From left: Gary Flotron, senior lecturer in finance at UMSL, UMSL students Andrew Fretwell and Hannah Russell, UMSL alumnus Ben Klutenkamper and College of Business Administration Dean Charlie Hoffman pose with a certificate and glass trophy the group received in the third annual Financial Service Professionals National Industry Issues Competition. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Three finance students from the University of Missouri–St. Louis walked away from Phoenix earlier this year earning a $2,000 scholarship in the 2014 Financial Service Professionals National Industry Issues Competition.

The team, made up of Andrew Fretwell, Ben Klutenkamper and Hannah Russell, was one of three university teams selected as finalists from more than 14 participating universities.

They were invited to participate in the competition, sponsored by the Society of Financial Service Professionals, based on a paper they submitted on  “Which Way to Go? Best Practices in Identifying and Evaluating Specific Careers in the Financial Services Profession.” From the papers submitted, three finalist teams were than selected to make an oral presentation before a panel of judges.

The UMSL team competed in the finals with teams from Texas Tech University in Lubbock and California State University in Northridge.

Klutenkamper earned a bachelor’s degrees in business administration in December. Russell and Fretwell will graduate in May and August, respectively. Gary Flotron, senior lecturer in finance at UMSL, lead the team.