{"id":27727,"date":"2026-11-03T08:16:37","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T08:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/11\/03\/future-finance-leaders-gain-investment-experience-managing-2-5-million-fund-ut-san-antonio-today\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T08:16:37","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T08:16:37","slug":"future-finance-leaders-gain-investment-experience-managing-2-5-million-fund-ut-san-antonio-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/2026\/11\/03\/future-finance-leaders-gain-investment-experience-managing-2-5-million-fund-ut-san-antonio-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Future finance leaders gain investment experience managing $2.5 million fund – UT San Antonio Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine walking into a finance class on the first day and learning that you are responsible for managing a $2.5 million investment portfolio.
That was the scenario that 22 undergraduate and graduate students faced when they began their Securities Analysis Class last fall in the Carlos Alvarez College of Business.
While the course was not new, last year marked the first time students were able to gain hands-on experience working with a real portfolio. The fund that they managed is owned by the University of Texas\/Texas A&M Investment Management Company (UTIMCO).
Under the guidance of Ron Sweet<\/strong>, MBA \u201991, professor of practice in finance, students learned what it takes to analyze, value and select investments in real time \u2014 skills that mirror what entry-level security analysts do in the field. Students were selected to participate in the class following a rigorous application process.
Over nine months, the investment portfolio grew by 18.8 percent, outperforming its benchmark by 0.5 percentage points and generating nearly $500,000 in gains.
\u201cWe started off buying exchange-traded funds that matched the sectors in the S&P 500,\u201d said Sweet, who is the faculty advisor to the Investment Society. \u201cThen I divided the class into teams by sectors such as technology, energy or healthcare. Students learned how to do evaluations and analyses of companies, and how to present their investment recommendations.\u201d
Students built screening models within their sectors to evaluate stocks. From that list, team members divided up the top prospects to ultimately determine the three stocks that they\u2019d pitch. As they chose stocks to buy from their analysis, they slowly replaced the exchange-traded funds. Currently, they have 42 stocks in their portfolio.
\u201cThis course develops several technical skills ranging from financial statement analysis, Bloomberg proficiency, Excel modeling and professional presentations,\u201d said Nicholas Sanderson<\/strong>, a senior majoring in finance<\/a> who interned with Frost this summer. \u201cHowever, I found that the most valuable takeaway was non-technical. Rather, it\u2019s the ability to construct a thesis, support it with data and communicate it with enough conviction that the team was willing to act.\u201d
Connecting with those in the field<\/strong>
Throughout the course of the year, Sweet invited more than 100 alumni and finance experts to participate in the stock pitch presentations. He tapped into his extensive network of business contacts to offer students additional feedback as well as mentorship and networking opportunities.
\u201cProfessor Sweet keeps in contact with many Investment Society alumni,\u201d said Andrew Hernandez<\/strong>, \u201922, an equity research associate at Jefferies in New York City. \u201cHe asked if we could give feedback on sectors that we specialize in and put me in contact with a student who was working in the real estate sector.\u201d
Hernandez worked with recent finance graduate Eugene Trevino<\/strong>, \u201926, on his real estate sector pitch. During their calls, they discussed the industry and shared information that Trevino translated into his final presentation. Trevino also participated in a stock pitch competition at Frost based on this work.
\u201cWhen I was a student, I wasn\u2019t as aware of an analysts\u2019 role in the stock market, but I would\u2019ve enjoyed hearing more about it firsthand,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cFrom my current colleagues, I can tell that by participating in these types of experiences it gave them a leg up earlier on in their learning process.\u201d
Students heard from numerous guest speakers throughout the year as well to expand their industry knowledge. Sweet also organized several stock pitch competitions where students could present to working professionals in the industry. This past year, Frost, Valero and Victory Capital hosted student competitions.
\u201cThe speakers helped me get a deep dive into how professionals think and their processes to finding great companies,\u201d said Andrew Dietz<\/strong>, a senior majoring in finance. \u201cMost of the speakers started out as UTSA students in the exact position that I am in, so they gave great advice on how to be successful in my future career.\u201d
\u201cThe students get to interact with people who are doing this for a living,\u201d Sweet said. \u201cThey are not treating them like students, or watering down their responses. They are pushing back like they would normally do during a presentation.\u201d
For Reed Knapp<\/strong>, a finance graduate student, the opportunity to learn from professionals with years of industry experience was invaluable.
\u201cIn certain instances, they gave us great industry-specific information that was very helpful in guiding investment decision-making,\u201d Knapp said. \u201cIt was also helpful to hear how similar their process was to ours, and it reinforced that the classroom learning we were doing was very similar to what is done in practice.\u201d
Sweet has expanded opportunities for students to participate in managing the fund through the college\u2019s Investment Society. Advised by Sweet, this student organization is devoted to furthering the students\u2019 industry knowledge to prepare them for careers in high finance.
During weekly meetings, they reviewed the portfolio, looking at stock movements to determine buy or sell opportunities. They typically reviewed two to three stocks every week. While most student-managed funds are typically overseen by a small group of graduate students, the strength of the Alvarez fund is that a broad array of students get to be involved in the portfolio either through the class or through the student organization.
\u201cOne thing I emphasize is the purpose of finance is not analysis,\u201d Sweet said. \u201cThe purpose of finance is to make decisions. If all you\u2019re doing is analysis, which you do a lot in college, that is only part of the process. Our students get a chance to make actual decisions when they determine if we are buying or selling within our portfolio.\u201d
Students also gained a clearer understanding of the implications of their investment decisions. Sweet reviewed the portfolio with the class weekly, and they could see whose stocks were doing well and which stocks were underperforming.
\u201cIt is an environment where intellectual risk has real consequences, and it is something most students don\u2019t encounter until years into their careers,\u201d Sanderson said. \u201cThis course compresses that experience into a single year while bridging the gap between academic theory and professional practice.\u201d
While their ultimate goal is to achieve gains for UTIMCO, Sweet emphasized that isn\u2019t the only objective.
\u201cWe are managing a portfolio, but this is also a college class,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to perform well, but we\u2019re also trying to make it an educational experience. We want to get the maximum educational benefit out of this portfolio as we possibly can.\u201d
The student-managed fund marks a milestone in experiential learning for the college\u2019s finance program. It builds on the department\u2019s strong traditions of applied learning through initiatives like the Investment Society\u2019s \u201cSector Wars,\u201d where students build stock portfolios, and the CFA Research Challenge, an annual global competition that tests students\u2019 ability to conduct professional-level financial research.
\u201cA few of the biggest takeaways from the class included how subjective research can be,\u201d Knapp said. \u201cMany smart people can look at the same problem and arrive at different answers. Another takeaway is that analysis is not done in a vacuum or for the sake of interest or complexity, but it is done to make decisions. You are not pitching for the sake of being highly technical or to have the best presentation, but to communicate your analysis effectively and having a recommendation on a company to present to your boss.\u201d
\u201cStudents are doing the exact same thing in this class that they would be doing on the job as an analyst,\u201d Sweet said. \u201cThe biggest difference is we\u2019re doing over a semester what you would normally do in a week or two on the job. This gives our students a huge advantage when they go out interviewing for positions. They have relevant skills and experiences as well as pitch decks and recorded presentations to share with potential employers.\u201d
Sweet encourages alumni in this field to give back by listening to stock pitch presentations, guest lecturing in the classroom or hosting pitch competitions at their workplace.
\u201cI\u2019m so excited to see our dream of a student-managed fund realized,\u201d Sweet said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll only continue to be successful by engaging alumni and business leaders in the industry to assist us in this endeavor. This is just the start. So much more is yet to come.\u201d
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Information: 210-458-4011<\/a><\/p>\n

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Imagine walking into a finance class on the first day and learning that you are responsible for managing a $2.5 million investment portfolio.That was the scenario that 22 undergraduate and graduate students faced when they began their Securities Analysis Class last fall in the Carlos Alvarez College of Business.While the course was not new, last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnewstoday.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}