UTA Student Managed Investment Fund Earns First Place at National Competition
Success isn’t measured by the size of a portfolio, but by the passion behind it. For UTA’s Student Managed Investment Fund, that passion just paid off in a big way.
The College of Business’s Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) took home first place in the poster session competition at the Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium (SMIFC) in Chicago, beating more than 50 universities across the country.
Hosted by Indiana State University, the consortium brings together SMIF programs nationwide for networking, professional development and competition. Featuring keynote speakers, panels and portfolio presentations, the event allows students to apply classroom knowledge in a real-world setting while connecting with peers who share their passion for finance.
“We compete against other schools all over the nation. We present our portfolio on a poster, and we spent probably 50 hours making this poster,” said SMIF student and junior accounting and finance major Tyler Le. “You must present your information by knowing what to talk about with your portfolio, present some key metrics and also have a great voice and demeanor to actually win.”
Dr. Trang Thai and members of UTA SMIF pose alongside their first-place prize. Photo courtesy of Dr. Thai.
The College of Business's Student Managed Investment Fund is a course that gives students the opportunity to manage a real-money portfolio and gain hands-on experience in investment analysis, teamwork and decision-making. Open to all business majors, SMIF allows participants to put theory into practice and test their skills on a national stage at competitions as well as through day-to-day trading in the College of Business’s Sam Mahrouq Financial Markets Lab.
Le said he joined UTA SMIF because he wanted to deepen and develop his financial knowledge, specifically in the investment space.
“This is my first semester, and I've learned so much from it in terms of investing into a portfolio of stocks and ETFs, and I’ve gotten a great knowledge of that,” Le said. “So doing this is a really great experience for me and been awesome so far.”
Dr. Trang Thai, clinical assistant professor and SMIF advisor, said earning first place was no small feat given the level of competition.
“To win this, it’s not easy, because you must be the best out of over 50 schools that came. For comparison, some of the funds are over $4 to $6 million. We are only at $125,000, so very small,” Thai said. “Size does not matter in this case.”
This win marks a major achievement for the College of Business. Trang noted that although the program has only existed for five years, it has already earned four awards across various categories and levels, which she described as a significant accomplishment for such a young fund. This is the program’s first first-place finish.
“We felt like celebrities,” Thai said. “I’m not kidding, when we were in the elevator or walking downtown by The Bean, random students who were in the city for the event recognized us and said, ‘Oh, you’re the team that won the poster competition, congratulations!’ We were the SMIF celebs.”
Le explained that teams presented detailed posters summarizing their portfolio’s performance, risk management strategies and overall investment philosophy. The UTA team’s poster highlighted key portfolio metrics such as the Sharpe ratio, which measures overall performance, and beta, which reflects risk. Their portfolio stood out for its high Sharpe ratio and low beta, demonstrating strong performance with minimal risk. He added that the team’s strategy focused on independent research rather than following market trends, which helped their portfolio outperform others and showcase the team’s capabilities.
“We don’t go for the trends, we go with our thoughts and research,” Le said. “So to be able to present that on the poster allows us to stand out more in terms of our bandwidth, but also what we are capable of with this small team.”
When the winners were announced, the UTA team was caught completely off guard.
“We didn’t think we had won,” Le said. “Then they called ‘University of Texas at Arlington,’ and we were like, whoa. Everyone was shocked. It was surreal, even the CEO from one of the major financial institutions there came over to shake our hands.”
Thai said the team received high praise from the judges, who were impressed by both their presentation and teamwork.
“One of the judges came to me personally and said, ‘Are those your students?’” she said. “When I told him yes, he said, ‘They did such an amazing job. I’m a very harsh judge, and I don’t usually give compliments, but I have to tell you they did an outstanding job, not just one, but all of them collectively.’”
For Thai, this win symbolizes how far the program has come in five years,
“Getting first place for the first time means our program has fully developed,” she said. “We’re attracting talented students and proving that we can compete with larger schools. We might be the underdogs, but this shows that we can go against the odds and come out on top.”
Le said he felt honored to represent UTA at the consortium, and saw the win as the perfect addition to the 60th Anniversary celebrations for the College of Business.
“What the school has accomplished in just the past 60 years is amazing, and I felt like it was a great way to turn out for that,” Le said.
As for what’s next for UTA’s SMIF program? Thai hopes that more students will get involved with the program, and wants to expand opportunities for students to gain more hands-on experience with investing.
“I want more to sign up for it, and they don't have to feel intimidated. You just have to have a passion for it and want to learn more about it,” Thai said. “Don't feel like your GPA isn't good enough, or you have no experience trading stocks or managing money before, you’ll learn it here.”
Want to learn more about UTA SMIF? Read more on our website or contact Dr. Thai at tthai@uta.edu.