SMIFC Conference 2022

300 participants from 50 U.S. universities joined industry professionals at the Student Management Investment Fund Consortium Conference hosted by Indiana State University's Scott College of Business in Chicago on October 6-7. Held at the historic Palmer House hotel, attendees engaged in networking, panel discussions, investment competitions, and industry presentations from finance professionals. The conference is designed to deliver experiential learning, record best practices surrounding investment management, and provide professional development opportunities for business students.

Three distinguished keynote speakers took part in the conference: John Rogers, Co-CEO of Ariel Investments, Andrew Opdyke, Senior Economist at First Trust, and Matt Moran, Head of Index Insights for the CBOE Options Institute. In separate sessions, the program highlighted professionals from Charles Schwab & Company, CMT Association, Kingsview Partners, The Center for Investment Research, and UBS Global.

Students also demonstrated their investing knowledge through multiple competitions, including a poster session detailing each school’s student-managed investment fund and a firm performance analysis. Teams were judged on fund performance, visual quality, presentation of results, and overall analysis.

“This year’s SMIFC conference was a great success and I congratulate the winning schools and students, “ states Dr. Tarek Zaher, SMIFC Conference Chair and Professor of Finance at ISU. “We are proud to be able to provide our partner schools with a rich mix of experiential learning and I am grateful to our corporate sponsors who make the conference possible.”

The conference ended with students visiting the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) for a tour, which is the largest options exchange in the United States.

The purpose of the consortium is to enhance student learning and scholarship, record best practices in investment management among SMIF partners, provide a vehicle for student networking and exchange of ideas, and provide a permanent repository of relevant literature and recorded student experiences. The SMIF Consortium builds a community of institutions with a shared vision for student success and leadership in investing. The SMIF Consortium also establishes relationships with industry partners to assist in its primary goals of student education, research, and leadership.

Congratulations to the winners of our competitions:

Poster Competition:

1st: Lipscomb University
Kyle Joaquin, & Kendal Matas. Advisor: Dr. Han-Sheng Chen

2nd: Kennesaw State University
Cain Beatty, Mambaye Diagne, Amitai Ilan, & Eric McCart. Advisor: Dr. Govind Hariharan

3rd: George Mason University
Kanwal Ahmad, Jaehee Lee, Julianna Silinsky. Advisor: Dr. Derek Horstmeyer

Firm Performance Analysis

1st: Hofstra University
Michael Candela, Christopher Merro, & Aye Chan Sint. Dr. Edward J. Zychowicz

2nd: Kennesaw State University
Cain Beatty, Mambaye Diagne, Amitai Ilan, & Eric McCart. Advisor: Dr. Govind Hariharan

3rd: Eastern Michigan University
Paul Katokwe, Ryan Mills, & Dominic Thomas. Advisor: Dr. Yu Zhang

We would like to thank our speakers and sponsors without whom this conference could not take place.