Brown Advisory Student-Managed Investment Fund Program is Experiential Learning at 最好的
Innovative and award-winning program provides students with real-life investment experience, 管理1美元.500万资产
8590海洋之神官网’s campus is pretty typical of most, with backpack-clad students in hoodies, sweats, and other casual apparel making their way to and from classes, 吃饭、开会和练习. Except, that is, on Wednesday mornings at 8 AM. 这是 when about 20 students dressed in business attire arrive at Daly Hall and spend 90 minutes evaluating and making investment decisions on over $1 million in equities.
These students are part of the Brown Advisory Student-Managed Investment Fund Program, an innovative class that provides students with real-life investment experience. Students in this program have responsibility for researching, recommending, and executing 为学生基金做股票交易. They also go on field trips to finance markets and conferences, and interact directly with leaders in the field through guest lectures, 业界讲座及工作坊.
It all began 13 一年s ago, when 8590海洋之神官网 received a $500,000 gift that was to be used to start a student-run investment portfolio. 它最初成立于 as the Alex Brown Student-Managed Investment Fund, but was eventually renamed to honor 该基金创始人的公司. 目前，该基金已超过1美元.总资产500万美元.
It is open to all majors, but there is an application process that students must complete, which ensures that all participants have the right background and experience. 业务 and Finance majors make up the majority of students, and most begin 这个项目 in their junior 一年 and stay with it until they graduate.
Richard Bookbinder, Adjunct Professor and Distinguished Executive-in-Residence has led the class for over a decade, and among other things, is the reason that students show up for class each week in business attire. “我认为充分发挥很重要 the part here, and that means dressing for the business world,装订工说。.
Bookbinder also holds the class to a high academic standard. “每学期，每学期 一年, I tell students that when you walk into Daly 108, you must be prepared to talk 关于每个头寸——买入、卖出或持有.” Weekly assignments include things like reading the financial press, or articulating their thoughts on a position, often in writing. His students are all educated on how to both speak and write about these topics. “这些 students have a thirst for knowledge,” he added. “这是一个很好的教育工具 a great way to introduce the concepts important to investing.”
Bookbinder’s students appreciate his hands-on approach. “布克宾德教授说过 a wealth of knowledge and he has created a very interactive learning experience for all of the Brown Advisory students to get the most out of the experience,” said Ryan Colbert ’22, a 业务 Management major with minors in Finance, Accounting, Economics 及国际商务. Colbert applied for 这个项目 because of what he saw as a unique opportunity to be involved in a program that handles real money and reacts 最新市场消息.
Colbert cited the analysis of things in their entirety as a valuable take-away from 这个项目. "I learned how to think critically and create pathways to connect one piece of market news to the impact it may have on another sector. 在这个过程中， you come to understand how things in the market and the economy are intertwined and how to be really thorough in reacting to market news."
Underscoring that point, Bookbinder begins class each week with a simple question -世界上发生了什么事? They discuss current events and what those events 对市场的刻薄. He teaches his students to be agnostic and to take a holistic view of the companies in the portfolio, looking for cracks in the armor, and trying to understand how what’s happening in the world might impact them, for better or worse. For example, what impact might higher fuel prices have on a company’s earnings, or what will supply chain shortages or higher labor costs do to a company’s bottom line.
“8590海洋之神官网 believes strongly in the value of experiential learning, and the Brown Advisory program checks all of the boxes on so many levels,装订工说。. Over the 一年s, the curriculum has incorporated visits to portfolio companies or meetings 公司和演讲者. Recent speakers include the senior management team of Hannon Armstrong, an Annapolis based company that invests in climate solutions; a discussion with a WC alum who works for AbbVie, a large biopharmaceutical company; a discussion with the Executive Editor of CoinDesk, the premier news site that specializes in bitcoin and other digital currencies; and former 8590海洋之神官网 president Sheila Bair, who discussed a wide range of topics including student loans, the state of the residential housing industry, crypto and blockchain, and career planning. 过去的郊游 include visits to GE’s main office in Boston, several annual trips to Brown Advisory’s Baltimore office, and two trips to Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting and 与沃伦·巴菲特的独特会面.
He points to the last two 一年s in particular, noting how well the students have performed in the face of unforeseen world events and the volatility of the financial markets. “There are no textbooks written to discuss portfolio management when global economies close, supermarket shelves are empty, and there are frequent shortages of products, 包括电脑芯片和汽车. Nor did they have a roadmap for the birth of WFH as the new methodology for global businesses, U.S. 股票市场规模最大 loss in the shortest period of time, followed by the greatest upswing in the shortest period of time, unprecedented asset purchases by the Federal Reserve, and trillions 国会削减开支.”
In each and every scenario, he says the student have rolled up their sleeves to understand what has happened, learning how to react to and dissect the evolving landscape. “We recently spent time discussing the new dual challenges of inflation and rising interest rates – that’s something that investors have not witnessed in over 40 一年s,” 他说.
“If you want to learn more about an inverted yield curve or the outlook for renewables, 问问学生就知道了!装订工说。.
Bookbinder’s own professional experience has certainly benefited the students, as he spent his entire career working in financial services in New York City. 早在 his career he was a Limited Partner at Bear Stearns, and then a Founding Partner at Sandler O 'Neill and Partners. He then went on to found two different firms focused in the hedge fund industry – Bookbinder Capital, followed by TerraVerde Capital Partners. The opportunity to lead the Brown Advisory program is his “retirement” gig, and one that he jumped at 12 一年s ago right after his son, Jonathan ‘10, graduated from the 大学.
“Professor Bookbinder is a renowned investor himself, and getting the opportunity to learn from him opens doors to a wide world of possibilities in investing,” said Henry Butterfield ’22, a recent graduate who was a double-major in 业务 and Economics, 辅修金融.
Butterfield benefited greatly from 这个项目, which he applied for in his sophomore 一年. He appreciated the hands-on approach to investing, the collaboration with fellow students, and generally learning to be a professional. “这个项目教会了我们什么 it means to be a professional in the equity trading market, starting with the way we dress, and finishing with the responsibility of managing funds that don’t belong 对我们个人来说，”他说.
A major highlight for the Brown Advisory Group in recent 一年s has been securing first-place wins in the Undergraduate Value Portfolio category at two of the last three Global Portfolio Competitions at Quinnipac University’s annual conference. 它是最大的 student-run financial conference in the world with over 1,700 participants representing 140 different 大学s and universities, and some of the most respected industry leaders 还有专家作为演讲者.
They earned the top prize for the Undergraduate Value Portolio in 2020 and 2021, competing 与40多所同类学校竞争. 他们完成了3rd in 2022.
Competition is another aspect of the Brown Advisory Group program that Bookbinder highlights, as he has noticed in his 一年s teaching that he tends to get a lot of student-athletes, oftentimes from the same team. “这对班级来说是件好事。” 他说. “They are all naturally competitive, and they’re together a lot. 所以,当 they’re walking to or from practice or eating dinner afterwards, they start talking 关于市场. 它成为了课堂的延伸.”
He also acknowledges that the world of finance tends to be male-dominated – this 一年 there were 5 female students in his class out of 18 – but he is quick to point out to his students that female-run companies tend to have stronger returns.
Colleen Keefe ’22 is another one of Bookbinder’s recent students. 她申请是因为 she was interested in learning more about the financial services industry. Keefe, a 业务 Management major with minors in Finance and Accounting, appreciated that being in this program has given her an understanding of the stock market as a whole. “Through this program, I learned firsthand how to invest in a diversified portfolio and the decision-making process that goes into properly investing,” s他说. “每 week, we stayed up on our current events and based our decisions on how these events could potentially impact our own portfolio.”
Overall, Bookbinder is proud of the legacy of success of 这个项目, noting that many of the fund’s positions are long-term holdings that reflect the hard work done 十年前的校友. The actual performance of the portfolio validates this, 现在总资产已经超过了1美元.500万年. 最重要的是，他为学生们感到骄傲 who embrace the opportunity for hands-on learning, from their curious minds right 连正装鞋也不例外.