Student Investment Fund

The LMU College of Business Administration offers a one-year program beginning spring of a student’s junior year and concluding fall of a student’s senior year. The Student Investment Fund (SIF) program is comprised of three courses:

  • FNCE 4491 (4 units): Security Analysis and Markets
  • FNCE 4492 (4 units): Portfolio Management
  • FNCE 4493 (2 units): Investment Research (Lab)

FNCE 4491 and FNCE 4493 are taken concurrently in spring of a student’s junior year and FNCE 4492 is taken in fall of a student’s senior year. The course sequence (required to complete all 10 units) is designed to provide in-depth understanding of security analysis, security valuation and selection, and portfolio management and evaluation.

Students also gain hands-on experience by managing an endowed portfolio of equity securities. The program features all elements of a traditional investment management course sequence, which is augmented by opportunities to meet institutional security analysts and portfolio managers, design portfolio strategies, create investment analyses and pitches, investigate derivative and indexed fund management strategies, execute trades, and prepare an evaluation of the fund’s performance. The course culminates with the Annual Fund Meeting at which time participants provide their performance results and attribution to a group representing the fund board.

Meet the Team

Academic Leadership

Dr. Dennis W. Draper, professor of finance, leads the Student Investment Fund program. Dr. Draper holds a B.S. in industrial engineering/operations research from Northwestern University, an M.S. in engineering economic systems from Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in business (emphasis in finance) from Stanford University. An experienced lecturer and researcher, his work focuses on the pricing of derivative securities and their use in risk management, valuation of financial securities and assets, investment strategy, and various other issues related to the field of corporate finance.

His academic endeavors are augmented by having served as advisor/consultant to a number of corporate entities, including Data Analysis, Inc. (Investor’s Business Daily), Analytic/TSA Global Asset Management and The Capital Group; as chairman of the board for Pacifica Funds; as president (and board member) of the Pacific American Funds (a family of fixed income mutual funds); as board member of the First Choice Funds and Eureka Advisors (Sanwa Bank); as co-director of the Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts' CFA Review Program; and in assuming the duties of managing director for investment strategy and research for Analytic/TSA Global Asset Management.

To learn more about how to get involved in the Student Investment Fund, contact:

Dennis W. Draper, Ph.D.
Professor of Finance
310.258.4607
dennis.draper@lmu.edu