The members of Global Platinum Securities act less like a bunch of cut-throat investors than a tight group of friends. When asked how the NYU chapter, which is part of an international collection of students who manage investments, get along with their counterparts in other schools, Stern junior and GPS Vice President of Internal Relations Roman Smukler said, "We do three conferences a year where everyone gets together. The greatest thing about it, the very first one I ever went to, I felt like I already knew everyone without ever meeting them."
"We're like an eHarmony commercial," joked CAS sophomore and GPS member Michael Tanzer.
GPS is a student-run investment group with members at NYU, MIT, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, London School of Economics, Georgetown University, University of Colorado and the University of Dayton.
Though the group manages investments, its primary focus is educating students about how to make those investments and create a community between members and group mentors. Tim Shannon, a Georgetown graduate and one of the group's founding members, said the club started in 2004 when he and a classmate decided to expand a fund they started in high school. Shannon and his friend Rufino Mendoza decided to reach out to schools they wanted to involve in the program through friends and acquaintances.
"NYU stood out for its stellar undergraduate business program, world-renowned professors and location in the heart of the world of finance," Shannon said. Smukler said GPS has increased his business sense.
"When I entered into the club I knew almost nothing about finance. I maybe read the [Wall Street] Journal every once in a while," he said. While keeping up with the Wall Street Journal can't hurt, Smukler said interest in joining the corporate world wasn't essential to getting involved in GPS. "All these people look great on paper. We're looking for that thing that makes them different," said GPS Portfolio Manager Hoshrav Patel, stressing that teamwork and a sense of community are the group's biggest rewards. "We're not all going to be investment bankers," Tanzer said.
Dan Wilcox is a contributing writer. E-mail him at .
