Student investors in Stetson University’s Roland George Investments Program proved their global excellence once again – by winning the inaugural Global Asset Management Education (G.A.M.E.) Forum at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut earlier this month.

The Roland George team placed first in the undergraduate fixed income category. The students made all of their own investment decisions, investing in securities, such bonds and preferred stock that provide stable income, said Dr. Lawrence Belcher, director of the George Investments Institute and finance professor.

Belcher and two members of the team, Gabriel Del Rio of Orlando and Michael Stewart of New Smyrna Beach, represented Stetson at the competition. About 20-25 students participate in the Roland George Investments Program each academic year.

Teams from 24 countries competed at the G.A.M.E. Forum, which is based on the teams’ risk-adjusted returns for the 2010 calendar year. Stetson’s Roland George team had an 8.27-percent gross return this year overall, with a risk-adjusted return of 5.09 percent.

The bond portfolio is currently valued at $1.35 million out of a total portfolio of $2.85 million.

The lower-than-usual return for 2010 was a reflection of the poor economy and a big market dip last May, Belcher said. But the team’s performance from May through October was very strong.

“There was a little more volatility last year, and that impacted the ultimate return for the year,” Belcher said. “Our students made adjustments to the portfolio to capture a gain in a falling interest-rate environment. The bond market, for the most part, did very well because interest rates dropped. For us, we expected that and then positioned the portfolio to take advantage of those.”

Stetson students and another faculty member also represented the Roland George team the same weekend at the annual Redefining Investment Strategy Education (RISE) Global Investment Forum in Dayton, Ohio. Stetson had a strong showing at the competition, but did not win top honors.

Stetson was a pioneer in student-managed investment programs which now are a growing trend in finance education with more than 200 programs nationwide that allow students to make investment decisions with real portfolios. The George Program began in 1980 and is consistently mentioned as one of the reasons Stetson ranks among America’s best colleges by U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review.