhanif

Photo by Pavak Khurrana.

  Pictured from left to right are: Pavak Khurrana, President of the Investment Society; Lydia Ramsay, executive with WIBS; Mary McLeod, executive with WIBS; Maria Mannette, President of WIBS; and Sara Williams, executive with the Investment Society.

In the academic year 2024-2025, twenty-four new student societies were registered, and only one of them, the Investment Society, was named Rookie of the Year during the SMUSA Awards Night. The Investment Society, founded by a high school graduate and a second-year student,  was one of the fastest-growing societies of the past academic year. Starting out with the intention to create networking opportunities for Sobey School of Business students, the investment society brought with it a fresh set of ideas and conversations. It engaged students who were interested in careers in wealth management by providing guidance and information. Co-founders Pavak Khurrana and Alex Melendly are key examples of the saying “if you can’t find the space, create one”. Their interest in wealth management came from a genuine love towards finance, so when they created a space for other students to explore this field, it came effortlessly to them. 

Co-founders Alex Melendy and Pavak Khurrana

Photo by Pavak Khurrana

The two main objectives of the founders when starting the society were to create networking events and to instill among the students a habit of investing. They not only wanted to teach students how to make money by creating business connections, but also wanted to educate them on how to grow their savings by conducting workshops like ‘Intro to Investing’ and ‘How to Pick Stocks’. Throughout the year, the society held 8 workshops providing information on investing, careers in finance, and how to land internships, making them a one-of-a-kind society in SMU, providing guidance tailored for finance and accounting majors. Workshops are not the only events that they conducted; they also hosted multiple guest speakers who were established professionals from the finance industry. Their list of speakers only for the RBC wealth panel included John Donaldson, Associate Wealth and Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities; Morgan MacLean, Associate at RBC Dominion Securities; Katie Archibald, Investment Advisor at RBC Dominion Securities; and Jim Power, Associate at RBC PH&N Investment Counsel.

Hearing from the professionals enabled the students to get a closer idea of what their future might look like, and helped students to make decisions after getting a bit of knowledge about the real world of finance. Their collaboration with the Women in Business society resulted in a panel discussion with female entrepreneurs and specialists. However, one of their most successful events was the stock trading competition they held at the end of the fall semester. For the competition, all participants were given an imaginary budget of $100,000 to invest. The competition was held with the help of a website called howthemarketworks.com. Howthemarketworks is a replica of a real-life market, which displays market fluctuations in real-time and also contains features like a summary description of the company or institution. Participants had 2 weeks to study and invest, and at the end, the investor with the highest return on investment was the winner. Upon research by the executives, it was found that the reason for obtaining the highest return by the winner was investments that had a high risk factor. The competition was a perfect practical exercise that gave the students an accurate experience of what investing in the real world is like, giving them the confidence to start investing in small amounts.

All this was achieved in just two semesters! As fall approaches, the executive members of the society have already started planning events and activities for the coming year. Pavak Khurrana, President of the society for 2025-2026, is finishing up all the hiring for next year. Their hiring process includes a special added step where students need to submit written ideas that they want to implement if they were hired for the specific position. This allows them to not only judge the applicant's ability and interest but also add new events for the society. Pavak’s plans for the upcoming year include society collaborations, weekly newsletters with updates from the stock market, more workshops to teach entry level trading, an inter-smu stock pitch competition in the fall, where students will get to present a stock of their liking, a return of their trading competition in the winter semester, a Gala organized in collaboration with the Women in Business Society and the Sobey School of Business Commerce Society and so much more. 

Students can sign up to be a member of the Investment Society through their Instagram. Societies like the Investment Society are an important asset to students who are interested in making an advancement in their career right from the campus. Leak Oake’s recent article in The Journal What if Societies Did Not Exist? proves that societies allow students to create a feeling of belonging, so the stress and hardships that come with challenging course loads can be subdued. The investment society does exactly that, making students today colleagues for life. All updates for the Investment Society can be found on their social media at smuinvestmentsociety.