Student Managed Fund (SMF) at the University of Connecticut (UConn): New Developments, Growth, and Challenges

Abstract

The Student Managed Fund (SMF) at the University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Business was founded in 2000. In this article, we study the recent growth of and challenges encountered by UConn’s SMF program. Specific areas studied include: 1) implementation of an ESG framework, 2) introduction of a new fund that incorporated hedging with derivatives in addition to equity and fixed income investing, 3) other logistical matters in the operations of the fund such as student recruitment, student participation and compliance, maintaining a balance between equities and fixed income, and gender diversity. We explore solutions including those suggested in the recent literature. Our findings might be helpful to other SMIFs.