Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF)

SMIF is a student-founded and student-run investment research and management organization.

The Student Managed Investment Fund has been supported by Barry University’s Board of Trustees who have allocated monies from the University’s endowment as the corpus of the funds for SMIF to invest. SMIF is governed by an Advisory Board comprised of highly successful executive-level practitioners in the field of investments.

Consistent with Barry's mission, SMIF has two primary mandates:

1. Provide experiential education. Experiential education occurs as students use and apply the classroom theories and concepts of security research, valuation, and portfolio theory to the design, construction, and management of portfolios of securities.
2. Service-Learning. SMIF's second mandate is to contribute to the health and well-being of the community by teaching financial literacy programs through collaborative and mutually productive partnerships.

Service-learning takes place under Barry University's core commitments in the spirit of collaboration, partnership, and community well-being that have been the hallmarks of the financial literacy program since its inception.

SMIF students teach a year-long financial literacy course and partnership with Big Brother Big Sisters of Miami. The meetings are focused on enriching the financial literacy experience for both BBBS and Barry University SMIF students by enhancements to course content, course materials, course delivery, course assessments, and student interactions between BBBS and Barry SMIF students.

In early December 2020, Barry University began the partnership with Big Brother Big Sister of Miami. SMIF students explored a new initiative by developing a curriculum to teach an hour-long course in financial literacy to high-school students in Miami-Dade County. This initiative will begin in late September and will provide students with an opportunity to collaborate with SMIF students and grow their knowledge in financial literacy. The SMIF students will have the opportunity to teach a classroom of around sixty to a hundred high school students and will develop an everlasting relationship with the upcoming generation, aiming to become the world's next best financial professionals.

If you are a Barry University student and are interested in joining the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) please complete the application form below.

General membership is open to all Barry students that have completed ACC-201 and ECO-201. Having all members complete these two classes will ensure that students have at least basic knowledge in economic theory and financial statement structure.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Dr. Stephen Morrell at smorrell@barry.edu or current Fund Managers at barry.smif@gmail.com.

The application process is very competitive as we seek to select the most qualified and committed applicants from a large pool of candidates.

The Van Williams Memorial Award is an annual award made to a SMIF student in recognition of their lasting, outstanding contributions to SMIF’s experiential and service-learning missions during their time as a member of the SMIF program.

The Award is a legacy to Van Williams – a testimony to Van’s meaningful, multi-faceted contributions to the Barry University Student Managed Investment Fund both as a student and an alumnus as well as Van’s contributions to the University, the broader communities, church, career, and especially his family.

The Van Williams Memorial Award is presented by the Advisory Board to the Barry University Student Managed Investment Fund in conjunction with the SMIF Alumni Association. Initial funding for the Award is due to generous gifts from Advisory Board members David Kamons and Chris Neill.

The initial Award has two parts; an award of $350 for post-graduate professional development, and a $350 award for an approved charitable contribution made in Van Williams name.

The fundamental premise on which the SMIF investment philosophy is based is that prices for asset classes and individual securities may deviate over short horizons from their fundamental values due to a variety of factors. We believe opportunities exist to find improperly valued asset classes and securities due to this phenomenon.

The SMIF employs internal research, including quantitative models and techniques, as well as qualitative judgments and external research designed to identify these asset classes and securities that are undervalued, yet continue to exhibit strong long-term fundamentals. With a disciplined implementation of our valuation model and market analyses, the SMIF strategy seeks to reap rewards beyond those of passive benchmarks without incurring more risk. 

The fundamental purposes of the SMIF are to provide clear expectations regarding investment strategies; to generate a return in order to support the operating expenses and capital expenditures by both the SMIF and Barry University; to contribute to community well-being by providing financial literacy programs; and to add to the overall growth of the Barry University Endowment Fund. SMIF will conduct its business at the highest, ethical, and professional standards, including Dominican criteria per socially responsible investing and Ethical, Social and Governance Criteria (ESG) standards.

The SMIF is governed by an Advisory Board comprised of highly successful executive level practitioners in the field of investments. Advisory Board members include Barry University Board of Trustees members, Barry University Alumni and distinguished members of the business community, as well as Barry University administrators and faculty. 

The responsibilities of the advisory board include the oversight of all SMIF strategic operations, including investment policies, investment strategies, and investment performance.