Welcome to the 2014 SMIF Conference Pages

The 2014 SMIF Conference was hosted by the Indiana State University Student Investment Club

Welcome to the Second Annual Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) Consortium Conference! The SMIF Consortium was formed in 2013 by 18 colleges and universities that have active SMIF groups. This year, the Scott College of Business is pleased to welcome 16 additional institutions to the SMIF Consortium.

The purpose of this consortium is to enhance student learning and scholarship, record best practices in investment management among SMIF partners, provide a vehicle for student networking and exchange of ideas, and provide a permanent repository of relevant literature and recorded student experiences. The SMIF Consortium builds a community of institutions with a shared vision for student success and leadership in investing. The SMIF Consortium also establishes relationships with industry partners to assist in its primary goals of student education, research, and leadership.

We are especially pleased to have Mike Alley, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Revenue, as this year’s keynote speaker. Having served as CEO of Fifth Third Bank of Central Indiana, and as CEO of Integra Bank Corporation in Evansville, Mike has rich experiences in financial services. In addition, Mr. Alley is chairman and owner of Patriot Investments, LLC, a company he founded in 2002. Mike holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from the Scott College of Business. Mike will speak about "Alternative Investments Allocation in a Diversified Portfolio."

This year, we are pleased to welcome back Randy Minas to the SMIF Consortium Conference. Mr. Minas is Senior Vice President and Financial Advisor at City Securities Corporation. Randy has been in financial services for over 37 years. He graduated cum laude from Indiana State University in 1975 with a degree in management and a minor in accounting. Through their generosity, Randy and his wife, Nancy, funded the Randall and Nancy Minas Financial Trading Lab at the Scott College of Business.

It is our pleasure to also welcome John Hart, Director of Trading Products at TD Ameritrade. John is responsible for the continued development and innovation of the thinkorswim and Trade Architect trading platforms as well as the mobile trading applications. He gained years of professional trading experience from the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) and later as a proprietary trader. John joined thinkorswim in 2007, where he introduced and developed foreign currency trading as the Director of Foreign Currency Trading.

We are also pleased to welcome Buff Dormeier to our distinguished list of presenters. Buff advises affluent individual and institutional clientele on strategies to help meet or exceed their specific investment objectives in what are often uncertain market conditions. Buff is featured in "Technical Analysis and Behavior Finance in Fund Management" – a European book comprised of interviews with 21 successful investment professionals. Buff is also a published author through one of the world’s top publishers, Wharton Pearson. Buff is a double major graduate of Indiana State University.

We hope that you enjoy the conference and look forward to your active participation.

Welcome

A session from the SMIFC 2014 Conference