2019 SMIFC Conference

Presentations

Some of the speakers have very kindly allowed us to share their presentations. For ease of use, the presentations have been converted to PDF format.

Charlie Bobrinskoy, Vice Chairman, Director of Research, Ariel Investments presented Applications of Behavioral Finance

William Strauss, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago spoke on the U.S. Economic Outlook for 2020 - 2022

 

Kaplan Poster Session Competition

1st - Kennesaw State University
Nicholas Busson, Solomon Dodson, Luis Ramirez and Thomas Young

2nd - Austin Peay State University
Patrick Bush, Michael Dove, Matthew O'Brien and Riley Perkins

3rd - Northern Illinois University
Timothy Green, Carl Lindgren, Jenna Morgan, Stephen Randles Moss and Gina Nicolosi

Voleo Portfolio Building Competition

1st - Southern Utah University

 

The team from Southern Utah University
Briley Roundy, Natalie Smith, Quentin Vavasseur and Marin Ward
To left are Jack Maynard, Interim Dean and Tarek Zaher, co-founder of SMIFC, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University
To the right is Alana Levine, Marketing Director, Voleo

 

2nd - Salve Regina University

 

The team from Salve Regina University
Garret Aube, Thomas DeNault, Merrek Page and Nicholas Ranucci
To the left is Alana Levine, Marketing Director, Voleo (Photo: Voleo)

 

3rd - Hofstra University

 

The team from Hofstra University
Thomas Maciura, Samantha Meltzer, Suveer Seemangal and Ranganath Srinivasan
To left are Jack Maynard, Interim Dean, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University
To the right is Alana Levine, Marketing Director, Voleo (Photo: Voleo)

This year SMIFC will be running two competitions. One will be a poster display and the other will be in two parts; the Voleo Portfolio Building Competition and then, after the conference, the Voleo Nasdaq Trading Competition.

Poster Session

This session is very generously supported by Kaplan

 

The 2019 SMIFC poster session will be held on Thursday October 31, 2019 at Embassy Suites, Lakeview Room 3:15 -4:15 p.m. The poster session provides the SMIFC teams a way to display information about their SMIF including performance during 2019 year. We encourage all SMIFC teams to participate in the poster session. As an incentive to participate, the SMIFC conference will recognize three “Posters of Excellence for outstanding performance and outstanding visual presentation”. Presenters will participate in engaging their colleagues at other SMIFC schools. All presenters are responsible for bringing or delivering the posters to the conference and removing it after the conference. Posters presenters are expected to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the poster session.

Submissions and Representation

Each SMIFC team should submit a copy of their statement to michelle.swick@indstate.edu using this form by 5 pm Eastern time on October 17, 2019. Each team is also required to to attach a  statement obtained from the brokerage house that host their SMIF that includes at a minimum, the period from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. SMIFC teams are expected to use 48 inches by 36 inches tri fold boards to display their posters.

Evaluation Rubric

• SMIF performance measured by total return (50%)
• Visual presentation (25%)
• Presentation to judges or visitors (25%)

To determine the performance score for each team, the teams will be ranked by their Sharp Ratio. The team that has the highest Sharp Ratio will be ranked first and receive a score of 50. The performance score for other teams will be relative to the score of the first team. For example, if the first team has a Sharp Ratio of 0.63 and the second team has a Sharp Ratio of 0.60, then the second team receives a score of 47.62 (.60/.63 * 50). The score on the visual display and presentations will be determined by the Judges who will visit with each participating team.

Evaluation Method

• The Sharpe Ratio will be used to measure SMIF team’s performance over the period October1, 2018 through September 30, 2019. The return used in the ratio is the time weighted return.
• Visual Presentation: SMIFC teams should be innovative in their presentations. Posters is expected to highlight among other things, the SMIF performance, history, investment policy, Investment strategies and student role in decision making.
• Each SMIFC team will engage with the Judges and give answers to a common set of questions. 

 Poster Session Prizes 

In kind prizes will be awarded to the first three winners courtesy of Kaplan. In addition, all student participants in the poster session are entitled to preferred pricing. Kaplan will build a dedicated portal for participants to access which will house a variety of offerings to address the diverse needs of students (CFA, FRM, CAIA, CFP education/exam prep review, SIE/Securities licensing, Insurance licensing)

Pitch competition winners (2-4 students) would each receive one of the following Kaplan CFA packages:

• First place:  Kaplan Premium CFA Packages (4) valued at $1099 per recipient  
• Second place: Kaplan Essential CFA Packages valued at $649 per recipient  
• Third place Kaplan Schweser Notes Packages valued at $329.per recipient  

 

SMIFC Conference Pitch Competition

Part 1: Portfolio Building Competition – Presented by Voleo

This project is an exercise of fundamental analysis on building a long-term investing strategy. Each team of 3 to 5 students will be asked to create a paper trading portfolio with $1,000,000 that can be invested in stocks and ETFs on the Voleo app. Students will be asked to create a portfolio of up to 10 stocks and write a 4-6 pages (including exhibits) paper explaining their logic and rationale for their choices. Portfolios will be judged by members of the CFA society of Chicago.

To Enter in the Portfolio Building Competition:

• Download Voleo SimuTrader
• Create a profile with your .edu email
• Start your simulated investment club with 3-5 students (including yourself)
• Set “Buy” Orders for up to 10 stocks on the Voleo app

Evaluation Rubric:

• Analysis of economic, industrial, political, global and financial conditions (25%)
• Asset allocation and diversification (25%)
• Financial Analysis and selection of stocks and ETFS  (40%)
• Write up of the paper and exhibits (10%)

Portfolio Cash Prize Pool:

The prizes are provided by Voleo Inc. in the form of cash deposit in a brokerage account for each winner. 

• First Place — $1,000
• Second Place — $500
• Third Place — $250

Timeline:

• October 17, 2019 - Deadline for Paper submissions
• October 31, 2019 -  Conference prizes rewarded for Portfolio Building Competition

Submissions:

The portfolio management paper should be submitted no later than 5pm Eastern, October 17, 2019.  Two copies of the paper should be submitted.to michelle.swick@indstate.edu. One copy would have school affiliation and team member’s names. The second copy will be sent to reviewers for grading and therefore should not contain any identifying information. We encourage all SMIFC Schools to participate in the competition. Schools that submit to paper competition should plan to have at least one member of the team present at the conference. The winning team is expected to make 10 minutes’ presentation of their paper at the conference. However, winning teams who are not represented at the conference is required to prepare a 10 minutes’ video presentation and send to Michelle Swick. SMIFC member universities can have more than one team represented in the competition.

Part 2: Participate in the Voleo Student Competition

Once the conference is over, your portfolios created in Part 1 will automatically be entered into the Voleo Student Competition, where you will compete with student across the country over the course of 3 months. During these three months, you will actively manage and rebalance your portfolio for a chance at more prizes! Winners will be judged at the end of the competition based on total returns.

Portfolio Cash Prize Pool:

The prizes are provided by Voleo Inc. in the form of cash deposit in a brokerage account for each winner.  

• First Place Team - $3,000 + a trip for 3 to visit Nasdaq in NYC
• Second Place Team - $2,000
• Third Place Team - $1,000

Timeline:

• November 1st - Paper Trading Competition Begins
• February 29th -  Paper Trading Competition Complete
• March 2nd - Winners Announced
• Spring Break (TBC) - Winners Invited to Nasdaq Market Site for a guided tour and networking

This agenda is tentative and subject to change without notice

Thursday, October 31

11:30 a.m - Check in & Lunch

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, River North Ballroom

1:00 p.m. - Welcome & Opening Remarks

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, River North Ballroom

Dr. Tarek Zaher, Professor of Finance & Co-Founder of SMIFC, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

Dr. C. Jack Maynard, Interim Dean, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

1:15 p.m. - CFA Panel Discussion - Investment Management Strategies / How to Prepare for a Job in the Investment Industry

Brian Beargie, CFA, Global Head of Investment Grade Research, Legal & General Investment Management
Michael Miranda, Managing Director, BMO Family Office
Kristan Rowland, CFA, Global Investment Team, William Blair

Moderator: Shannon J. Curley, CFA, Chief Executive Officer, CFA Society Chicago

2:20 p.m. - Break

2:30 p.m. - Panel Discussion

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, River North Ballroom

The Management of Students Managed Investment Funds: Investment Club or Course Offering?

Dr. Eric Eller, Associate Professor of Finance, Noonan School of Business, Loras College
Dr. Stephen Morrell, Professor of Economics and Finance, Andreas School of Business, Barry University
Dr. Michael Phillips, Professor of Finance, Austin Peay State University
Dr. Terry Rumker, Assistant Professor of Finance, Dauch College of Business and Economics, Ashland University

Moderator: Dr. Mahmoud Haddad,  Professor of Finance, College of Business and Public Affairs, University of Tennessee at Martin.

3:10 p.m. - SMIFC Teams Poster Session

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, Lakeview Room

This session is sponsored by Kaplan. Please see our competitions page for details

4:15 p.m. - Applications of Behavioral Finance

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, River North Ballroom

Charlie Bobrinskoy, Vice Chairman, Director of Research, Ariel Investments

This presentation will focus on the most common investment biases seen in the marketplace and discuss how investors can take advantage of the opportunities they present. Furthermore, the session will provide some common sense solutions for advisor’s/investment managers to utilize after identifying those characteristics in individual investors.  

5:30 p.m. - Manager's Reception

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, Lobby

6:10 p.m. - Adaptive Learning with McGraw Hill Smartbook 2.0

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, Lakeview Room

Ted Krischak, Executive Account Manager, McGraw-Hill Education

Smartbook 2.0 is an Adaptive and Personalized reading experience in McGraw Hill Connect.  Smartbook highlights key areas for students to read, and prompts students with questions based on the material they are studying. By assessing individual answers, SmartBook learns what each student knows and identifies which topics they need to practice. This adaptive technology gives each student a personalized learning experience and path to success.  Learn how instructors are using Smartbook to boost retention in their classes. 

6:50 p.m. - Dinner & Awards

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, River North Ballroom

Poster Session competition (sponsored by Kaplan)
Voleo Portfolio Building Competition, (Sponsored by Voleo Inc.)
Voleo Student Competition. (Sponsored by Voleo Inc.)

Competition winners will be announced and awards distributed. Please see our competitions page for details

8:20 p.m. - End of Day's Activities

Friday, November 1

8:00 a.m. - Breakfast

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, River North Ballroom

9:00 a.m. - Keynote Speaker

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, River North Ballroom

Robert Carey, CFA, Chief Market Strategist, First Trust Advisors

9:45 a.m. - Break

10:00 a.m. - Panel Discussion - Financial Industry, Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, River North Ballroom

Randy Minas, CFP®, Director/Investments, Stifel 
Shawn Sabau, CFP®, Senior Vice President / Investments, Stifel
Elisha Porterfield, CFP®, Financial Advisor, Stifel            

10:50 a.m. - Break

11:00 a.m. - Economic Outlook for 2020 - 2022

William Strauss, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

11:50 a.m. - Break

12:00 p.m. - Luncheon Speaker

Alex Coffey, Co-Host of Fast Market on the TD Ameritrade Network anda Senior Specialist, TD Ameritrade’s Trader Group

1:00 p.m. - Closing Remarks

Dr. Tarek Zaher, Professor of Finance, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

1:15 p.m. - Tours of the Federal Reserve Bank (optional)

In order to participate in these tours you MUST bring a government issued photo ID

Groups A, B & C

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Groups D, E & F

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Brian Beargie, CFA

Global Head of Investment Grade Research, Legal & General Investment Management

Brian joined LGIMA in 2007 and was promoted to Director of Research in 2010. He was appointed Global Head of Investment Grade Research in 2014. Brian oversees the Research team while focusing on the energy, basic materials and manufacturing sectors.

Prior to joining LGIMA, Brian held other senior research positions in the fund management and brokerage industries. Most recently, he was a Senior Credit Research Analyst at Allstate Investments. Prior to that, Brian was a sell-side Senior Credit Research Analyst at JP Morgan Chase and Bank One.
Brian is a CFA charter holder and graduated from Northwestern University with a BA in Economics and History.

 

 

 

Charles K. Bobrinskoy

Vice Chairman, Director of Research​, Ariel Investments

Charles Kellogg Bobrinskoy serves as the Vice Chairman, Director of Research, and Portfolio Manager at Ariel Capital Management LLC. Additionally, he is a Portfolio Manager of Ariel Focus Fund. Mr. Bobrinskoy joined Ariel Capital in September 2004 and is instrumental in all firm wide strategic decisions. He is also a founding investor in the firm. Prior to joining the firm, he was employed in the Global Corporate and Investment Bank of Citigroup, Inc.

Bobrinskoy also served as a Managing Director and Head of North American Investment Banking Branch Offices, where he managed just fewer than 100 professionals across six North American branches, including Chicago. His investment banking career began in 1983 at Salomon Brothers, Inc. (a Citigroup predecessor company), where he held numerous leadership positions, including serving as the Head of Midwest investment banking for Salomon until 2000. Mr. Bobrinskoy has been an Independent Director of InnerWorkings Inc since August 2008.

He serves as a Trustee for the Museum of Science and Industry and the Chicago Urban League. Mr. Bobrinskoy is on the Board of Directors at La Rabida Children's Hospital, Big Shoulders Fund, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation, Chicago Club, Lakeshore Athletic Club, Juvenile Protective Association and Duke University’s Library Board. He also teaches monthly stock market and investing classes at two of the Chicago inner-city schools. Mr. Bobrinskoy is an active member of the Commercial Club and the Economic Club of Chicago, as well as a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He holds an A.B. degree in Economics from Duke University and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Robert Carey, CFA

Chief Market Strategist, First Trust Advisors

Mr. Carey has over 3 decades of experience as an Equity and Fixed-Income Analyst and is a recipient of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana with a B.S. in Physics. He is also a member of the CFA Society of Chicago and the CFA Institute. Mr. Carey is Chief Market Strategist at First Trust Advisors L.P., which manages or supervises approximately $130 billion in assets as of July 31, 2018.

Mr. Carey has appeared throughout the United States and Canada as a guest on television and radio programs. These programs include: Bloomberg TV, CNBC and on Chicago’s WBBM Newsradio 780’s Noon Business Hour. He has been quoted by several publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Reporter, Bloomberg News Service, and Registered Rep.

 

Alex Coffey

Co-Host of Fast Market on the TD Ameritrade Network and a Senior Specialist, TD Ameritrade’s Trader Group

Alex Coffey is the Co-Host of Fast Market on the TD Ameritrade Network and a Senior Specialist in TD Ameritrade’s Trader Group. Alex has a background in financial markets, primarily equities & options, and market structure. Having been with TD Ameritrade since 2014, he was previously a Senior Specialist on the Retail Trade Desk and Client Services departments. Coffey graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln with a double major in Finance and Accounting and a double minor in Math and Economics. He holds his Series 7, 63, 3, and 34 U.S. securities industry licenses.

 

 

 

 

Shannon J. Curley, CFA

Chief Executive Officer, CFA Society Chicago

 

Shannon J. Curley, CFA, is the Chief Executive Officer of CFA Society Chicago since 2016, joining as Executive Director in 2014.  As Chief Executive, Curley is responsible for short and long term 

strategic planning, operational management, and external relations of the Society.  

Curley joins with more than 25 years of investment management and financial operational experience. He has been a Charterholder since 1997, and has been a member of the CFA Chicago since 2004. Previously, Curley worked at UBS O’Connor, LLC as a Director of the Long/Short Equity Hedge Fund, Portfolio Manager covering non-bank financials. He has held various financial and investment positions in New York, Houston and St. Louis before moving to Chicago. Curley has a MBA in Finance from Tulane University, a BA in Economics and BA minor in Mathematics from Fairfield University.

Dr. Mahmoud M. Haddad

Professor of Finance at The University of Tennessee at Martin

Dr. Haddad received a B.A. and M.B.A. in Accounting from Minnesota State University, and a Ph.D. in Finance from The University of Alabama. He has taught finance at Wayne State University, The University of Tennessee at Martin, University of Alabama, Arab American University-Jenin, American University of Armenia, American University of Beirut, Al-Quds University, Eastern Michigan University and Minnesota State University. He is also certified in e-teaching and learning and he has broad experience in distance and online teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Dr. Haddad has published over 30 papers which have been published in leading refereed journals.

Dr. Haddad was the Financial and Accounting Manager at the American Family Insurance Co., the Executive Director of Research at the Palestinian Monetary Authority, the Vice President for Administrative and Financial Affairs and Dean of College of Business and Financial Sciences at Arab American University, and a Research Scholar and Head of Economic and Social Studies Division at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research. He is the co-director of the UT Martin Tennessee Valley Authority Investment Challenge program and a UDAID Visiting Scholar. The Board of Trustees of the Economic Research Forum of the Arab Countries, Iran, and Turkey awarded Dr. Haddad a life membership as an ERF Research Fellow.

Ted Krischak

Executive Account Manager, McGraw-Hill Education

Ted is currently Executive Account Manager with McGraw Hill Education, managing institutional partnerships and supporting the implementation of McGraw Hill Digital and Adaptive Learning products in Indiana. 

Ted has over 15 years experience in the Education industry, and has helped develop award winning Digital, Adaptive Learning, and Print products.   Among Ted’s accomplishments are multiple Product Team Member of the Year and Top Sales Performer Awards. 

 

 

 

 

C. Jack Maynard

Interim Dean, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

C. Jack Maynard became interim dean to the Scott College of Business on June 1, 2019. Jack is no stranger to senior roles at Indiana State, he is also the director of the MBA in Education Leadership program. Previously, he has served as dean of the college of education and provost and vice president for Academic Affairs (2003-2013).

 

 

 

 

 

Randall K. Minas, CFP®

Director/Investments, Stifel | Minas Sabau Porterfield Group

Randy Minas, CFP®, Director/Investments, Stifel, specializes in managed money, investment and retirement planning, and issues surrounding estate planning; as well as municipal bonds.  He began investment industry career in 1976 and holds the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional certification, Series 4, 6, 7, 24, 63, and 65 licenses, and life and variable insurance licenses. 

Randy earned a B.S. in Management from Indiana State University and is an active alumnus, serving on the university's Board of Trustees, the Indiana State University Foundation Board and the Investment Committee.  He is also the Head Varsity Softball Coach at Culver Academies.

 

 

Michael Miranda

Managing Director, BMO Family Office

Michael Miranda is a Managing Director with BMO Family Office, an integrated wealth management provider that serves ultra-affluent individuals, families and family offices across their tax, estate, investment, philanthropic, risk and family capital needs. Mike joined BMO Family Office in 2018 and brings nearly 20 years of experience running investment businesses, teams and portfolios.  As head of investments, he leads the wealth management team responsible for managing bespoke investment strategies for ultra-high net worth families.

He also directly manages several client relationships within BMO Family Office.  As a member of the investment leadership of BMO Wealth Management, Mike sits on the asset allocation committee, responsible for setting investment strategy for BMO in the U.S.  Prior to joining BMO, Mike served as Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer at Mesirow Financial, where he oversaw a team of portfolio managers, traders and research professionals in the Currency Management group.  Previously, he served as a Senior Portfolio Manager overseeing multi-billion dollar fixed income portfolios for both Calamos Investments and Northern Trust.

Mike graduated from Northwestern University with degrees in both economics and music performance.  He earned his MBA with honors from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.   As a CFA Charterholder, Mike was honored to serve on the Budget Committee in 2018 for CFA Society Chicago.

 

Dr. Michael Phillips

Professor of Finance, Austin Peay State University

Michael Phillips serves as a Professor of Finance in the College of Business at Austin Peay State University.  He earned his D.B.A. in Finance at Mississippi State University in 1992.  Mike has developed and teaches courses in investments, corporate finance, real estate, and equity valuation.

Mike’s industry experience includes banking, financial services, and real estate investment and development.  He currently is a licensed real estate broker and serves as the principal broker for the firm.

Mike has extensive business consulting experience.  He and his partners were retained by a Fortune 500 firm to design a systemwide business literacy training initiative for its workforce.  The plan was executed and recognized by Training magazine as an excellent example of workforce training.  The initiative's structure became a model for other training initiatives at the firm.

Mike has received awards and recognition for his work as a teacher, student organization advisor, and researcher.  He recently was honored to be named as the inaugural recipient of the A.J. Taylor Distinguished Professorship awarded to a faculty member each year who has demonstrated exceptional scholarly work or innovative teaching practices.  Mike is also the current holder of the APSU Foundation Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise.

Mike's passion is teaching and engaging students in real-world experiences and networking activities that assist them in discovering their love and exploring business models beyond the textbook.  These experiences include five years of study abroad in London in addition to multiple student trips to Chicago, New York, and other cities.

Mike also enjoys publishing.  His research tends to be interdisciplinary with a recent focus on best practices in instructional design.  His most recent manuscript appears in Managerial Finance and describes a pedagogy based on fundamental analysis and targeted for use in a student-managed investment fund course.

Elisha D. Porterfield, CFP®

Financial Advisor, Stifel | Minas Sabau Porterfield Group

Elisha Porterfield, CFP®, Financial Advisor, specializes in retirement planning, investment & insurance planning, and especially likes helping millennials get a jump on saving for retirement.  She began her investment industry career in 2003 and holds Series 7, 24, 63, and 66 licenses, as well as life, health, and variable insurance licenses (including long-term care). 

Elisha is a graduate of Butler University, where she earned a B.S. in Finance.  In her spare time, she chairs the Finance Committee at Valparaiso First United Methodist Church and serves as President of the Valparaiso Lions Club.

 

 

 

Kristan Rowland, CFA

Global Investment Team, William Blair

Kristan Rowland, CFA is a member of the Global investment team at William Blair covering the financials sector. Prior to joining William Blair in 2011 as a financial advisor, she was a buy-side research analyst at Mesirow Financial where she had primary coverage of the financials sector. Earlier, Kristan was an equity analyst at Morningstar where she analyzed, built financial models and published reports on business services stocks. She earned a BA from the University of Notre Dame in Economics and French and an MBA from the University of Chicago in Finance, Accounting and Economics. She holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago. Kristan served as co-Chair of the CFA Society of Chicago’s Annual Dinner Committee over the last three years. Kristan serves as member of steering committee for William Blair’s Women’s Alliance.

 

Dr. Terry Rumker

Assistant Professor of Finance, Dauch College of Business and Economics, Ashland University

Terry Rumker, is a CFP (Certified Financial Planner), Director of Eagle Investment Group (1.5 million dollar student run investment fund), and an Assistant Professor of Finance at Ashland University, where he earned his Masters of Business Administration.  Developed and the coordinator for our partnership with private university SENAC in Brazil sending myself (at least one time per year since 2012) and other faculty to Brazil to provide a capstone symposium for their MBA program.  The program is now being offered in 7 different locations around the state of Santa Catarina. Also developed a semester abroad for our business students with a state university UDESC also in Brazil.  Have also done workshops at UDESC.

Terry has taken a group of MBA students to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, faculty member for MBA students to Spain and Portugal, mission trip with AU students to Dominican Republic.

For more than twenty years, Terry has been helping others achieve their financial goals as a financial planner.  He has also been teaching in the areas of personal finance, investments and corporate finance.  In addition, he has a partner and sole proprietor of two companies that work with organizations nationally in the area of financial literacy and life skills.  He is a co-author of two books as well as a developer of interactive financial and life skills software.  Prior to joining the university faculty in 1989, he worked for Fidelity Investments and was a general manager for Bob Evans restaurants.

Shawn A. Sabau, CFP®

Senior Vice President/Investments, Stifel | Minas Sabau Porterfield Group

Shawn Sabau, CFP®, Senior Vice President/Investments, is experienced in various areas of focus that include retirement planning, estate planning, insurance planning, liability management, personal financial planning, and portfolio construction. He also oversees the Team’s Investment Committee which is responsible for portfolio creation and analysis. He began his industry career in 1998 and holds the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) professional certification, Series 6, 7, 63, and 66 licenses, and life and variable insurance licenses.

Shawn graduated from Purdue University with a B.S in Business Management and a Finance Minor. He also completed the Certificate Program in Financial Planning at DePaul University. Shawn enjoys spending time with his family, and is actively involved in youth sports.

 

William A. Strauss CBE

Senior Economist and Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
 

William A. Strauss is a Senior Economist and Economic Advisor in the Economic Research Department at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which he joined in 1982.  His chief responsibilities include analyzing the current performance of both the Midwest economy and the manufacturing sector for use in monetary policy.  He organizes the Bank's Economic Outlook Symposium and Automotive Outlook Symposium. In addition, he conducts industrial and manufacturing roundtables throughout the year.

Mr. Strauss earned a B.A. in economics and geography from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and an M.A. in economics from Northwestern University.  Mr. Strauss is a Certified Business Economist™ (CBE), the certification in business economics and data analytics developed by the National Association for Business Economics.  It documents a professional’s accomplishment, experience, abilities, and demonstrates mastery of the body of knowledge critical for a successful career in the field of economics and data analytics.

He has taught as an adjunct faculty member at Loyola University Chicago and Webster University in Chicago.  He currently teaches at DePaul University Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, and at the University of Chicago Graham School of Continuing Liberal and Professional Studies.  At the latter institution, he was named winner of the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award in the Business and Professional Programs.  He was recognized by the University at Buffalo as a Distinguished Alumni in 2012. Strauss was named a Fellow of the National Association for Business Economics in 2017.

His research papers include analysis of the manufacturing sector, the automotive sector, the Midwest regional economy, the trade-weighted dollar, business cycles, and Federal Reserve payments operations.

Mr. Strauss has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows and quoted in the major business magazines and newspapers. He has also provided testimony concerning manufacturing issues to the U.S. Senate.

He is a past president of the Chicago Association of Business Economists; a past board member for the National Association for Business Economics; a member of the National Business Economics Issues Council; a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the University at Buffalo; a member of the Advisory Board for the Center of Excellence on Human Capital, Technology Transfer, & Economic Growth and Development, a member of the Advisory Council for the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Center for Economic Education; a member of the Economic Advisory Committee for the Council on Competitiveness; an advisory council member of the Global Interdependence Center; and a member of the Council of Great Lakes Governors Maritime Advisory Committee.

Tarek Zaher

Professor of Finance, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University

 

Tarek Zaher has held a number of professional positions with the industry and provided consulting services to a number of international institutions including the World Bank, the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan, and the Academy for Educational Development in the United States and the Ministry of Work in Dubai. He has also offered a number of seminars in investment and international financial management at a number of institutions around the world.

Dr. Zaher is the supervisor of the investment club at Indiana State University. He also manages and supervises other international portfolios for individuals and institutions. Dr. Zaher’s research has been published in numerous prestigious professional and scholarly journals, including the Journal of Financial Research and Journal of Banking and Finance. Dr. Zaher received three research awards from professional conferences and one research certificate of excellence. He was also recognized by the Scott College of Business as the winner of the faculty research award in 2002 and the winner of the exemplary service award in 2004.

We would like to thank our contributors and sponsors without whom this conference could not take place: 

 

Congratulations to the  SMIFC2019 winning teams:

Kaplan Poster Session

1st - Kennesaw State University
Nicholas Busson, Solomon Dodson, Luis Ramirez and Thomas Young

2nd - Austin Peay State University
Patrick Bush, Michael Dove, Matthew O'Brien and Riley Perkins

3rd - Northern Illinois University
Timothy Green, Carl Lindgren, Jenna Morgan, Stephen Randles Moss and Gina Nicolosi

Voleo Portfolio Building Competition

1st - Southern Utah University

The team from Southern Utah University
Briley Roundy, Natalie Smith, Quentin Vavasseur and Marin Ward
To left are Jack Maynard, Interim Dean and Tarek Zaher, co-founder of SMIFC, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University
To the right is Alana Levine, Marketing Director, Voleo

 

2nd - Salve Regina University

The team from Salve Regina University
Garret Aube, Thomas DeNault, Merrek Page and Nicholas Ranucci
To the left is Alana Levine, Marketing Director, Voleo (Photo: Voleo)

 

3rd - Hofstra University

The team from Hofstra University
Thomas Maciura, Samantha Meltzer, Suveer Seemangal and Ranganath Srinivasan
To left are Jack Maynard, Interim Dean, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University
To the right is Alana Levine, Marketing Director, Voleo (Photo: Voleo)

 

                                                                                             

 

                                                                                                                                                                                    

 

                                                                                                  

The 7th Annual Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium (SMIFC) Conference will take place at the Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown, 600 North State Street, Chicago, IL 60654 on Thursday/Friday, October 31/November 1, 2019.

The Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown is in the heart of downtown Chicago, Illinois, surrounded by shopping and entertainment venues. Located on State Street between Ohio and Ontario Streets, it is three blocks west of Michigan Avenue's Magnificent Mile. We do not endorse the Parkopedia or SpotHero web sites in any way, but they may be useful if you are trying to find somewhere to park.

Hotel Accommodation

King Suite - $169.00 + taxes
2 Double Bed Suite - $189.00 + taxes

Accommodation booking should be made through the hotel directly

 

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown

Embassy Suites Chicago Downtown - Google Map