Students Invest in Their Best
(Illustration: Elvis Swift)
By Rebecca Maxon
FDU is home to one of the nearly 600 student managed investment funds in the U.S., providing the opportunity for students — especially those in finance and business-related majors — to learn by doing.
“The Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) is an example of a college initiative that aims to build a bridge between the classroom and the workplace. It marries academia with Wall Street,” wrote Cynthia DiNapoli, a sophomore finance major on the Florham Campus and former summer intern in wealth management at Morgan Stanley, in a Silberman College of Business blog post.
“The opportunity to manage real money occurred in 2022,” says faculty adviser Kenneth Betz, senior lecturer of economics.
The original donation to the fund came from Richard Brenner, BS’73 (Metro), a member of the Silberman College Board of Advisors and an adjunct instructor. In its third year, the fund totaled approximately $150k with 15 different equities.
The fund has made significant returns — 10% in 2022–23, 22% by 2023–24 and 50% cumulatively as of July 2025.
It “offers(s) students a unique opportunity to apply classroom theory in a real-world setting, as they collaborate to make research-driven financial decisions,” says Louis Mignone, BS’25 (Flor), founder and first president of SMIF. Having invested since high school, he says, “The only way to learn is to invest.”
The group is divided into a five-member e-board, with each member referred to as a portfolio manager, along with several sector managers, leading small groups in tracking and analyzing certain market sectors, such as communication services (e.g., Netflix) or information technology (e.g., Apple Inc.).
To track their portfolio’s stocks, students use Bloomberg terminals on both New Jersey campuses. “These terminals are crucial,” says Christopher Leon, BS’25 (Flor), former SMIF sector manager for materials.
Betz says, “Students are expected to be actively involved in the management of the fund on a day-to-day basis, applying classroom theory in a real-world setting and enhancing their experience to better establish their future careers.”
Students do their own research using the terminals and come up with recommendations which they present to the oversight committee including Betz; Jon Budish, BA’77, MBA’85 (Flor); Brenner; Thomas Dinsmore, MA’80 (Flor); Karen Denning, professor of finance and chair of the finance, decision sciences, economics and international business department; and Mary Sakin, assistant dean of corporate engagement and student success.
“This is an endowment fund, and we check the markets for any news that might hit the companies we currently own,” says portfolio manager and Florham Campus senior finance major Adam Bazbaz. Based on that, “We would propose buying or selling.”
“One of the fund’s most successful moves was when there was a severe drop in the stock price of a bank we owned,” says Betz. “The group decided to buy more shares, dollar cost averaging our investment.”
Since the students make the final decisions on trading, the SMIF is eligible for student competitions such as the Bloomberg Trading Challenge. In 2023, led by Leon, one FDU team had a 15.5% return in the six-week challenge, placing 41st out of 1,160 teams in the world. “Our teams also placed in the top 2% in the 2024 challenge,” he says.
In the 2025 Quinnipiac Global Asset Managed Education (GAME) Forum, 16 students from SMIF engaged in a variety of finance-focused speaker panels and discussions. The group also submitted a portfolio for the competition and showcased a poster presentation.
The club sponsors an annual event, “Madison Ave. Meets Wall Street,” in collaboration with Drew University. The panel discussion features six alumni, three from FDU and three from Drew. The second consecutive event engaged more than 100 students, benefiting numerous students outside of the fund.
In addition to the general fund, the students manage scholarship funds totaling approximately $540k created from an additional gift from Brenner and a gift from trustee James Orefice, MA’91 (Metro). This fund has seven different equities and its focus is on a goal of seven percent that can then be skimmed off the top to go to deserving students in the form of scholarships.
“Going into the scholarship fund, we planned to invest in alternative assets that pay very high dividends — coming from real estate, commodities, oil pipelines and private venture capital,” says Mignone.
The current e-board consists of finance majors and portfolio managers Bazbaz; Jacob Castillo, a Florham Campus junior; Anthony Giardina, a Florham Campus junior; Andrew Piombino, a Florham Campus junior; and Kurtis Robinson, a Metropolitan Campus junior.
In addition, sector managers work with SMIF members to study and report on their appointed sectors. “They write on their own sectors and their future outlook for the fund’s annual report, with the help of several analysts in their sector,” says Bazbaz. DiNapoli lays out the annual report and creates social media posts in her role as a marketer for the club.
Perhaps most valuable is that participation in the SMIF gives students a leg up on securing internships and permanent employment after graduation. Mignone is now a full-time investment banking analyst at Bank of America, while Leon is an equity derivatives analyst with Clear Street LLC.
“Having the opportunity to learn while managing real assets alongside my fellow peers is something incredibly valuable,” says Leon.
Betz says, “For learning about financial investment, gaining important job skills and experience, securing internships — and even jobs after graduation, there is no better place for finance majors and others than the Student Managed Investment Fund.”
“This experience brought me into the real world”, Leon says. “I’ve seen improvement over the years and I’m going out strong.”