Desautels Capital Management

Desautels Capital Management Inc. is Canada’s first university-owned, student-run, licensed and regulated investment firm with assets totaling $9M. Established in 2009, Desautels Capital Management offers students at McGill University meaningful and realistic experience in the industry.

The firm currently manages four funds:

1. the Desautels Global Equity Fund
2. the Desautels Fixed Income Fund
3. the Desautels Alpha Squared Equity Fund
4. the Desautels SRI Equity Fund.

The first two funds are managed by the Honours in Investment Management students and the latter are managed by MMF students. Each fund has a team of student-analysts, led by a strategist. Students are guided by experienced faculty members and by the Desautels Global Experts with expertise in investment management.

Alpha Squared Equity Fund

The Alpha Squared Equity Fund was launched in January 2017 to provide Masters of Management in Finance (MMF) students with real world investment management experience. MMF students work as Analysts for Desautels Capital Management (DCM) and are responsible for all elements of the $1 million Fund, including research, trade execution, portfolio and risk management, compliance, and settlement. The Fund uses a combination of top-down macroeconomic views, bottom-up fundamental valuation, and quantitative analysis. The MMF's rigorous curriculum provides students with the necessary skills to become effective managers, and students are further mentored by DCM's Chief Investment Officer, Prof. Vadim di Pietro.

Desautels SRI Equity Fund

The Desautels Faculty of Management has introduced a new fund dedicated to Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) under Desautels Capital Management (DCM) – a student-run, registered investment management firm. Learn more

For further information on Fund details, investment style, and past student publications visit www.desautelscapital.ca.

Students Investing in a Better World

The Desautels Faculty has introduced a new fund dedicated to Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) under Desautels Capital Management (DCM) – a student-run, registered investment management firm.

The newly introduced SRI fund will allow students to consider environmental, social, and governance criteria in the investment process more profoundly in order to underline the centrality of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in industry.

“Social responsibility is becoming more and more important to our investors and it’s also something that our students are very passionate about,” said Vadim di Pietro, Associate Professor of Finance and Chief Investment Officer at DCM.

For Paul Barnett, Managing Director at Ulysses Management, DCM effectively equips students with not only the knowledge about important issues like CSR, but also the skills to make an impact in the workplace.

“The hands-on experience that DCM offers is essential. Experiences that simulate the work environment allow new graduates to hit the ground running and make immediate contributions to their employer,” affirms Barnett.

If industry members can already attest to the value of the DCM experience, di Pietro sees the introduction of the SRI fund as a further step in the right direction: “Above all else, we must continue to meet our responsibility as an educational institution to prepare future financial leaders with a strong sense of community, business ethics and personal integrity.”

Photo: Master of Management in Finance (MMF) students on a trip to New York City (Nov. 2018)