Indiana State University Newsroom

Indiana State University will host the inaugural conference of a newly created national organization of groups featuring college student-run investment funds.

The Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium will host the conference Oct. 10-11 at Indiana State's Hulman Memorial Student Union. The conference has a theme of "Best Practices of Student Managed Investment Funds: Bridging the Gap between Industry and Academia." It will include speakers and panel sessions covering a variety of topics in financial services, such as effective use of derivatives in financial management and new trends in portfolio management. The conference sessions are free and will be open to the public, including Terre Haute and Indianapolis residents.

"There is an important educational part of the consortium," said Tarek Zaher, professor of finance in the Scott College of Business. "We want students from different schools with different student management investment funds, to interact and learn from each other."

Randy Minas, an Indiana State graduate and senior vice president of City Securities Corp., will discuss "The Evolution of the Financial Securities Industry: 1976-2013" during a keynote presentation on Thursday. Joe Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist for TD Ameritrade, will present "Effective Uses of Derivatives in Investment Management" during a keynote on Friday morning. Christopher Wolking, chief financial officer of Old National Investments, will present "New Trends in Portfolio Management" during a keynote session Friday as well.

"The conference features a number of well-accomplished and very respected financial services professionals to speak to not only consortium members, but also the public," said Brien Smith, dean of the Scott College of Business. "This is a great way to kick-off a new ambitious organization, and we are looking forward to community members taking just as much away from this event as our students will."

Smith and Zaher earlier this year co-created the consortium, which features universities from across the country that have student-run investment clubs. The group has 18 partners, including The Citadel in South Carolina, Mississippi University for Women and Western Michigan University.

"The (consortium) builds a community of institutions with a shared vision for student success and leadership in investing," Smith and Zaher wrote in a letter to organization members about the conference. "The common purpose provides for a broad network of support, problem solving and friendship."

While the conference is open to the public, registration is required and can be found here: http://www.indstate.edu/investment-club/SMIF2013/. For additional information, please contact Tarek Zaher at tarek.zaher@indstate.edu or 812-237-2093.

Contact: Tarek Zaher, professor of finance, Scott College of Business, Indiana State University, 812-237-2093 or tarek.zaher@indstate.edu

Writer: Austin Arceo, assistant director of media relations, Office of Communications and Marketing, Indiana State University, 812-237-3790 or austin.arceo-negrich@indstate.edu