Five participating schools earn profit-sharing checks
D.A. Davidson & Co., an employee-owned, full-service investment firm with a national scope, today announced that a student team from Montana State University had the top-performing portfolio in the company’s annual Student Investment Program (SIP).
In the program, students in senior-level investment courses at 20 western U.S. public and private universities begin each school year with $50,000 to invest in the stock market. Montana State University posted a total return of 10.2 percent to emerge as victor for the year. MSU also is the institution that launched the program with D.A. Davidson in 1985.
None of the participating teams achieved the return of the S&P 500 Index – a standard benchmark for the stock market – which was 12.6 percent for the same period. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had an 11.3 percent return for the period.
MSU’s closest competitor for this program year was a team from Creighton University in Omaha, which earned a 6.7 percent return. Those schools were followed by the University of Oregon, with a 5.4 percent return; Montana State University-Billings, with a 5.3 percent return; and Gonzaga University, with a 5.2 percent return. D.A. Davidson’s SIP Composite Index, which includes all 20 colleges and universities, ended the year with a negative return: -1.8 percent.
While MSU had the top portfolio returns, D.A. Davidson separately named Gonzaga University as the winner of the Fred Dickson Memorial Award, which recognizes a student team in the program for overall excellence and adherence to program standards. As winners, the Gonzaga team will receive a $2,000 cash award and an expenses-paid trip for five participants to a D.A. Davidson conference scheduled in March 2017 in Spokane (See press release outlining award details here).
“We congratulate the MSU team on their strong performance this year and Gonzaga for earning the Fred Dickson Memorial Award, and we salute all of the student participants for their work in managing real portfolios,” said James Ragan, director of research for D.A. Davidson’s Individual Investor Group.
This program provides a unique opportunity for aspiring financial professionals to learn a range of valuable skills, and we are honored to partner with the participating schools to offer this experience.
-James Ragan, director of IIG Research
D.A. Davidson’s Student Investment Program provides student teams from participating schools with $50,000 each to invest over the year. The program provides hands-on education in finance, stock research, portfolio management and investment topics to upper-level college students.
Twenty schools in eight states participate in the program, investing a total of $1 million provided by D.A. Davidson. Each student team makes investment decisions with the guidance of a local D.A. Davidson financial advisor. The top-performing student teams receive a check on behalf of their college, earning half of any portfolio gains above 5 percent. D.A. Davidson absorbs any losses.
For the 2015-16 program year, nine participating colleges finished with total returns that were positive. Only Montana State University’s team exceeded 10 percent, and only five colleges achieved returns above the 5 percent level required to earn a check.
Since the Student Investment Program’s inception in 1985, D.A. Davidson has awarded more than $513,000 to participating colleges and universities in the West and Midwest.
About D.A. Davidson & Co.
Founded 81 years ago, D.A. Davidson is the largest full-service investment firm based in the Northwest. D.A. Davidson provides a range of wealth management and financial services and products to individual, institutional, corporate and nonprofit investors nationwide. An experienced research staff provides analysis to individual and institutional investors, and the firm is a regional leader in public and corporate finance.
D.A. Davidson is a subsidiary of employee-owned D.A. Davidson Companies, a financial services company with more than 1,350 employees working in 23 states and $47 billion in client assets under management and administration. D.A. Davidson Companies also operates Davidson Investment Advisors, a professional asset management firm; D.A. Davidson Trust Company, a trust and wealth management firm; and Davidson Fixed Income Management, a registered investment adviser providing fixed income portfolio management. For more information, see www.dadavidson.com or Twitter: @DADavidsonCo