WSU’s portfolio return handily topped major U.S. indices for period
D.A. Davidson & Co. today announced that a student team from Washington State University has earned a check for $9,887 for completing a year with the top-performing portfolio in the company’s Student Investment Program.
The WSU student team developed a portfolio with a 44.55 percent return for the year that ended Aug. 31, earning the team a first-place showing among the 21 college and university teams in the program. For the same one-year period, two key U.S. indices that serve as standard stock market benchmarks, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, had returns of 15.94 percent and 12.58 percent, respectively.
“We are extremely proud to partner with Washington State University in supporting financial education in the Carson School of Business through the Student Investment Program,” said Rusty Schatz, Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor, Portfolio Manager in Moscow, Idaho, and D.A. Davidson’s advisor to the WSU team. “Under the direction of Dr. Mario Reyes, students have researched, analyzed and presented their results to their peers on many different companies in making buy/sell/hold decisions within the portfolio. We appreciate their dedication to the program and commend their excellent performance over the past academic year.”
For the program, D.A. Davidson provides student teams from senior-level investment courses at 21 Western and Midwestern colleges and universities with $50,000 to invest in the stock market, for a total commitment of $1.05 million annually. Each team makes investment decisions with the guidance of a local D.A. Davidson financial advisor and manages the portfolio for one year, starting Sept. 1. The program is designed to provide hands-on experience in finance, stock research, portfolio management and investment topics.
The top-performing teams receive a check for their college, earning half of any portfolio gains above 5 percent. D.A. Davidson absorbs any losses. For the 2022-2023 program recently ended, D.A. Davidson’s donation totaled $60,111. In the 29 years since D.A. Davidson began sharing program profits, the company has donated $894,235 in profits to participating institutions.
A team from Oregon State University had the second-best performing portfolio for the year, with a 43.3 percent return. The Oregon State team was among 18 student teams whose portfolios earned the institutions a check for the recently ended program year.
The Student Investment Program was launched in 1985 at Montana State University in Bozeman and gradually added colleges throughout the West and the Midwest since that time.
About D.A. Davidson Companies
D.A. Davidson Companies is an employee-owned financial services firm offering a range of financial services and advice to individuals, corporations, institutions and municipalities nationwide. Founded in 1935 with corporate headquarters in Great Falls, Montana, and regional headquarters in Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Omaha and Seattle, the company has approximately 1,620 employees and offices in 30 states.
Subsidiaries include: D.A. Davidson & Co., a full-service investment firm providing wealth management, investment banking, equity and fixed income capital markets services, and advice; Davidson Investment Advisors, a professional asset management firm; and D.A. Davidson Trust Company, a trust and wealth management company.
For more information, visit dadavidson.com.