University of Georgia
PAE-T2-7: Student-Managed Sustainable Investment Fund

The mission of the Terry Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) program encompasses three primary goals: 1.To enhance the education of finance students through hands-on experience in security evaluation, portfolio management, and group leadership; 2.To grow its investment portfolio as a long-term endowment asset of the Terry College; and 3.To develop networking ties with the investment industry and promote the Terry College. Participation in SMIF club and class is available only to select students. Application process takes place in March and April of each year. Class will meet on Wednesdays 3:30–5pm in Sanford 109. Recommended readings include (a) The Handbook of Equity Market Anomalies, by Leonard Zacks; (b) The Five Rules for Successful Stock Investing, by Pat Dorsey; as well as the same textbook as used in our FINA 4310 Investments course. Students will receive 1.5 credit hours per semester. This means that student participation is a one-year commitment, where two semesters of the class will earn three credit hours to help towards graduation. The new SMIF class will include about 10 students who have already participated in 2012–13. These second-year SMIF students will fill most of the leadership positions for the fund management next year. Given the structure of the SMIF program, we expect to select about 10 new/rising juniors and 10 new seniors to join the program. Our Terry SMIF is operating with real money, through donations of more than $200,000 directed to the fund. We operate under the umbrella of the UGA Foundation. The time commitment to the class and the fund management is likely to exceed the amount of time that you might normally expect for a 1.5 credit hour class. There may be some additional commitments outside of normal class time. If you are selected and sign up for the class, you need to be aware of these additional commitments. Along with the formal class, the SMIF is also a student club and there are outside activities that students are expected to make every effort to support (such as company visits, SMIF presentations to outside groups, etc).

Student Managed Investment Fund Adding Value to Foundation's Investment in Education Because of valuable experience working with the fund provides, the SMIF attracts top students from the Terry College of Business in a highly competitive application process. In a typical year upward of 100 applications are submitted for a handful of student-manager spots. The fund was created with a generous gift from UGA alums Darren DeVore - a Foundation Trustee - and his wife Pam, to give business students practical, real-life experience in investment management. Dr. Chris Stivers, associate professor of banking and finance at the Terry College of Business and former faculty advisor for the SMIF, helped nurture the idea of a student-managed investment fund from a university club with a handful of students to a prestigious academic endeavor. "The program is an opportunity for the students to be involved in managing real money in a portfolio setting. It is realistically educational," says Dr. Stivers. "Leadership, working together in a group, and presentation skills are all a part of the education." During the Foundation's fall meeting each year, the SMIF's student-managers make a presentation to the Investment Committee recapping their investment strategies and providing an analysis of the fund's performance during the previous year. The meeting also is an opportunity for students to receive feedback, advice and insight from the Foundation's highly-successful investment professionals. The SMIF is a hands-on learning opportunity that produces a return on investment to which every university aspires, and even more proof that a gift to the University of Georgia Foundation is always a valuable investment (http://www.externalaffairs.uga.edu/uga_foundation/index.php/site/page/-/-/student_managed_investment_fund/3)