Andy Karolyi
Outperforming the Pros
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The undergraduate and graduate students who take the Student Investment Management (SIM) class each quarter are hardly finance novices. Since 1990, Fisher College finance students have invested a portion of Ohio State’s endowment fund, the first group of American college students to officially manage a multimilliondollar university account. Under the administration of Professor Andrew Karolyi (right), their strategy of obtaining high returns while maintaining desired risk levels is working well. The student-run portfolio has a current fund value of nearly $20 million and boasts an overall five-year return record better than the S&P 500. In the classroom, the SIM students act as security analysts and engage in group decisions that include monitoring, researching, interpreting and recommending stocks. Each quarter, they report to the university’s treasurer on the results of their investment strategies. Outside the classroom, the group maintains ties with the financial community and gains access to resources seldom seen in an academic environment. According to Professor Karolyi, the students gain a competitive advantage for elite internship and employment opportunities in financial arenas, including Wall Street. As the Charles R. Webb Designated Professor of Finance, Karolyi is wellknown in the area of investment management with a specialization in international financial markets. His current research focuses on the valuation of companies from around the world that strategically target U.S. equity markets for capital-raising activities. The work has garnered several recognitions, including this year’s Fama/DFA Prize for Best Paper in Capital Markets and Asset Pricing in the
Journal of Financial Economics , and has led Karolyi to be sought out as a consultant by global investment companies, financial institutions and stock exchanges. He was recently named to the board of directors of both the American Finance Association and the Financial Management Association.
