Although their earnings in DePaul University’s fifth annual Driehaus Virtual Stock Market Portfolio Competition were only on paper, two students turned their financial acumen into cash by winning the top prize of $7,500 in the university’s yearlong investing contest, which concluded in June.

DePaul seniors Nataliya Goryunova of Chicago’s West Ridge neighborhood and Bernadetta Adamczyk of Des Plaines, known as the VALUEable Investors team, won first place in the simulated stock trading competition. The contest challenged teams of DePaul finance majors to use real market data and a value, growth or combination investment strategy to manage a virtual portfolio of small cap stocks.

“The high quality of the presentations and teamwork was impressive this year,” said Ann Marie Klingenhagen, faculty advisor for the competition. “Goryunova and Adamczyk stood out because they created their own quantitative stock selection model to successfully manage their portfolio. Their investment return was 23.02 percent versus 11.77 percent for the Russell 2000 Value Index, so they easily surpassed their benchmark.”

Created through the generosity of Chicago financier and DePaul alumnus Richard Driehaus, founder and chief executive officer of Chicago-based Driehaus Capital Management, the competition mirrors the real world of investment analysis and management. Over the course of the academic year, teams meet to make decisions about computer-simulated stock trades and provide regular management reports about their investment choices, strategies and results to faculty and Driehaus Capital Management representatives.

Students Jonathan McGreal, Brian Calabrese and John Higgins of the AZKR Investors team and Molly Caulfield, Logan Lavachek, Jon Ritchie and Benjamin Clark of the MoneyGrahams team tied for second place, with both teams winning $5,000. Fourth place went to Dan Katavic, Brian Casey, Lauren Dillon and Wasil Malichin of the Gordon Gekkos team. These students shared $2,000.

“Every year this competition only gets better,” said Cheryl Cannistra, director of client services for Driehaus Capital Management, in remarks delivered during the competition’s awards luncheon June 8 on DePaul’s Loop Campus. “Richard (Driehaus) hopes all of you gained a love of investing through this competition and become future investment professionals.”

Photo: The first-place student team, faculty and sponsors celebrate DePaul University’s fifth annual Driehaus Virtual Stock Market Portfolio Competition, which ended in June. Left to right: Tom Drusing and Cheryl Cannistra of Driehaus Capital Management, which sponsors the competition; Ali Fatemi, DePaul finance chair; students Nataliya Goryunova and Bernadetta Adamczyk of the VALUEable Investors team, who won first place and $7,500; and Ann Marie Klingenhagen, competition faculty advisor.