What was your strategy?

I had never built a share portfolio before. In fact, until only recently (around March), I didn't have enough capital to be willing to star  investin  in anything. Since March, I have mostly lost money on the share market, which I think goes to show that you can't just decide to jump on the sharemarket bandwagon at any old time.

My strategy for the competition was less fundamentally based than most others, I expect. The best investors out there are able to look at the underlying information in a company's financial statements and make decisions based on their own calculations of 'value'. However, for this competition, I realised that the payoffs were not at all equivalent to real-life investing, but more similar to an option. That is, first you pay $10. If your stocks soar you win big; if your stocks do very well you lose $10, if your stocks do poorly you lose $10; and if your stocks do very poorly you lose $10. Therefore, I designed my portfolios with the primary aim of maximising risk. By maximising the leverage of each portfolio (I entered five) to a single commodity, I was able to maximise the potential returns to that portfolio, seemingly more so than if I had leveraged it to say, an industry or sector. My strategy was win big or lose big. As it were, three of my portfolios finished in the top 100 nationwide.

Did you expect to make it into the Top Ten?

Due to my strategy and the belief that the majority of other students would attempt to diversify their risks, I felt I had an extremely good chance of making it to the top 10% and thereby earning myself a spot on the summit award, however I didn't think it very possible that I would be in the top 10, let alone 'numero uno'.

What have you learnt from the competition?

The exercise has basically taken me straight into realworld financial markets. I doubt I would have had the confidence to make real life investment decisions were it not for my performance in this competition, and more specifically my consistently very good performance in the ASX sharemarket game. This competition forced me me to try my hand at the ASX sharemarket game (a much harder online trading game) to see if my performance in the BRW comp was just a fluke. Thankfully I have manage  to boost my confidence by consistently performing in the top 10% of the ASX sharemarket game and even making it to the top 100 (out of about 20,000!). I spent a good week and a half considering my investing strateg  and subsequent stock selections for the BRW competition, and have since spent many a day watching the market minute by minute and adjusting m  ASX Sharemarket Game trades accordingly.

Apart from the practical experiences I have learnt from the competition and my subsequent foray into equity markets, I have benefited enormousl  by being able to list the achievement on my resume. Unfortunately though it has yet to pay off! Hint, hint, employers.

What will you do with the prize money?

The $10,000 will see my girlfriend and I head to Guam for the christmas holidays to visit my parents, and then most likely to Mexico and the Caribbean sometime next year. I know it would be more prudent to invest the money, but there will be much more where that came from.

Have you had any industry experience?

I've been working on average 2-3 days per week at Aspect Huntley for the past 2 years, which has also helped to entice me into equity markets. Aspect Huntley publishes "Your Money Weekly" and many other newsletters, and provides investors with research and data on all ASX listed companies. In my position I get to take an in - depth look at every market sensitive company announcement that comes through the ASX, including company results and financial statements.

Your dream job?

My dream job would be one in which I would be permitted to look at business models and strategies as a whole, and use my creativity, intuition and financial acumen to make recommendations accordingly. I a  also very much a people person and I enjoy presenting and public speaking, so hopefully I can also bring in my Chinese speaking skills as well. The areas in which I would most prefer to work include corporate finance/investment banking and business and management consulting. Alternatively, I'd be a professional pool player and a Jack Johnson-esque singer.

Why applied finance ?

I'd always had an interest in applied business and commerce, so finance was the natural progression in terms of study. I felt that the applied finance course offered a more specifically tailored degree than your average commerce or business degress being offered elsewhere.

Best part of the degree?

By far the best part of the course has been in the last year when I have actually made a commitment to my classes and my studies. Not only has the material become much more specific, relevant and useful, but I've realised that a lot goes on at uni to which I was previously indifferent - things such as the BRW competition and the Macquarie University Business Strategy Challenge (MUBSC). Finally, the achievement of having scored a high distinction in the unit FIN310 - the defining subject of the degree - has proved to be a real highlight.

Notwithstanding the boring introductory subjects, the subjects have generally been laden with interesting and relevant connections to the real world.

What's been the reaction to your win?

Everyone around me has been very supportive of the win, to the point where I need to stop to remind myself of the luck which helped me get there. I think its very important not to get ahead of yourself, but I have always had tremendous support not only from my family, but basically everyone I've ever met.

Your background......?

Born and raised in Guam until the age of six. Dual nationality - Aussie and American. Closeknit family. My mother is a french-speaking nature-appreciating all-round enjoyer of life, and my father is a law-practicing futures-trading ex-hippy. My parents are crowd favourites with their good-natured American enthusiasm and ex-California-hippy-ness, and my Japanese-speaking sister is now living in America.