Would You Like To Manage A Million Dollar Portfolio?

Have you had the opportunity to manage over a million dollar portfolio? For many people the answer to this question would be NO, but for students at the University of North Dakota, they can proudly answer YES!

The College of Business & Public Administration offers amazing opportunities with the multitude of student organizations available to get involved in. In the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), students receive hands-on experience in the field of finance by allowing them to actually manage a $1,000,000+ portfolio of equity and bonds. Students work in small groups conducting research and analysis, and prepare investment decisions. Students are responsible for managing all aspects of the Investment Fund: research, investment management, administration and client services.

The benefits to being a member of the Student Managed Investment Fund are enormous. In addition to improving quantitative and qualitative research skills, the Student Managed Investment Fund members gain experience that is certain to be a valuable tool in advancing career opportunities and employment options in the investments field.

After coming off a big year in 2009 with fund investment returns of over 42%, SMIF once again outperformed the broad based markets (S&P 500) in 3 out of 4 funds in 2010 with returns of 15%. In 2009 the SMIF fund took 1st place at the Redefining Investment Strategy Education (R.I.S.E. X) competition in Dayton, Ohio out performing over 300 Universities across the world. "Only 20% of professionally managed investment funds outperform the markets on any given year, SMIF has outperformed the market 3 out of 4 years," said Dr. Dennis, advisor to the SMIF Fund.

Not only does SMIF give students and unprecedented opportunity to manage over $1 million, SMIF also has a track record of placing students in great job opportunities all over the country. Employers give great merit to students that have the experience of managing an investment fund at the BEGINNING of their career. Dr. Dennis consistently has employers contacting him looking for SMIF students. Places where students have started their careers are at local banks such as Bremer Bank and Choice Financial, larger companies like US Bank and Cargill, and RS Platou Investment Bank and Cascade Investment which manages Bill Gates money.

In the spring 2011, SMIF went to Minneapolis to compete in the Global IRC competition. The Global Investment Research Challenge (GIRC) is an equity research competition sponsored by the CFA Institute featuring student teams from the world's top 240+ university business programs. Students write an equity research report on a publicly traded company, and present their findings to an expert panel. UND's SMIF took 2nd place in this competition, closely behind the University of Minnesota. Other universities competing were North Dakota State University, Bethel University, University of Minnesota Duluth and the University of St. Thomas.

So what made this opportunity possible? Through the support and vision of numerous donors this program evolved and has continued to expand providing valuable experiences to an increasing number of students, as well as gaining worldwide recognition for the College of Business & Public Administration.

In the fall of 2005, the CoBPA joined a growing number of business schools by providing the opportunity to manage and administer an investment portfolio. Thanks to the generosity of A. Kirk Lanterman, the Lanterman Investment Center was built, exposing students to portfolio construction risk management, financial engineering, trading strategies and corporate governance issues. The high-tech, real-time investment center transports UND students to the fast-paced world of financial markets.

The fund started with an initial gift of $100,000 from the UND Alumni Foundation. Currently the portfolio has grown to over $1M with gifts from Jim and Nancy Seifert, Robert Foley, A. Kirk Lanterman, and the Stenehjem Family.

In February 2011, the fund hit its all-time of reaching $1.1 million. As the program continues to grow the organization would like to develop a Graduate Portfolio Fund, and develop facility upgrades to the Lanterman Investment Center.

The CoBPA continues to look to the future and the exciting growth within this organization. Our students will continue to grow as they are provided with this unique experimental learning opportunity that prepares our students for successful careers following their time at UND.