Investors learn together, manage pooled funds

A group of Richmond students is looking for investors.

Members of Portfolio Management Group, LLP, the 30 students have pooled $12,000 of their own money in an investment fund that is helping them learn to research companies and purchase and sell stocks.

“Currently our one-year rate of return is 3 percent, although the fund has produced a return as high as 12 percent,” said Sean Sneeden, ’09, who serves as PMG’s direc- tor of research and head of the health care sector.

PMG would like to attract new members interested in learning more about financial markets. The fund is open to anyone on campus including faculty, staff and all students, not just those enrolled in the business school. Student partners are majoring in a variety of fields, including philosophy and biology, Sneeden said. Investments have ranged from $300–$1,000 per person, with the average investment being about $400. Investors receive voting strength proportional to their investments.

Investors can cash out at any time, although most students stay in the fund until their senior year, keeping any profits or absorbing losses.

Due to limits on capital raised, “investor returns will be nominal. However, the learning experience each partner acquires will benefit him or her for a lifetime,” said Sneeden.

PMG is subdivided into four industry teams: industrials, financials, technology and health care. Investors are assigned to a sector team and rotate about every four–six weeks. Although the fund is not limited by types of investments, “historically it has been largely exposed to equity markets,” said Sneeden. PMG uses an online brokerage to execute its investments.

A large focus of the group is education, and fund managers hope to bring in faculty, alumni and members of the local community “to educate members in a fun and informative environment,” said Sneeden.

For more information, contact Sneeden at ssneeden@urpmg.org.