Fordham University's Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) is a student-run, multi-strategy global investment fund. The SMIF program consists of two consecutive one-semester academic courses (FNBU 4462-Fall and FNBU 4463-Spring).
Each class is a three-credit Finance elective, and the second semester also satisfies the Global Investments requirement for finance majors. Over two consecutive semesters, students actively manage a $2.5 million global balanced portfolio consisting of securities representing the major asset classes of equities, bonds, FX, and hard assets, including commodities and real estate.
This real-world investing experience is a demanding yet rewarding experience for many students, most of whom graduate and go on to successful careers across the financial services industry.
Who We Are
SMIF members are required to enroll for two consecutive semesters, either Junior Spring / Senior Fall or Senior Fall / Senior Spring.
A new cohort of Analysts is enrolled each semester. Each Analyst covers one of fourteen sectors:
Credit, Rates, Commodities, Real Estate, Financials, Emerging Markets, Industrials, Technology Hardware, Technology Software, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Healthcare, Utilities
In their second semester, Analysts graduate to Portfolio Managers (PMs) of their respective sectors and are paired with an Analyst to provide mentorship and sector expertise. Additionally, PMs are admitted into the Investment Committee (IC), which is responsible for all SMIF investment decisions.
Every semester, three analysts will be chosen to serve as Managing Directors (MDs) for their second semester alongside being incoming PMs. Other PMs are eligible to take on additional roles such as Newsletter Coordinator, Risk Manager, Social Coordinator, Options Specialist, etc. Analysts are encouraged to shadow PMs secondary responsibilities or create their own roles.
During their time in the fund, students will have the opportunity to pitch securities within their sector and collaborate with other . Members are provided with an array of opportunities and resources to further their personal and professional development.
How We Run
Rick Carew is an adjunct professor of Finance & Economics at Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business. He teaches "Introduction to Value Investing" and oversees the "Student Managed Investment Fund" course. He has experience teaching on investing, global technology business models, and global marketing. Outside of the classroom, he advises investors and executives on Asia's financial markets and U.S-China economic relations. Based in Hong Kong and China for a dozen years, he has served as a Reporter and Senior Editor for The Wall Street Journal and advised companies including e-commerce giant Alibaba Group and private equity firm KKR & Co.
Mr. Carew holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, where he was part of the Value Investing Program and won the Pershing Square Value Investing & Philanthropy Challenge. He earned a B.A. with High Honors in Economics and Chinese Language & Literature from the University of Virginia.
Rick Carew — Instructor of SMIF
James Russell Kelly — Founding Advisor
James Russell Kelly, the founding director and chairman of the Gabelli Center for Global Security Analysis, has since retired. He served as a senior lecturer in finance at the Gabelli School of Business, and was the founding instructor of Fordham University’s Student Managed Investment Fund. Through SMIF, Gabelli School of Business undergraduates invest $2.0 million of Fordham’s endowment in a global balanced fund consisting of all the major asset classes.
Kelly has more than 30 years of experience in the international capital markets, including senior-level positions in international securities sales and trading at Merrill Lynch, where he was vice president of institutional sales; Deutsche Bank Securities, as senior vice president and manager of the international fixed-income sales and trading department; and Auerbach Grayson & Co., as executive vice president of equity emerging markets. While at Deutsche Bank, he also served as marketing director of Deutsche Bank Research, the bank’s macroeconomic research institute. He has been teaching finance at Fordham continuously since 2002.
Kelly holds a BA in economics from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the Columbia Business School.