Kent State Finance Students to Manage $1 Million in University Assets

The Kent State University Board of Trustees recently voted to allocate $500,000 of University funds to be managed by finance studnets participating in a Student Managed Investment Fund, bringing the total amount of funds managed by Kent State finance majors to $1 million.

With the additional $500,000 from Kent State University, students will now manage four separate $250,000 accounts. The purpose of the Student Managed Investment Fund, the first of its kind at Kent State, is to give students real-world experience and advance career opportunities.

"Professional money management is an experience game – the more you're acquainted with the markets, the better you will perform," said Steven Dennis, Ph.D., Firestone Chair of Corporate Finance and chair of the Kent State Department of Finance.

According to Dennis, finance majors spent the fall semester learning about investing and putting structure in place around the Student Managed Investment Fund. Students went through the process of opening accounts, and will soon be able to transfer funds into those accounts. They also spent time discussing ideas from Ben Graham's The Intelligent Investor. In addition, expert money managers met with students to provide counsel on processes and procedures.

​"I like what I see in these finance students – they are eager to learn," Dennis said.

The Student Managed Investment Fund team documents performance of the funds during weekly meetings and provides quarterly performance reports to Kent State University and the Kent State Foundation. In addition, an annual written performance report and oral presentation will be given in the spring semester. Students will also compete in the Global Asset Management Education Conference in New York City.

Learn more about Kent State's College of Business Administration by visiting www.kent.edu/business.

Kent State College of Business Administration
Kent State University's College of Business Administration is among the fewer than 1% of business schools worldwide to obtain dual AACSB accreditation in both business and accounting. The College enrolls more than 4,000 students and boasts 10 undergraduate majors, 13 minors and a Professional Sales Certificate program; master's degrees in accounting, business administration (MBA and EMBA), business analytics, and economics; as well as a Ph.D.  program with concentrations in accounting, finance, information systems, management and marketing.

The Kent State College of Business Administration ranks among the top 100 public business undergraduate programs in the 2018 U.S. News and World Report and 45th in 2016 by Bloomberg Businessweek based on an employer survey of how well schools prepared students for jobs. The College is ranked as one of the nation's Best Business Schools by Princeton Review, and Tier One for both MBA and Executive MBA programs in North America by CEO Magazine. The College is committed to sustainability as an advanced Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME)signatory and is recognized by the Sales Education Foundation as a top university for professional sales education.

Questions? Contact Joni Bowen at jbowen1@kent.edu or call 3306721279.