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Donation received for new Student Investment Management Fund
December 10, 2009
Contact: Paul K. Logsdon, Director of Public Relations and Publications (417) 865-2815, ext. 7292
Springfield, Mo — The Board of Directors of the Assemblies of God Credit Union approved a substantial donation to Evangel’s newly established Student Investment Management Fund (SIMF), on Dec. 8.
“Our board members were eager to support this opportunity for students to move from theory to practical application of the finance principles they are learning,” said Paul Ebish, AGCU chief financial officer.
The SIMF was initiated by a donation from Dr. Raymond Schmidgall, a ’67 Evangel alumnus from Mason, Mich., for the purpose of providing students with real world investment experience and to establish an endowed scholarship.
The Evangel University Board of Administration recently approved the operating guidelines for the SIMF to expand this opportunity for students.
“Endowment fund investments will be managed by a group of students from any major who have a strong interest in investments and finance,” said Elizabeth Fletcher, chair of Evangel’s Department of Business and Economics. “Eventually, earnings from the endowment will be used to provide scholarships for students interested in careers in finance.”
For this initial start up, 11 juniors and seniors were selected from applications for the student investment group. The students are divided into two committees:
- The economics committee analyzes developments in key sectors of the macroeconomic environment that may influence current or future holdings of the fund.
- The portfolio committee evaluates the performance of the fund and sets guidelines and conducts research for selecting individual company stock investments.
Faculty from Evangel’s Department of Business and Economics provides general oversight and accountability for the operation of the endowment fund through investment and operating guidelines.
The students are supported and assisted by the SIMF Oversight Council, which consists of one full-time professor and two local alumni who have investment and finance expertise – Derek Schimdly ’06, principal of Auxan Capital Advisors, LLC; and Kyle Dana ’00, senior vice president of Retirement Solutions at the Assemblies of God Financial Services Group.
The Oversight Council provides training to the students in sector analysis portfolio management; selects students for the student investment group; and selects the positions of chief executive officer, portfolio manager, and economist.
For additional information, contact Bernie Dana at 417-865-2715, ext. 8116.