SMIF achieves most successful semester in its history

Undergraduate | Jun 01, 2017 | admin

In the seven years since the Student Managed Investment Fund began investing $1 million of Fordham University’s endowment, the fund has grown to $1,470,000.

But the fund’s return has never been as large as it was this spring. Students produced a 5.44% return for the semester, outperforming their benchmark of 4.64% by 80 basis points.

How did the group surpass its record? “Excellent stock picking through comprehensive security analysis,” says James Kelly, senior lecturer in finance and SMIF instructor.

Two other factors contributing to the accomplishment were the leadership of the fund’s chief investment officer, Dan Gerard, BS ’17, and the analysts and portfolio managers’ teamwork.

Many of the program’s Class of 2017 members will apply their experience to the real world, as they have all landed jobs with leading investment banks, including J.P. Morgan, Barclays, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and with consulting firms such as EY. Another recent graduate, Shuai Shao, BS ’17, has been admitted into a master’s program at the London School of Economics, where he will study investment management.

Want to learn more about SMIF? As part of the Fordham University Jubilee celebration this upcoming weekend, a group of six students will give a presentation on how they managed the fund.