Origin

In the year 2000, The Student Managed Fund (SMF) was started with an endowment of nearly $1 million from the UConn Foundation. The various parameters of the program and the prospectus were developed in consultation with Kevin Edwards of the UConn Foundation during a two-year research period, prior to the launch. This development process culminated when the fund was officially launched and the first group of students started trading in February of 2000. At its inception, the SMF was one of the largest funds managed by students. The program was designed so as to allow for enhanced and increased visibility of the School of Business among prospective undergraduate and MBA students as well as to increase the quality of incoming students. The program that has been headed by Professor Chinmoy Ghosh, is aimed at providing students with valuable, hands on experience in stock selection and portfolio management. The program currently operates under the UConn Foundation, School of Business, Department of Finance, and most importantly the SMF Investment Advisory Board (IAB) that is comprised of successful School of Business alums.

Purpose

At the School of Business, this outreach program has become a critical factor in attracting new students. Scholars have been seen to value the opportunity to interact with the business world and alumni. Such interactions are seen to not only gives them practical experience, but also help job search. The program also gives alumni the opportunity to participate in the School of Business’s programs and come back to their alma mater. It also helps the School of Business’s fund raising drive. Indeed, it is a very popular program with the students and consistently attracts some of the most meritorious students in the School of Business. It has served as a very powerful recruiting and placement tool for the school. In the last few years, several outreach programs have been developed and most of them have produced the desired results. The SMF is one such program where the benefits have been particularly impressive. Past managers tell us that prospective employers spend a lot of time discussing students’ participation in the SMF.

The SMF has made significant contribution towards promoting program excellence. The program provides students with the rare opportunity to apply the concepts they learn in the classroom to real life valuation.

Press

Since its beginning, the SMF has grown in stature and is one of the most popular and prestigious programs in the School of Business. It has attracted widespread attention from the media and has been featured in all major Connecticut newspapers and vision channels. The SMF has been featured by the Hartford Courant (twice), and on the Connecticut CBS and NBC channels. It received international exposure when it was featured on CNN.