Welcome to the 2018 SMIFC Conference Pages

The 6th Annual Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium (SMIFC) Conference took place in The James on Chicago's Magnificent Mile on Thursday/Friday, October 4/5, 2018. The conference was a success with 29 colleges and universities represented.

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.

The keynote speakers were Charles K. Bobrinskoy, Vice Chairman, Head of Investment Group, Portfolio Manager, Ariel Investments; Joseph Cusick, Director of OIC Education and Business Development, The Options Industry Council, Majed R. Muhtaseb, Professor of Finance, California State Polytechnic University; Brad Nave, Director of Trader Services, TD Ameritrade; Robert Stein, Deputy Chief Economist, First Trust Advisors L.P.; and Daniel G. Sullivan, Executive Vice President and Director of Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

As last year, tours of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and Chicago Board of Trade were available. 

Pitch Competition

New this year, we were inviting schools to participate in a pitch competition that included a 5-page paper with maximum 5-pages of attachments or a 7-minute YouTube video. All the entries were of very high quality and there were just four points separating the top three papers. It was a difficult choice for the CFA panel that judged the papers but the winners were declared as:

1st Place - University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire - Team: Brock Schauer, Ben Zielinski, and Kyle Kolb - View Paper
2nd Place - Truman State University - Team: Daniel D’Nagy and Ben Wingo - View Paper
3rd Place - Hofstra University - Team: Thomas Maciura, Suveer Seemangal, and Emalee Jimenez - View Paper

The winners of the video competition were decided by vote by the attendees. The winners of that competition were:

1st Place - University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire - Team: Brock Schauer, Ben Zielinski, and Kyle Kolb - View Video
2nd Place - University of Nebraska-Kearney -  Team:Tristan Crook, Adam Starr and Madisson Whalen - View Video
3rd Place - Indiana State University - Team: Carlos Garcia, Jr., Devan Lunceford, Corey Maxedon and Tyler Thies - View Video

We would like to thank the CFA panel who scored the papers and offered their insights to them:

John Brick, CFA Associate Portfolio Manager at Altman Advisors
Molly Carl, CFA Senior Portfolio Manager at Northern Trust
Shannon Curley, CFA  CEO CFA Society of Chicago
Mike Drucker, CFA Executive Director of Business Development and Investments Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois

The SMIFC 2018 Conference

Thank you all for your interest in the 2018 Student Managed Investment Fund Conference!