Wyoming’s portfolio returns trounce major U.S. indices for period
D.A. Davidson & Co. today announced that a student team from the University of Wyoming has earned a check for $12,784 for completing a year with the top-performing portfolio in the company’s Student Investment Program.
The UW student team developed a portfolio with a 56.1 percent return for the year that ended Aug. 31, earning the team a first-place showing among the 21 college and university teams in the program. For the same one-year period, two key U.S. indices that serve as standard stock market benchmarks, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, had returns of 31.2 percent and 26.8 percent, respectively.
Frank Boley, Senior Vice President, Financial Advisor and Sheridan Assistant Branch Manager for D.A. Davidson, serves as the D.A. Davidson advisor to the UW team along with UW finance lecturer, Philip Trieck.
“This year was highlighted by conviction. The club made the right decision to hold the positions from the previous year as they felt a high level of conviction, and their timing turned out to deliver excellent results in 2021,” Boley said.
For the program, D.A. Davidson provides student teams from senior-level investment courses at 21 Western and Midwestern colleges and universities with $50,000 to invest in the stock market, for a total commitment of $1.05 million annually. Each team makes investment decisions with the guidance of a local D.A. Davidson financial advisor and manages the portfolio for one year, starting Sept. 1. The program is designed to provide hands-on experience in finance, stock research, portfolio management and investment topics.
The top-performing teams receive a check for their college, earning half of any portfolio gains above 5 percent. D.A. Davidson absorbs any losses. For the 2020-2021 program recently ended, D.A. Davidson’s donation totaled $91,771. In the 27 years since D.A. Davidson began sharing program profits, the company has donated $834,125 in profits to participating institutions.
A team from Oregon State University had the second best performing portfolio for the year, with a 47.4 percent return. The Oregon State team was among 19 student teams whose portfolios earned the institutions a check for the recently ended program year.
The Student Investment Program was launched in 1985 at Montana State University in Bozeman and gradually added colleges throughout the West and the Midwest since that time.
About D.A. Davidson Companies
D.A. Davidson Companies is an employee-owned financial services firm offering a range of financial services and advice to individuals, corporations, institutions and municipalities nationwide. Founded in 1935 and headquartered in Montana, with corporate offices in Denver, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle, the company has approximately 1,400 employees and offices in 28 states.
Subsidiaries include: D.A. Davidson & Co., the largest full-service investment firm headquartered in the Northwest, providing wealth management, investment banking, equity and fixed income capital markets services, and advice; Davidson Investment Advisors, a professional asset management firm; D.A. Davidson Trust Company, a trust and wealth management company; and Davidson Fixed Income Management, a registered investment adviser providing fixed income portfolio and advisory services.
For more information, visit dadavidson.com.