It is during the graduation ceremony each year that I realize just how quickly time passes.  For the students in the AIM Class of 2011 it seems like only yesterday that I was meeting with them as sophomores to talk about the AIM program - and yesterday they graduated from Marquette University. It is equally amazing to think that the Class of 2011 will be sixth group of students to graduate from the AIM program - since it seems like only yesterday that it was created.

By all measures this has been another successful year. The students in the AIM Class of 2011 had meaningful internship experiences and all of them will be starting their entry level career positions this summer.  Also, many of them are busy preparing to take the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Level I exam in June - and I know they will do well.

The students in the Class of 2011 inherited three investment funds: the small cap domestic equity; international equity; and fixed income portfolios. Given the challenging economic environment – and faced with massive international political events and natural disasters - these students were able to generate impressive positive 'alpha' in all three funds they managed. The students encountered unique challenges as the financial markets continued to rebound from the Great Recession. They maintained their composure during the year and managed the AIM Funds as true professionals. I could not be prouder of this group! 

All of the students that have passed through the AIM program since the fall semester of 2005 have actively managed portfolios of equity and fixed income securities. They have been responsible for essentially all aspects of managing the portfolios, which includes establishing the process for screening and evaluating potential stocks and fixed income securities; preparing and presenting recommendations to the AIM Fund Advisory Board; and implementing portfolio trading strategies. The AIM students in the Class of 2011 were held accountable for organizing and managing three ‘real’ portfolios of Marquette University endowment funds with a market value of nearly $2 million - and they did an outstanding job.

Special thanks again go out to Marquette University’s Office of Treasury Services for allowing the AIM program to manage a portion of the endowment. Sean Gissal, Chief Investment Officer, has been highly supportive of our efforts and provided valuable guidance during the year. The support of our alumni and the professional investment community has also been outstanding. Many individuals have shared their time and knowledge with our students in the classroom and during our AIM ‘road shows.’

As always, it has been a rewarding year for me working with the students in the AIM program. In addition to being intellectually curious and hard working, the Class of 2011 was deeply committed to the responsibilities associated with administering the three student-managed funds. Despite the ongoing uncertainty of the global investment climate, we are confident that the AIM Funds will continue to provide invaluable opportunities for learning as students in future classes apply their hand to managing a portion of Marquette’s endowment funds.

 Congratulations to the students who graduated at Marquette's Commencement on Sunday, May 22, 2011. We wish not only to recognize the achievements of our graduates but also to acknowledge parents, spouses and others for their cooperation and support.

Twenty-one AIM students participated in the commencement ceremony on Sunday. Dr. David Krause, AIM program director, said, “This was a highly talented group of students who worked hard right up until the end of the semester. While some of these students received significant honors and awards,   all of them are special to me. They worked exceedingly hard during the past two years since they were admitted to the AIM program.”

The following table contains information about the 21 AIM students in the Class of 2011. 

  The AIM Fund Annual Investment Report

Since the inception of the Applied Investment Management program in 2005, each group of students in the six graduating AIM classes has produced an annual investment report. The primary purpose of the AIM Annual Investment Report is to communicate the investment goals, policies, and performance of each fund managed by the AIM students during their tenure. Although the advancement of the students’ education is paramount, the student-managers of the three AIM Funds presented in the annual report seek to produce performance that exceeds those of their respective benchmarks – without incurring excessive investment risk. In other words, they run the funds with the same resolve and commitment as professional investment managers.

The three AIM student-managed funds operate under the guidance of an investment policy statement (IPS), which each student is required to read and acknowledge that they will conduct operations in accordance with the IPS. The primary purpose of the AIM Investment Policy Statement is to safeguard the invested funds of the Marquette University endowment. In support of that purpose, the guidelines contained within the IPS also aim to assist the student-managers in maintaining proper levels of investment liquidity, realizing a reasonable rate of return on investment activities, and properly diversifying investments. To do so, the guidelines in the IPS govern all investment activities and the monitoring, maintaining, accounting, reporting and internal controls for investment activities.

The annual report contains an overview of the policies, guidelines, and operational issues specific to the AIM funds. The report is then divided into three distinct sections addressing the performance and holdings in each of the AIM funds. The students in the Class of 2011 have been learning this semester about portfolio performance reporting and have applied this knowledge to the discussion regarding the fiscal year and since-inception investment results. Performance reporting tools, such as attribution analysis, are utilized to evaluate the major contributors and detractors of overall portfolio performance. It is also a requirement that each student write about their assigned sector and the individual holdings within that sector.

The annual report for the AIM Class of 2011 is posted on the AIM website (along with all of the previous AIM program annual reports) at:  http://business.marquette.edu/centers-and-programs/aim-annual-reports. We encourage you to view the report – as it represents considerable work and the culmination of three semesters in the AIM program.

While the seniors in the AIM program were putting their annual report together, the juniors in the AIM Class of 2012 were busy completing their first set of equity presentations. The table below shows the juniors in the AIM program and the stocks they researched and pitched in April and May.

Dr. Krause said, “The students in the AIM Class of 2012 did a nice job overall with their first set of stock analyses and write-ups. And while many of the students were somewhat nervous presenting their pitches in front of investment professionals, alumni, and faculty, I thought they did an excellent job. I believe this group will uphold the high quality of the previous AIM classes and look forward to seeing them at the end of their summer – following their internships. I hope everyone has a good summer.”