The CFA Society of Orange County (CFAOC), formerly the Orange County Society of Investment Managers, has established the CFA Society of Orange County Foundation (CFAOCF), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public benefit corporation.

The mission of the foundation is to foster, promote and encourage the development of professionalism by the Orange County Investment community; and to heighten public awareness of this professionalism by:

1. Providing educational scholarships for the study of financial investment practice at colleges and universities located in and around Orange County, California; and

2. Supervision of a select group of students of financial investments in the management of all or a portion of the investment portfolio of the corporation.

To fulfill our mission, we have drafted a plan for a student-managed fund that is unique from other such projects around the country. Each year a group of students from the local universities will have to draft a response to the foundation’s RFP and make a presentation to the foundation board on how they propose to manage the foundation’s funds and why they are the most qualified team to do so, an experience unique to our project.

The board will select the best school to manage the fund for one calendar year. The plan calls for the students and their faculty advisor to affirm in writing that they will adhere to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. In addition, the foundation’s board, consisting of a well-balanced team of investment professionals, who are all CFA Institute and society members, will guide the students in their investment decisions. The board is there to ensure that the students manage the fund consistent with the foundation’s investment policy statement, which has a long-term horizon, as opposed to permitting the students to aim for short-term gains.

This is another aspect in which our project is uniquely different from most student-managed funds in the country. Our fund will not be liquidated annually. Instead, each year the new student management team will inherit the portfolio of the previous team. The plan has the necessary controls to reasonably protect the assets of the fund while still giving the students a viable real-life experience in managing a portfolio with a long-term investment horizon. Finally, the foundation will make a 5% payout each year in the form of academic scholarships to Orange County students studying investments at Orange County Universities.

This is an exciting opportunity for OCSIM members to get involved and increase the awareness of OCSIM and AIMR at the college level. For more information, please contact Krista S. Zipfel, CFA.

For Orange County Colleges/Universities desiring an RFP and to participate in the program or just seeking more information, please contact Peter Ammermann, Ph.D.