On October 2 and 3, over 300 participants from 50 universities gathered at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, for Indiana State University’s Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium Conference. The Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium (SMIFC) provides a forum among member institutions to learn, network, and share best practices for investment management involving business education. The SMIFC includes more than 165+ universities worldwide who come together at the annual conference to provide students with experiential learning, industry engagement, and professional development opportunities.
The student-centered conference featured thought leaders, tours of key financial organizations, student competitions, and industry networking. Speakers at the event included executives from The Garrett Companies, CMT Association, Charles Schwab, Ariel Investments, LGIM America, CFA Institute, Jones Lang Lasalle, Kingsview Partners, and Cboe Global Markets, among others.
“This year’s conference was filled with outstanding sessions and unique opportunities which were be both inspiring and beneficial for students at our member institutions,” states Dr. Tarek Zaher, SMIFC Founder and Conference Chair. “I greatly appreciate all who support the SMIFC by helping students learn and develop professionally. Congratulations to the winning teams and schools.”
Eric Garrett, CEO and Founder of The Garrett Companies spoke at the conference and expressed, “The professionalism and caliber of students involved was truly impressive. It was inspiring to see such talent and ambition at this stage of their careers and I’m confident that many of them will become future business leaders. Thank you to President Mike Godard, Dean Terry Daugherty, and Dr. Tarek Zaher for inviting The Garrett Companies to participate.”
A main feature of the SMIFC Conference is the opportunity for students to win $5,000 in cash prizes by demonstrating their investing knowledge via (1) poster and (2) financial analysis competitions. The poster competition allows students to showcase their school’s student managed investment fund performance with teams judged on fund performance, visual quality, presentation of results, and overall analysis. The winners were:
Monmouth University – 1st Place, $1,000
Dom Acerra and Nicholas Brewer, with faculty advisor John Burke.
Lipscomb University – 2nd Place, $800
Braeden Burrow, Kendal Matas, Noah Swidan, and Jacob Henry Wolfe, with faculty advisor Dr. Han-Sheng Chen.
Salve Regina University – 3rd Place, $700
Mason Barbone, Francis Desario, Anthony Galeotafiore, Gavin Johnson, Brady Logan, Maya Parady, Abigail Rhodus, with faculty advisor Samuel Sacco.
In turn, the financial analysis competition asked teams to examine a company’s performance using various financial data and tools across multiple criteria while making investment recommendations. The winners were:
American University of Beirut – 1st Place, $1,000
Mazen Debian, Christopher El Hage and Lynn Mokdad, with faculty advisor Dr. Wassim Dbouk.
Truman State University – 2nd Place, $800
Alex Eby and Mitchel Hoffman, with faculty advisor Dr. Sunghan Bae
Youngstown State University – 3rd Place, $700
Zakria Chandio, Simon Iwanonkiw, James Kover and Alison Martin, with faculty advisor Dr. Huaiyu Peter Chen
Dr. Terry Daugherty, Dean of the Scott College of Business states, “As a leading business school, we are dedicated to the belief that great business education happens inside and outside the classroom. The SMIFC Conference embodies this quality and is fundamental to what we do at Indiana State University. I am grateful to all of the faculty and corporate sponsors who support this impactful event.”
The SMIFC is a community of universities with a shared vision for student success and leadership involving investment management. The purpose is to enhance student learning while providing a vehicle for networking and the exchange of ideas involving the financial industry. To learn more visit www.smifc.org.