Student business team receives grant to hone financial investment skills in stock market project

Provost and Chief Academic Officer Dr. Scott Hicks surprised Liberty University’s Student Asset Management team (SAM) Wednesday morning with a $90,000 internal grant fund, provided by the Center for Research & Scholarship, to practice real-time stock trading as they learn financial investment strategies.

The decision comes in the wake of the team’s success in managing its first grant of $50,000 received in 2013, which has increased to $84,500.

The 25-member SAM team, an extracurricular offering under the School of Business, consists of a president, vice president, five managers, and analysts, who compile research reports on stocks for financial services, technology, health care, consumer goods, and industrials, then decide which stocks to invest in. The team uses industry-standard Bloomberg terminals housed in the School of Business to assist with data gathering and research.

“We’re beyond grateful for Dr. Hicks and folks from the Center for Research & Scholarship coming in and blessing us with this,” said sophomore finance, economics, and financial planning student Nick Carlson, the team’s new president. “It’s a big responsibility, but we are thankful for everything they’ve given us.”

“We are so appreciative of the opportunity to have the trust from the administration to be able to invest funds on behalf of the university,” said Dr. Scott Ehrhorn, associate professor of finance and one of the team’s faculty advisors. “What a great learning opportunity for the students.”

“There are a lot of clubs, and there’s a lot going on,” said Dr. Stacie Rhodes, another team faculty advisor and the executive director for Liberty’s Center for Financial Literacy in the School of Business. “But, to have top-level buy-in and speak into the team’s process and believing in it, and putting funds in to show that support, is just another level and another opportunity for students to see that there’s a team behind them supporting them in their learning journey.”

Before officially approving the transfer, Hicks reinforced biblical stewardship, encouraging the students to use this resource at Liberty to demonstrate their Christian faith through good finance management.

Carlson said under his leadership, and under the leadership of sophomore applied mathematics and finance student Bryce Jones, the new vice president, the faith aspect will continue to be at the forefront.

“We really want to continue to do what our past leaders have done,” Carlson said. “We want to build out the professionalism of the fund and the operations of the fund. … We can sit in class, learn, and listen to lectures, and that’s good. But at the end of the day, there are aspects of finance and investing that you’re only going to learn when you get that experience, and Liberty provides that.”