CFA Society Orange County (CFAOC), formerly the Orange County Society of Investment Managers, has established the CFA Society of Orange County Foundation (Foundation), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation.
The mission of the Foundation is to foster, promote and encourage the development of professionalism within the Orange County Investment community and to heighten public awareness of this professionalism by:
-
Providing educational scholarships for the study of financial investment practice at colleges and universities located in and around Orange County, California; and
-
Supervising a select group of students who manage all or a portion of the Foundation's investment portfolio.
To fulfill our mission, the Foundation has drafted a plan (Plan) for a student-managed investment fund (SMIF) that is unique from other such projects around the country. Each year, a group of students from local colleges and universities will have to draft a response to the Foundation’s RFP and makes a presentation to the Foundation's board (Board) on how they propose to manage the Foundation’s funds and why they are the most qualified team to do so. This year the presentations will take place on the CSU Long Beach campus on December 6, 2019 from 1:00pm - 5:00pm. Please contact Paisley Nardini with any questions
The Board will select the most qualified team to manage the fund for one calendar year. The Plan calls for the students and their faculty advisor to affirm in writing that they will adhere to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. In addition, the Board, consisting of a well-balanced team of investment professionals, who are all CFA Institute and society members, will guide the students in their investment decisions. The Board is there to ensure that the students manage the fund consistent with the Foundation’s investment policy statement, which has a long-term investment horizon, as opposed to permitting the students to aim for short-term gains.
Another aspect in which the Plan is uniquely different from most student-managed funds in the country is that the fund will not be liquidated annually. Instead, each year, a new student management team will inherit the portfolio from the previous team. The Plan has the necessary controls to reasonably protect the assets of the fund while still giving the students a viable real-life experience in managing a portfolio with a long-term investment horizon. In addition, the Foundation will distribute 5% of total gains from the fund in the form of academic scholarships to Orange County students studying finance or business-related majors at local colleges and universities.
This is an exciting opportunity for CFAOC members to get involved and increase the awareness of CFAOC and CFA Institute at the college level. For more information, please contact Chad Noorani.
For Orange County colleges and universities interested in participating in the program or would like more information, please contact Chad Noorani or Paisley Nardini.