| The finance department’s undergraduate honors students now can gain hands-on experience managing an investment portfolio. Thanks to a substantial contribution of start-up money from a Finance Advisory Board member’s firm, the Undergraduate Student Investment Fund is now one of the “value-added” benefits of being a bachelor’s degree candidate in the finance honors program at Arizona State University. It is a “companion fund” to the successful W. P. Carey MBA Investment Management Fund, which has a $350,000 investment portfolio. Co-directors of the newly-established undergrad fund are Professor Jim Booth and alumnus Keith Wirtz, CFA, president and chief investment officer of Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Asset Management. He also is senior vice president/CIO of Fifth Third Bank. Students must apply to join the undergraduate fund, which is set up just as one would be in the business marketplace. The fund’s charter includes specifics on the investment opportunities allowed, and different students are assigned specific management responsibilities such as trend analysis, strategy development, and formulation of key indexes for gauging fund performance. “This fund gives our top undergrads real investment management experience that they can add to their resumes and continue using once they become finance professionals.”
-Jeff Coles
Finance Department Chair | W. P. Carey Undergraduates Excel in Stock Market Challenge
Undergraduate Student Investment Fund students recently competed in the UMB Bank Stock Market Challenge, a Junior Achievement event. Teams were given $500,000 of virtual cash to purchase stock in simulated companies during 60 mock trading days. Teams competed to create the highest net worth during the trading period. W. P. Carey students turned $500,000 of initial capital into over $6,000,000 - an 1,100 percent return. The team excelled placing second out of 39 teams, outpacing the teams of several banks, law and investment firms. |
