PANTHER INVESTMENT FUND

WHAT IS THE PANTHER INVESTMENT FUND?

The Panther Investment Fund (PIF) was established in 2018 to offer students a unique opportunity to manage real money and to develop investment skills as financial analysts and portfolio managers. It combines traditional academic objectives with the practical demands of hands on investment management.

The PIF is an active brokerage account held by the PVAM Foundation that is managed by PVAMU finance students in the College of Business.

“My vision is that one day, we will have a million dollars or much more in this fund, our graduates from this program will be in high demand on Wall Street, and the funds will annually generate thousands of dollars in revenues for student scholarships. I am very grateful to President Simmons for making the initial gift which made this possible, and to the Prairie View A&M Foundation for approving to host these funds.”

- Dean Munir Quddus

LEADERSHIP

The students run the Panther Investment Fund under the guidance of the PVAMU College of Business, Department of Finance Faculty and the Fund Advisory Board. Together, they teach students how to make well-informed equity investment decisions through fundamental analysis.

OUR GOAL

The investment goal of the fund is to prioritize capital appreciation and growth. As the fund grows, the distributions of the fund will be used to support the College of Business and its students through scholarships.

The goal for our students is to learn:

• the investment process through security analysis and portfolio management
• the fundamental skills to derive sound investment decisions such as: asset allocation, portfolio construction, performance evaluation and risk management
• how to utilize information platforms and research technology (ex: Bloomberg)
• how to develop oral and written communication skills through writing investment proposals and presenting them to the Fund Advisory Board.
  

INVESTMENT PROCESS

Throughout each semester, a team of selected students (security analysts) will manage the fund. Based on the economic and market outlooks, the team will first make decisions on asset allocations. Then each analyst will be in charge of a specific sector to analyze that sector and firms in the sector to propose investment decisions. Investment proposals are then presented to the Fund Advisory Board and the board must unanimously approve the investment decisions for them to be transferred to the portfolio. A designated trader (faculty member) will implement the transactions.

*Fund Advisory Board: Composed of a faculty member, head student analyst and an industry advisor.

YOUR COMMITMENT

You can support the PIF by donating directly to the fund. Donors to the PIF are changing the lives of our students – preparing them for the real world once they graduate from Prairie View A&M University. This purely philanthropic gift signifies an ongoing and reoccurring commitment, by you, to support our investment program at the highest level. With this commitment you are providing our students with an indispensable, tangible experience that is crucial to their success. Your contributions to the fund are 100% tax deductible.