BYU Undergrads Manage Stock Market Portfolio

PROVO, Utah – Aug 12, 2013 – In Finance 415, Brigham Young University students are earning big returns. Outperforming the market by at least 1 percent annually and 2.5 percent each of the past five years, students in the portfolio management course are reaping dividends and real-world experience by the fistful.

“This course was put together to give undergraduate students the opportunity to value real money in a portfolio,” says Bryan Sudweeks, Marriott School of Management finance professor and course founder. “The experience is unique because the students get authentic money management experience and the opportunity to analyze companies.”

Seven years ago Global Financial Advisers of Plano, Texas, established the $625,000 fund and, in a bold move, commissioned undergraduate business students to manage their portfolio long-term. The fund finished this July at more than $1 million.

“A lot of emphasis is put on understanding the revenue and cost structures that form a successful business,” says senior Tyson Bryan, finance major from Las Vegas and senior analyst in the course. “This consistency helps us align our goals and priorities for the fund while establishing solid habits for our future careers. The skills obtained in this course can’t be found anywhere else on campus and provide a strong sense of the industry and how companies generate revenue.”

Students follow a set of core principles as they analyze companies and make decisions concerning when and how to invest. Principles include engaging in thorough background research of potential companies and carefully tracking valuations to aid in the transition to next year’s class.

“Even though we have new students every semester, we continue to be successful after seven years because we are following a strict discipline,” Sudweeks says. “The students are really good at what they do.”

Alumni from the class have used this experience to go on to prestigious finance careers, working in organizations such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch and Fidelity Investments.

“The portfolio management class offered by Professor Sudweeks was the crown jewel of my résumé,” says April Jones, private client specialist for Fidelity Investments and participant in the 2009 class. “Not only did it give me a theoretical knowledge to discuss in interviews, but it also provided me with experience of how the stock market works for portfolio managers and investors.”