Student Managed Investment Fund

The Miami University Student Managed Investment Fund offers students the opportunity to participate in a hands-on, experiential learning environment. In the FIN 481 and 482 courses, students are responsible for managing a significant amount of actual funds from the Miami University Endowment, with over $1 million assets under management. In FIN 481, students act as Equity Analysts primarily tasked with equity research, while in 482, students act as Portfolio Managers responsible for high-level portfolio management strategy. Students in both courses are placed onto sector teams, through which they are responsible for allocating the fund's assets into various equity holdings. There is also a Student Executive Team for the Fund that students can participate in for leadership opportunities. Students are responsible for all of the Fund’s decisions, whether it be investment and trade approvals or part of managing the business side of the Fund (alumni communications, LinkedIn marketing, website development, etc.).

This course allows students to work alongside other talented and highly motivated individuals as a team to create an investment portfolio composed of U.S. equities. Students gain a competitive advantage for internship and full-time employment opportunities by leveraging the real-world experience gained through this course. The fund has a strong network of prior members, many of whom accepted positions with financial institutions including J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs, and William Blair.

Students who are interested in a career involving financial markets as Portfolio Managers (mutual funds or hedge funds), Equity Analysts (buy-side or sell-side), Investment Advisors, Investment Bankers, or any other related careers are encouraged to apply and be a part of the Student Managed Investment Fund.

Class Structure

• FIN 481: SMIF is a membership-only class normally composed of 20-30 students. Each student will be assigned to an industry(s) sector team. Student Analysts in FIN 481 are responsible for conducting quantitative and qualitative research on potential investments within their sectors. They are also responsible for researching sector trends and following major firms and communicating their findings to the Fund. 
• Analyst teams are organized into the following sectors:
  • Consumer Discretionary & Staples
  • Information Technology
  • Healthcare
  • Communications
  • Financials & Real Estate
  • Energy, Utilities, Materials & Industrials
• FIN 482: SMIF II is a management level class with FIN 481/FIN403 as a prerequisite. The FIN 482 Portfolio Management Team is responsible for monitoring the portfolio's sector allocation, risk tolerance, voting on investment decisions, and keeping the Fund in line with the Investment Policy Statement. They also conduct performance attribution analysis to understand Fund returns and improve future outcomes. The Portfolio Management Team will report to the University’s Treasury Services Office and the Investment Advisory Group at the end of each academic semester, and is also responsible for maintaining records of the fund. All trade orders are submitted in an email request by the Management Team, through the faculty advisor, to the University’s Treasury Services Office for approval and execution. 
• Students in both courses will work with their faculty advisor(s), as well as the Investment Advisory Group and Advisory Board, which consist of investment and banking professionals. In-class presentations are used to determine which recommendations proceed to alumni-judged pitches for final approval.
• The student Executive Team coordinates between the alumni Advisory Board and Investment Advisory Group to host speaker and stock pitch events and receive feedback on pitches. It also determines the Fund’s high-level vision, marketing strategy, including website development, LinkedIn management, and report distribution, and communicates with the Farmer Finance department. The student Portfolio Management Team determines the Fund’s high-level investment strategy and approves investment recommendations made by sector teams through a majority vote. An overlap between the Executive Team and the Portfolio Management Team is expected and encouraged. 

Application Guidelines

• FIN 401 is a prerequisite to FIN 481
• FIN 481 is a prerequisite to FIN 482 and students applications are open to Juniors and Seniors
• To apply to FIN 481/482, please complete the FIN 481/482 - Student Managed Investment Fund Application before the application deadline. This way if you are approved we can get it on your schedule during or before registration. Please reach out to Andrea Tucker (wootenan@miamioh.edu) with any questions or if there are issues with the application link.
• Students in FIN 481 will be given the opportunity to register for FIN 482