After graduation, Minuteman Equity Fund managers Candice Lo ’09 and Mike Harper ’09 head for financial sector jobs awaiting them in Boston and Albany, respectively.
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Managing the Minuteman Equity Fund pays career dividends
If you are looking for a stock market investment tip, you might seek the advice of Michael Harper and Candice Lo. They just spent their senior year developing investment strategies, researching and analyzing markets, and buying stocks in different companies as lead money managers for a student investment fund currently valued at $65,000.
Both Harper and Lo landed jobs which they begin right after graduation in May. That’s also when they’ll hand over the reins at the Student Investment Club, a registered student organization that oversees the Minuteman Equity Fund. Some 75 students—from finance majors to engineers—have been involved in the club since its launch last year with a $25,000 donation from the University of Massachusetts Foundation.
Though the club experienced losses in the stock market plunge, the fund increased by $40,000 when students embarked on a fundraising campaign tapping alumni.
The group works with an advisory board of alumni from the Isenberg School of Management as well as two faculty members. Harper, chairman of the fund, easily lists the benefits of working on the investment fund: gaining real-world experience; building a strong résumé; working alongside successful alumni who serve as advisors; camaraderie and friendship.
The fund is primarily a learning tool, so profits are reinvested in the fund. Once it hits $200,000, though, extra earnings will fund scholarships. Harper is confident the fund will grow and become a legacy. “To leave a mark on the campus like the Minuteman Equity Fund is something that far exceeds getting a 4.0 or being on dean’s list or graduating summa cum laude,” he says.
Lo, lead financial sector analyst and head of fund development, says working on the fund was a significant time commitment but one with clear returns. “I see our hard work paying off personally and professionally,” says Lo. “I can apply classroom theories to real-world situations and work with successful alumni who may open career doors.”