New Investment Group Cashes In

The Zeeba Investment Group, a student-run public equity fund launched  Jan. 1, is gaining ground on campus by offering a unique international take on combining class work with practical investment experience.

Zeeba focuses on an emerging international market, investing exclusively in the Qatar Stock Exchange. The fund has reached $30,000 in assets and is set to top $100,000 by September, according to Sina Chehrazi (MSB '13), co-founder and chief executive officer for the group.

The rapid growth of the fund has garnered recognition in the form of an invitation to the 2011 Kairos Summit, which brings together the top 50 student ventures in the world.

"It's kind of crazy what we're doing. We're practically a hedge fund in every single way at such a young age," Chehrazi said.

Zeeba is comprised of 22 undergraduate student analysts as well as a board of advisers whose members include Georgetown professors, hedge fund managers and professional financial advisers such as Farhood Malek, first vice president of investments at Wells Fargo. While Zeeba concluded its most recent round of hiring last week, it is looking to take on another 10 analysts in September.  

 "It's a collegial atmosphere where no one is scared to speak up. The decision process is a learning process for us," said David Greek (MSB '13), co-founder and chief information officer.

On the Hilltop, the opportunity to invest sizeable sums of money in a foreign country and simultaneously learn about the factors that ensure the smooth operation of a company is exclusive to Zeeba, according to Chehrazi.

"Putting you into an environment where you have advisers, your peers and your Georgetown resources, where you're making decisions and learning from them whether they go poorly or well incubates a unique experience," he said.

While Zeeba's student analysts make all final investment decisions, its board of advisers ensures credibility and serves as an important safety net, Chehrazi said.

"We're not simply making decisions on our own hunch or even our own in-depth research, as indepth as that might be," he said. "We admit that we don't know 1 percent or 5 percent of what professionals do, and battling them would be an uphill battle."   

"I give them advice when they ask for it," said James Angel, associate professor of finance in the McDonough School of Business and a member of Zeeba's board of advisers.

Kenneth Laplante (MSB '13), chief marketing officer of Zeeba, said that Georgetown's second campus in Doha was the driving force behind their focus on Qatar.

Laplante also cited Qatar's strong economy, which the International Monetary Fund identified as the fastest-growing in the world in 2010, as an important factor in Zeeba's decision to use it as a base for investments. Qatar is entering a phase of infrastructure spending and economic diversification that Laplante said could be pivotal for Zeeba.

"They're diversifying their economy from natural gas, which is the main cash cow, and that could be huge for us," he said.

Zeeba is entering the final phase of its expansion process and is looking to hire student analysts from the School of Foreign Service's Qatar campus in September.

This phase will culminate in its rebranding as Zeeba International.

"Georgetown is super supportive of us for bringing the two campuses together. They've been looking for a way and haven't really figured it out. They're really happy that we're doing this," Greek said.