Are student-run investment funds really worth the time?

I would think it is a good way to show interest and if you do well and can articulate a strategy it's great, but I'd think it would be better for ER, S&T, AM and HF than IB/PE.

Just another way to show interest.

I know plenty of people who were analysts/executives at these student run investment fund entering IB (Big 5 banks in Canada) without IB internships. I believe it is better than most clubs or part-time jobs.

Everyone does them but if there's nothing else then I guess. The things that stand out on my resume and in my interviews are #1 GPA (it gets you in the door) and #2 prior internships. I've interned during school so it shows that I am interested in finance. And I'm a finance major so obvs. The equity club at my school was a joke and most are because they are run by students with a million obligations.

Full disclosure: at a non-target too, building a network outweighs being in a club. 100% of the time. Focus on grades, and do something fun...greek, SIFE, etc

probably depends on the school and who is the PM

absolutely important... Gets you to follow the markets, which is important for most sell-side jobs. Not as helpful for PE but gets you thinking about what good companies like like..

does play dress up help u be a man? or does jerking off help u get laid? NO and No. So no, student run funds are jokes.

It is the best networking opportunity you're likely to get in college. Not to mention you might learn something.

Thanks for the insight guys. I guess I feel like it might be finance overkill on top of internships and studying finance all the time. But, i suppose there is alot to be learnt and it could give you an edge. I just transfered to a target after my first year, and the fund at my old school (SEC school) didnt even trade real money and the kids took themselves too seriously so it kind of turned me off to it. Can anyone tell me how much time on average you put into it in a week?

I think it's important if you want to work in the public markets because it shows that you are passionate about investing.

I learned tons at mine

I went to a middle of the pack public university that has a SMIF with about $750k in assets. Their fund requires interested students to apply, obtain recommendations from professors, and interview for each position. They typically have 10-12 positions available to offer to both finance undergrads and MBA students (no MSF available at this school). It is entirely run by the students, and their positions held/purchased will only be vetoed by the professor handling the class if they aren't abiding by the fund's requirements, or if they are doing something completely stupid. Speaking of class, it was a two semester commitment that substituted upper division finance electives. A lot of work for two classes (at least 4 or 5 times the hours of a regular class) but well worth it IMHO. We used a Bloomberg terminal, and several of the graduates have gone to bigger, better situations. A few are finance PHD candidates and graduates, many are CFA charterholders, one created the Baron's 400 index, and another is a HF manager, running a $50m fund on his own. The Bloomberg experience was nice, as was the work put into the annual report. I don't know that I would necessarily say that it would trump a great internship, but I learned a helluva lot about pitching stocks and how to compile a factual research report with good models to support valuation. As an example, my partner in the fund and I pitched six stocks in both healthcare and industrials (the two sectors we covered). I have some of the research and info on my LinkedIn profile that shows our "portfolio" that we pitched that is still heavily outperforming the S&P. I periodically have people ask me about it and they seem impressed. Basically, I found it a great resume builder, but some of the programs constitute a large class where students vote on where to put the money, and sometimes the money isn't actually part of the endowment, it's just imaginary. If the SMIF is more structured to mirror an actual mutual fund, it could be great experience and a lot of fun. Interestingly enough, our school's SMIF might have gotten one of the endowment's money managers fired... when they were in a rocky patch returning negative alpha vs. their bench, the college asked them why they shouldn't just give the money to their students to invest, since the students were outperforming their endowment's main money manager. I'm sure that was an embarrassing situation for a major portfolio manager...

I have friends who went to non-targets and were part of the student-run investment funds. They all said it was a positive in terms of putting it on your resume. It shows interest and that you're one of the top students because the funds were extremely selective (only took 10-12 students). You also get real experience in investing (at least the ones that my friends were part of, the students make the decision with oversight from a couple of executives), analyzing stocks, valuations, etc. My friends stated that usually the kids on these funds were the ones that got jobs on Wall Street (of course it's probably different at target schools). However, nothing beats real world experience so if you have to choose between the fund or a legit internship, go with the internship. However, most IB internships occur during the summer so this shouldn't be an issue.

Does anybody here know how I would be able to set up a student-run investment fund for a club at my school? Seems like a great opportunity for a lot of people in the club.

Yeah they can be. The best/most prestigious ones at my school were good for building connections & a good learning experience