Students here invest in stocks

By Gerald S. McDougall

The Oct. 1 Southeast Missourian contained a very interesting article ("Students play the market with colleges' money) that highlighted a student-managed investment portfolio at the University of Dayton.

Such real-life learning activities are not limited to students enrolled on large university campuses or to programs located in urban areas. Undergraduate business students at Southeast Missouri State University have had this same type of opportunity to learn firsthand about the risks and rewards connected with equity markets since 1988.

The student portfolio with the Harrison College of Business is somewhat smaller ($40,000) than the one described in the Southeast Missourian. Nonetheless, it has some very special characteristics that allow students to learn the same practical matters related to industry analysis, risk and return trade-offs and strategies for preserving and growing wealth.

Earnings generated by the students' investment decisions are reinvested in the finance program at the Harrison College of Business to ensure the program remains current and relevant to contemporary financial theory and practice.

Through a related endowment established in 1990 by the late Margaret Woods Allen of Sikeston, Mo., a number of the students managing the student portfolio each year have the opportunity to travel to Chicago to learn more about futures markets and observe the Chicago Board of Trade in action.

Students also travel to Wall Street to learn more about equity markets and observe operations of the New York Stock Exchange.

These first-hand experiences (investing real dollars and observing floor action in futures and equity markets) provide students with tangible insights into how financial markets are connected to global events and the pressures that must be dealt with when you have fiduciary responsibility for other people's wealth.

I am pleased that the Harrison College of Business is able to bring the practice of finance and investing into the classroom to enrich student learning and ensure that graduates of the Harrison College of Business are prepared to meet the challenges of a global, diverse and very competitive business environment that relies upon the efficient operation of capital markets.

Gerald S. McDougall is the dean of the Donald L. Harrison College of Business at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.