Ashland offers numerous groups and organizations for students to become involved. These include everything from Bible studies to club sports, and some groups even deal with money.

All of these are designed for students to better themselves, and some have the added benefit of providing a head start in certain career fields.

One of the lesser known groups on campus is the Eagle Investment Group (EIG). This is a class where students majoring in business, financing and economics perform real-world stock and portfolio analysis.

EIG started in the year 2000 with a beginning cash balance of $250,000. Since then, they believe that they have been given somewhere between $500,000 and $750,000 from the University to invest.
All of the investment proceeds go directly back into the portfolio. Their portfolio currently sits at $1.68 million.

“Myself, along with the current group of Eagle Investors, began our management of the portfolio in May of 2017. We will hand over management to the next group this coming May,” senior David Grim said. “Some members from the group will carry over. EIG’s current analysts include: Scott Bailey (Technology), Marsalis Hamilton, Brandon Bleile (Basic Materials), Justin Simon (Energy), Andi Daugherty (Industrials), Chris Georgiadis (Utilities), Zach Zatezalo (Consumer), Frank Steffen (Financials) and myself (Healthcare). Jessica Syme serves as the Portfolio Analyst. Professor Terry Rumker is our advisor.”

EIG is an opportunity for students to invest real money, therefore gaining real, applicable investing experience.

Various sectors of the stock market are split between the different analysts within the group. There are generally 8 to 15 members depending on the year. Each analyst then follows their particular sector and presents on stocks or Electronically Traded Funds (ETF) they feel are undervalued in that sector. Their goal is to convince the group why they feel the stock is undervalued and the presentation will end on a vote of whether or not to invest in the stock.

“I did not start out having finance as a major, but when I heard of EIG I immediately wanted to get involved,” Grim said. “I switched my major to finance from nursing during my sophomore year and immediately began doubling up on classes so that I would be eligible for the group. Though there are a lot of prerequisites, EIG is one of the few ways to earn both credits and experience at the same time.”

The main goal of EIG is to educate and prepare the next generation of investors for this forever evolving world, and to give its members real world experience “while still maintaining a controlled environment to facilitate learning,” Associate Dean of the College of Business and Economics, Dr. Raymond Jacobs, said.

“With Ashland’s unique finance program, you can choose to follow either the asset management or corporate finance track,” Jacobs said. “Our business and economics programs are fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs.”
Sophomore Marsalis Hamilton has been involved in the Eagle investment group for almost a year now. He was accepted into the program in the spring of 2017 and then became an active member of the group in the fall.

“What led me to become part of this group was that this is part of my dream of becoming financial advisor. A portfolio manager helps create habits to help me in the near future,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton explained that the EIG makes investments. Investments are trades of stock made in order to boost their endowment, or to gain money. While doing all of that, they are constantly organizing what is going on so that they do not miss anything.

The EIG meets three times a week in class for hour-long meetings to present stock to the group and take care of any other current events that come to their attention. Outside the classroom, they meet roughly three to five hours a week looking at the market and preparing presentations for stocks and market decisions.

“The Eagle Investment Group benefits the students involved by giving them real money to manage and real management to work on, giving us a real experience before we join a firm or organization,” Hamilton said.

Working with a select group of financial advisory firms, the group is also learning about the benefits and shortfalls of investments in alternative investments.

The students gain real world investing experience, access to various investing programs and the opportunities to network with business professionals. Though the investing experience is why students chose to enter the group, through it they also get numerous chances to meet with different companies and professionals.

Grim said the group takes an annual spring trip to New York that is paid for through fundraising. While in New York the group gets the chance to tour various investing firms, talk to those who invest for a living and make connections that would otherwise be nearly impossible.

Sudow noted the university requires the Eagle Investment Group to adhere to the same guidelines as others who manage its financial assets.

“The funds are to be invested with care, skill, prudence and diligence,” Sudow said. “The funds are to be diversified to minimize the risk of loss. We’re also not allowed to invest in any security which derives its primary source of revenue from gambling, tobacco or alcohol.”

The trip is also a chance for the students to gain perspective in a different location with different people.

“We want our students to be able to walk down Wall Street, as well as Main Street, with anyone,” Sudow said. “The New York trip helps them to realize that.”

To get involved or ask questions relating to EIG, please email David Grim at [email protected] or Professor Rumker at [email protected].