MSQF team earns 4th-place finish at international portfolio management competition
Tuesday, May 6, 2025
Media Contact: Stephen Howard | Director of Marketing & Communications | 405.744.4363 | stephen.howard@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University finance postgraduate students Anahita Badkoubeh Hezaveh and Zannatus Saba teamed up to earn a fourth-place finish at the 2025 Rotman Portfolio Management Competition.
Hosted by the BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab in Toronto, Canada, the RPMC featured a field of 123 teams competing to develop a predictive analytical model that can accurately forecast asset price movements and risk over time.
In the first phase of the competition, teams analyzed historical equity data to develop their investment strategies. In the second phase, teams managed a $1 million portfolio for about a month, applying their initial findings to achieve the highest risk-adjusted returns.
Badkoubeh Hezaveh is pursuing her master’s degree in qualitative finance in the Spears School of Business, while Saba is an MSQF alumna currently pursuing her doctorate in finance at OSU. The duo released the following statement about their experiences in the RPMC.
“Competing in The Rotman Portfolio Management Competition was more than just optimizing returns — it was about translating theory into real-time strategy under pressure. It challenged us to think dynamically, adapt quickly and lead with data. We’re grateful to Dr. Betty Simkins, Dr. Allissa Lee and Dr. Joe Wayne Byers for their support. This experience wouldn’t have been possible without the dynamic learning environment they’ve built at the Department of Finance at OSU. This experience redefined how we think about the future of finance.”
It has been a busy spring for OSU’s MSQF program, which also competed at the 2025 Rotman International Trading Competition.
A team comprised of Rashik Amin, Ananna Barua, James Ezeilo, Ben Lunsford, Ryan Travelletti and Sun Zhu placed 17th out of 34 teams from around the world, outperforming entries from Columbia University, Boston University, the University of Toronto and others.
Quantitative finance embraces the role of advanced mathematics in applied finance. Led by Lee, the OSU MSQF program trains students to become not employees with just quantitative skills but financial managers who are equipped with a thorough understanding of quantitative finance. The program was ranked No. 34 by the TFE Times on their list of the 2025 Best Master’s of Financial Engineering Programs.