By Hazel Denother

In 2018, the finance department at Lindenwood University created the Student Investment Fund as an opportunity for students to gain hands-on experience analyzing stocks and managing a real portfolio. The portfolio is currently beating the benchmark, and finance students have managed to generate $30,000 in profits since the fund’s inception.

Dr. Javeria Farooqi, the department chair of finance in the Plaster School of Business and Entrepreneurship, led the efforts to create the fund and teaches Investment Applications, the class that manages it. She explains, “The Student Investment Fund is a $100,000 portfolio that our finance students manage. I spearheaded the efforts to establish the student-managed fund, which the Board of Trustees approved in the Summer of 2018.”

Farooqi loves the student-centered environment fostered by the university, and she wanted to create a finance project that would enhance the department’s curriculum: “Students’ interest in the subject matter is what inspired me to take on this project. It began as an informal student club managing a paper portfolio, which turned into a class and then an actual portfolio.”

In the university’s Investment Applications course, students acquire valuable real-world experience in finance. Farooqi states, “Students learn practical skills beyond textbook theories, such as research, analytical abilities, and critical thinking skills. Students learn security analysis and portfolio management techniques, all of which are crucial in the financial industry.” Through diligence and clever strategy, Farooqi’s pupils have shaped a successful portfolio under her expert instruction.

Furthermore, the Student Investment Fund has helped business students gain fantastic professional opportunities. Farooqi comments, “I consider this project successful because of how much the students have learned and the internship and job opportunities that have come out of it.” She hopes that the project will continue to help students obtain job opportunities and that it will lead to some exciting future corporate partnerships for the university.

Involvement in the project is incredibly rewarding for students and faculty alike, and the operation helps prepare the university’s eager business students for their dream jobs in the financial world. Lindenwood’s talented team of business experts have developed and refined this project into a promising opportunity for the university community, generating yet another example of the university’s commitment to Real Experience, Real Success.