By Dylan Bigelow / Jambar Contributor
Youngstown State University students in the Student Investment Fund manage a portfolio worth around $3.4 million.
James Kover, a senior finance major and president of SIF, said YSU has an actual-cash fund, while other universities use virtual funds for their student-managed portfolio.
“We manage the second largest actual-cash fund in the state of Ohio. I think, second only to Ohio State,” Kover said.
SIF began in 2008 with a $250,000 donation from the YSU Foundation. Over the next five years, from 2009-2013, the foundation donated an additional $50,000 annually, for a total of $500,000.
Using that money, and an anonymous donation of John Deere stocks, students have grown the fund to its current size.
Recently, the organization competed in the 11th annual Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium, hosted by Indiana State University on Oct. 2-3. The event took place in Chicago and featured 140 universities from across the country.
SIF finished third in its competition, winning $700.
Kover said competitions like these are great for showcasing YSU.
“It’s a good way to put what we’re doing here in Youngstown on a national stage,” Kover said.
The conference featured two competitions, one for a team’s overall portfolio and another for analyzing the tech company Nvidia. YSU’s team entered both but only placed in the Nvidia competition.
Kover said the team’s four officers worked on their analysis for about two months leading up to the competition.
“We got started working on the financial side closer to the project coming due,” Kover said. “The qualitative stuff isn’t going to change much, so we worked on that earlier on.”
The team focused its analysis on the company’s intrinsic value, without comparing the performance and asset price to other companies in the same field.
The team then used its valuation against Nvidia’s stock price to give it a buy, hold or sell rating.
“We actually gave it a ‘hold’ rating, which probably had to be against consensus,” Kover said. “Everyone is trying to ride this Nvidia rally.”
The team participates in other competitions, whether virtual or in person, but this was SIF’s first year at the event. The team received an invitation through old connections.
“[Former] Dean [Kelly] Wilkinson had a connection with Indiana State’s business college dean. So it got passed through [Wilkinson] and our faculty adviser, [Peter] Chen, to us that this is something we should pursue,” Kover said.
After Wilkinson’s departure this summer, Kover said interim Dean Betty Jo Licata was very supportive of the group’s plans to compete.
YSU competed against schools such as Abilene Christian University, George Mason University, John Carroll University and the University of Wisconsin.
The organization is open to all YSU students, not only business or finance majors, Kover said. SIF membership ranges between 30 to 40 students. In addition to managing its financial portfolio, the group hosts speakers on financial matters and promotes financial literacy on campus.
SIF meets at 4 p.m. every Tuesday in Room 1110 of Williamson Hall.
