Selected students at Cal State Fullerton manage a real investment portfolio, gaining institutional-grade experience in equity research, portfolio management, and professional investing.
The CSUF Student Managed Investment Fund is one of the premier experiential finance programs on the West Coast. Operating within the Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, SMIF empowers a select group of undergraduate students to manage a real portfolio of equities with institutional-level rigor.
Our analysts conduct bottom-up fundamental research, build discounted cash flow models, and present investment theses to our Investment Committee—mirroring the workflow of professional asset managers. Every decision is made with real capital and real consequences.
SMIF alumni have gone on to careers at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, PIMCO, Capital Group, and top-tier MBA programs nationwide.
Apply classroom theory to real-world markets by managing live positions with genuine capital at stake.
Work alongside faculty advisors and industry professionals who provide guidance on research and career development.
Manage over $850K in assets under management sourced from university endowment and donor contributions.
Build a verifiable track record and professional skills that set you apart in investment banking and asset management recruiting.
Our diversified equity portfolio is benchmarked against the S&P 500, with sector allocations reflecting our analysts' highest-conviction ideas.
Every investment follows a rigorous five-step process modeled after leading institutional asset managers.
Analysts source investment ideas through macro research, sector analysis, thematic trends, and quantitative screens. Initial filters narrow the universe by market cap, liquidity, and strategic fit.
Deep-dive into financial statements, competitive positioning, management quality, and industry dynamics. Analysts evaluate revenue drivers, margin profiles, and balance sheet health.
Build three-statement financial models, discounted cash flow analyses, and comparable company valuations. Sensitivity analysis stress-tests assumptions across bull, base, and bear cases.
Analysts present formal stock pitches to the full Investment Committee including faculty advisors. Rigorous Q&A and devil's advocate debate precede a majority vote on each recommendation.
Approved positions are integrated with attention to portfolio-level risk, sector exposure, and position sizing. Analysts provide quarterly updates and continuously monitor theses for changes.
Our executive board oversees fund operations, research quality, and analyst development throughout the academic year.
Sets strategic direction for the fund, leads executive meetings, and serves as the primary liaison to faculty advisors and university administration.
Oversees the research pipeline, assigns sector coverage to analysts, and ensures all investment theses meet institutional-quality standards.
Executes approved trades, monitors market conditions for optimal entry and exit points, and manages the fund's brokerage operations.
Monitors portfolio risk metrics including beta, sector concentration, and drawdown limits. Presents risk reports to the Investment Committee.
Tracks fund performance and NAV, prepares monthly reporting packages, and maintains accurate records of all portfolio transactions.
Documents meeting minutes, manages the analyst onboarding process, and coordinates events including guest speaker sessions and networking nights.
We recruit motivated students who are passionate about financial markets and committed to professional excellence.