Financial Markets Lab

Learn Finance by Managing a Real Portfolio

Opened in 2015 with funds donated by generous benefactors, the Financial Markets Lab features:

• an electronic ticker-tape with up-to-the minute stock prices, bond prices, and currency exchange rates;
• dual-monitor computers loaded with professional-grade trading software;
• interactive, touch-screen tote boards with both current news and historical data.

Recent results: using the Financial Markets Lab, our students have:

• Placed 5th in the world in the 2016 CME Group Trading Challenge
• Placed four Detroit Mercy students among the world's top 25 individual investors in the Fall 2017 ETF Global Portfolio Challenge--more winners than any other university in the world.
• Placed three Detroit Mercy students among the world's top 25 winners in the Fall 2018 ETF Global Portfolio Challenge.

The Majestic Fund (Mercy and Jesuit Student Investment Capital Fund)--is a student-run portfolio of real financial assets.  Student managers report quarterly to an Investment Advisory Council comprised of industry leaders.  In 2020, the Majestic Fund outperformed the market with a 17.3% rate of return; in 2021, the Majestic Fund had a 27% rate of return.

Student Testimonials

“Learning from the textbook definitely gave me the fundamental knowledge of investing in terms of calculating ratios, understanding what they mean and how to use them, but our MAJESTIC Fund experience really allowed me to use them right away, and that’s very rare in classes. The real-world experience that comes with this class is what makes it so valuable and educational, reinforced by the fact that after we learned the fundamentals we were able to see how everything comes together to make recommendations, analyze valuations, understand how volatility affects a security/fund and how factors outside of the numbers can affect a security/fund in the future.” Garrett Garbarino, ’22.

 “I learned how to efficiently communicate my thoughts and suggestions, as well as back them up with financial evidence.  Our ability to handle real-world money, while justifying our decisions based on our knowledge was a once in a lifetime opportunity.  The Majestic Fund kick-started what will hopefully be a long-time career in investing and Finance.”  Ava Stander, ’23

See 360-degree view of the Financial Markets Lab.