Student Asset Management Fund (SAM Fund)

• A competitive application process
• A multi-day, in-person and structured training curriculum for Junior Analysts
  • Learn the process that guide the SAM Fund, such as equity research, portfolio management, coverage holdings, and risk modeling
  • Earn a Bloomberg Market Concept Certificate
• Gain experience using industry-standard software, including Bloomberg, Capital IQ, and eVALUEator
• Opportunities to attend exclusive events and hear from industry leaders
• Access to exclusive corporate engagement calls
• A great networking experience

Rooted in a Biblical Worldview, SAM Fund approaches investing with institutional discipline, integrating top-down section allocation with fundamental security analysis to construct a portfolio built on process, not just intuition.

The pillars of our investment philosophy are as follows:

• Sector allocation is the foundation of portfolio construction
  • We believe that risk analysis is just as important as the securities we are investing in. The Fund employs a sector rotation strategy guided by a proprietary macro factor framework that positions the portfolio based on where we are in the economic cycle and political scene. This gives us a repeatable, measurable process for putting capital into sectors that outperform in the current regime while pulling back from those that underperform.
• Security selection is driven by fundamental underwriting and analysis
  • Each sector manager and analyst conduct bottom-up analysis on individual securities with strong fundamentals and proved ability to outperform the competition. This includes building a clear, defendable investment thesis, identifying the core drivers of the business, and performing in-depth valuation across base, bull, and bear cases.
• Investors and markets deviate from rationality at times
  • Investor irrationality often causes bubbles and crashes; it also creates opportunities to purchase companies below their intrinsic value. By purchasing companies at a discount, it allows the Fund to outperform benchmarks. As such, the Fund will not purchase companies that it believes are overvalues in order to maximize risk-reward dynamics and capitalize on true winners.

Executive Leadership:

• President:
  • The President of the Student Asset Management Fund serves as the chief executive and strategic leader of the organization. This role is responsible for setting the vision, preserving the fund’s culture and standards, and ensuring the fund operates with professionalism, accountability, and institutional credibility. The President oversees executive leadership, drives strategic initiatives, represents the fund to university leadership and external stakeholders, and ensures alignment between the fund’s investment mission, member development, and long-term growth.
• Vice-President:
  • The Vice President acts as the Fund’s portfolio manager, overseeing capital allocation and ensuring alignment with the overall investment strategy. The role involves analyzing macroeconomic and market conditions to guide portfolio positioning across economic cycles. The Vice President works closely with the Sector Managers on allocation decisions, leads the Quantitative Research Group in developing proprietary economic and technical investment models, mentors the Qualitative Research Group in developing proprietary economic and technical investment models, mentors the Qualitative Analysts, and directs the fund’s annual Research Week presentation to bridge academic research with real-world investment insights.

Quantitative Research Group:

• The SAM Fund’s Quantitative Research Group (QRG) is pioneering student-led research team composed of computer science and engineering majors. In the past, the QRG has developed hedge-fund-style strategies and proprietary sector-rotation model to enhance the Fund’s macro positioning, risk management, and data-driven investment decisions.

Sector Managers:

• Championing the Fund’s top-down, bottom-up approach, Sector Managers serve as the strategic leaders and industry experts for their respective sector they manage within the fund. They are responsible for developing and maintaining a comprehensive, forward-looking sector thesis through in-depth industry, market, and economic analysis with guides their portfolio and investment decisions. Their critical thinking, leadership, and vision is reflected in their portfolio positioning and alignment with the fund’s broader investment strategy. In addition to investment oversight, Managers lead and mentor both Senior and Junior Analysts, guiding the development of company research, pitch preparation, and overall learning and growth within the sector.

Senior Analysts:

• Senior Analysts take greater ownership in the research process by leading deeper company analysis, developing investment theses, and contributing at a higher level to sector recommendations. They are also staffed on live pitches and are given individual company coverage within their sector, requiring a higher standard of preparation, judgment, and initiative. Senior Analysts are expected to help elevate the quality of research and discussion across the team through strong performance and professionalism.

Junior Analysts:

• Junior Analysts support their sector team through foundational equity research, company analysis, and active participation in the investment process. They are expected to come prepared, contribute thoughtfully, and develop the technical, analytical, and professional skills needed to evaluate investment opportunities within the fund. Top-performing Junior Analysts are selected at the end of the each cycle to advance to the Senior Analyst roles.

Administrative Specialists:

• Social Media Manager

SAM Fund is split into five sectors: financials, healthcare, industrials, and technology, and consumer. These sectors are led by their respective Managers, who allow their Analysts to each manage a specific stock in the sector.

Consumer Goods:

• Encompasses companies that produce and sell everyday household products, broadly divided into Consumer Staples (essential goods such as food, beverages, and household items) and Consumer Discretionary (non-essential goods including apparel, luxury items, and leisure products)

Financial Services:

• Encompasses institutions that manage money, investments, and risk through activities such as banking, lending, insurance, and asset management.

Healthcare:

• Encompasses companies operating across the healthcare industry, including pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices, healthcare providers, and related services.

Industrials:

• Encompasses companies that produce capital goods and provide essential services, including transportation, construction, infrastructure, and environmental services.

Technology:

• Encompasses companies across the technology and communications sectors that support and advance the global digital economy.