Wofford College students make big impact with their managed investment fund

Published: Friday, July 12, 2013 at 10:05 p.m.

Last Modified: Friday, July 12, 2013 at 10:05 p.m.

The fund has nearly doubled in that time, officials said, and, in addition to helping grads earn jobs in finance, is helping to improve lives in impoverished Haiti.

Philip Swicegood, one of two finance professors who oversee the student-managed James Fund, said the fund's growth has allowed the group to begin offering small loans to women and farmers in the Caribbean country.

"We do $100 and $300 loans, but those can be life changers," Swicegood said of the program, which began last year.

To date, the James Fund has issued 80 loans, he said, and has an 80 percent payback.

The loans are helping Haitian women send their children to school and are allowing farmers to expand their crops.

"We just think it's a win-win-win across the board," Swicegood said.

Martin Huff, a 2012 Wofford graduate, traveled to Haiti last summer to help start the micro loan program. Huff, who now works as a bulk acquisitions analyst with Spartan Financial Partners in Spartanburg, helped interview potential borrowers. He called the trip "eye-opening."

"They were the nicest folks," he said. "They were very gracious."

Huff said he and others with the James Fund tried to help the borrowers in more ways than just finances by offering business advice and working to develop business plans. He said the loans, while they might be considered small in the United States, were the equivalent of thousands of dollars in the U.S. economy.

"The program instills a strong work ethic and highlights the importance of providing support to economies in need," Huff said. "This is a fantastic venture that the fund has adopted, and I look forward to seeing its future success."

The James Fund, which was started five years ago with a $100,000 gift from alumnus and trustee Mike James, has grown at an average of more than 13 percent a year, officials said.

Swicegood said the fund has now grown to more than $186,000, enough that students are beginning to set aside a small percentage each year to fund programs like the Haiti micro-loans.

About 20 students help to manage the fund, Swicegood said. The student group includes not just finance students, but biology and other majors.

That breadth of experience brings many different perspectives, Swicegood said, and participation in the James Fund has become even more competitive as it has grown.

Students can serve in one of three roles: managing partner, portfolio manager or research associate.

This year, the fund will be led by Sarah Carter, a finance and mathematics major from Moncks Corner who is in the class of 2014. This summer, Carter is interning with Barclays, and said the James Fund gives students invaluable real-world investing experience.

"We are able to put the things we learn in the classroom to real use," she said. "My experience with the James Fund helped me stand out among other candidates for my current internship. It also has allowed me to develop some of the basic research and presentation skills necessary to pursue a career in finance."

Swicegood said the students have outperformed the S&P 500 and said he expects them to succeed, despite their experience level.

"I always have high expectations," Swicegood said. "The students ? they take it seriously. They work hard."

The Haiti loan program, based at Cap Haitien, Haiti, has benefited 30 female entrepreneurs and 50 peanut farmers, officials said.

The women often use the money to travel to the Dominican Republic, where they buy food to resale in their local markets. The farmers have used the loans to cover their overhead or expand their crops, sometimes doubling their acreage.

All of the farmers have agreed to sell their crops to the non-profit Medical Food for Kids, officials said. That group uses the peanuts to make high-nutrition energy bars that are given to malnourished children in Haiti.

"We feel that it is equally important for students to make money the right way, and to do the right thing with the money they make," Swicegood said. "A Wofford education at its best nurtures not just the intellect, but the heart as well. I love the fact that we have students funding micro-loans in Haiti just weeks before launching their careers on Wall Street. Experiences like this enrich our graduates with healthy priorities, and it gives them a creative vision for how they can do well and do good."

Swicegood said the James Fund operates under the premise of finding good value investments with moderate risk.

He said the key was teaching students about long term wealth creation.

"It's the Warren Buffett approach," Swicegood said. "We're not thinking quick trades. We're thinking much larger."

"It's a great way to develop students' skill sets by putting theory into practice," Swicegood said. "Our students put in a lot of hard work and analysis, and those efforts have paid off with a phenomenal performance record for the fund."

Source: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20130712/articles/130719854

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