Fantasy finance:

Andrew Rielly ’08 has put the Dolan School of Business on the map by taking second place in a nationwide global currency trading competition.

More than 12 colleges and 100 students participated in the Texas A’M Inter-University Forex Trading Competition, intended to give students mock experience in trading foreign currency.

Each participant was given $50,000 in simulated capital. After one month, the student with the highest rate of return on his or her account is the winner.

The student must take into consideration current news and economic global trends. The student is also required to use Global Forex Trading software, which reports live price data for 60 foreign exchanges.

Rielly, a double major in finance and management from Medford, N.J., said that after he realized his numbers had surpassed last year’s undergraduate winner, he was not surprised at the outcome.

“Once I saw I was doing well, I took a more conservative approach to ensure a positive outcome,” said Rielly.

Michael Tucker, professor of finance, oversees the competition and said it is a great way to test students’ real-world knowledge of the market and give them experience in fundamental and technical trading.

For the second year in a row, Fairfield joined other prestigious colleges in the competition, including Villanova, Penn State, China Europe International Business School and Texas A’M.

Last year’s winner was a then Dolan School of Business graduate student, Alexander Dean, who landed a job at UBS due to his impressive degree and as well as his win.

Rielly has recently accepted a job at Lehman Brothers beginning next year. He said he is thankful to Tucker for his continued support.

“I’m really excited for this opportunity, and I know participating in this competition, as well as working at UBS this past summer, has taught me a lot,” Rielly said.