The Harding University College of Business announces the establishment of a Student Managed Investment Fund. The fund was created to offer business students valuable experience in investment analysis and portfolio management.
“The Student Managed Investment Fund is a significant opportunity for our student members to gain valuable experience in investment analysis and portfolio management,” said Dr. Allen Frazier, dean and professor of the College of Business Administration. “Students will work with a contingent of Harding’s board and COBA’s finance faculty to gain a unique educational experience in financial management and understand how to become faithful stewards of money entrusted to them.”
The fund will be overseen by a student manager team made up of 12 junior and senior COBA students. Senior managers will be responsible for researching and evaluating investment opportunities within a particular industry group or groups (e.g. health care, technology, energy, etc.) while junior managers will serve a supporting role and prepare to advance into the senior position the following year. This year’s student management team includes three juniors and nine seniors.
- Senior Alden Bradley of Grapevine, Texas
- Senior Ashton VanBrunt of Jenks, Oklahoma
- Senior Bennett Holloway of Kansas City, Missouri
- Junior Collin Nieman of Spencer, Wisconsin
- Junior Cooper Carroll of Madison, Mississippi
- Senior Cort Chambers of Larchmont, New York
- Senior David Reed of Vienna, Virginia
- Senior Emma Jackson of Siloam Springs, Arkansas
- Senior Grant Countess of Shelbyville, Tennessee
- Senior Julio Montenegro of Urbanizacion Farallones, Chinandega
- Junior Mason Callaway of Burleson, Texas
- Senior Riley Fox of Cave Springs, Arkansas
Under oversight of faculty, student managers will research and analyze stocks to identify prospective changes to the fund. Student managers will meet frequently to address board market movement and expectations, fund and sector performance, and discuss prospective investments. At the end of each month student managers will provide a written and oral report on performance of their investments and recommend changes to the fund portfolio.
A sum of $500,000 has been designated as an initial fund balance. Another $500,000 will be invested in an S&P 500 index fund to help the Student Managed Investment Fund and allow additional funds to be transferred to student management in time.
Harding University is a private Christian, liberal arts university located in Searcy, Arkansas. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, it is the largest private university in the state. Harding’s student body represents students from across the U.S. and more than 50 nations and territories. The University offers more than 100 undergraduate majors; more than 50 graduate and professional programs including master’s, specialist and doctoral degrees, graduate certificates and endorsements; as well as numerous study abroad opportunities including locations in Australasia, Peru, England, Greece, Italy and Zambia. For more information, visit harding.edu.
