On March 3, Jefferson’s Investment Club hosted guest speaker Cameron Hamilton to share with students his experiences in the field of investment banking, and to to supplement activities and discussions that the club had previously held.

“[Hamilton is] from Southside Mergers and Acquisitions. He’s a graduate of TJ and he’s now working in investment banking,” senior and president Alex Bochenek said. “We thought we would get someone who’s not only in the business and knows it well, but also a part of the TJ community and past alum.”

The club usually meets to learn skills regarding investment and the applications they can have in their own life.

“Most of the time, we prepare for stock pitches, and we have club members get together in groups and have them do research on certain stocks, as well as conduct a SWAT to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats,” Bochenek said. “Sometimes, the more experienced members will do business evaluations.”

In addition, members of the club share ideas with each other, in the form of pitches, and make decisions based on their own research.

“We engage in a series of presentations every time there’s a pitch,” Bochenek said. “There’s the initial pitch, and we have something called Socially Responsible Investing where we make sure the club is aware of who’s behind the company, who’s leading it, and whether it’s something that we would invest in personally. Lastly, [we have] the devil who plays devil’s advocate against the company.”

Furthermore, the Investment Club has a club account to buy stocks based on the club’s opinion of the company. They analyze companies and makes decisions based on how good a company is quantitatively.

“The whole focus of the club is club participation,” treasurer Alex Marwaha said. “So all the students who join the club can participate in making presentations, and as a whole, we make a decision as a club rather than the officers forcing the students what to do.”

By providing students with a opportunity to pursue interests in fields outside of STEM, Borchenek values the club as a unique way to bring students together for their passion of investing and learning.

“This is something that brings a lot of people together, and we have a really good time; everyone’s very social and active and no one finds a problem reaching out to another club member or officer asking for help, or tips and tricks.” Borchenek said.