(Above) Avery Burleson, Reagan Basso and Briea Dobbs (from left) make a presentation to SSIF on behalf of its industrials sector team. (Middle) SSIF members extensively research and study to invest wisely. (Below) The 2024-25 Saluki Student Investment Fund team. (Photos by Russell Bailey)
January 15, 2025
SIU student organization hits record $4.2M investing for the SIU Foundation
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Not just any college student can brag about making millions, but Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Saluki Student Investment Fund members have proven their expertise as their portfolio hit a record high above the $4 million mark recently.
The students, who invest the vast majority of the money on behalf of the SIU Foundation, were proud to wrap up the most recent calendar year at $4.2 million. The upturn is thanks to the students’ hard work, extensive research and study, and wise investing, said Tim Marlo, finance clinical associate professor and SSIF adviser.
“We’re in the top 5% for earnings for paid money managers,” Marlow said. “Most investors can’t beat the S&P 400 Midcap Index benchmark; it’s especially hard to do in the long term. We’ve had a total return of almost 800% since we started nearly 25 years ago.”
In all, almost 1,000 graduate and undergraduate students have contributed to this remarkable growth since SSIF was established in 2000. During the past fiscal year alone, the SSIF portfolio outperformed the benchmark by more than 500 basis points.
“Overall, SSIF beat the benchmark by 1.35% at the end of the fiscal year,” Marlow said. “Ninety percent of funds perform below the benchmark, but we consistently outperform it. SSIF was created to provide SIU students with hands-on experience in portfolio management and research and continues to do that as it’s modeled after real investment management firms. Many of the SSIF alumni have become extremely successful in the world of business and beyond.”
The impact of the students’ efforts is obvious in numerous ways.
“The incredible work done by the SSIF generates additional support for the SIU Foundation to provide to the university, its students and faculty,” said Matt Kupec, vice chancellor for development and alumni relations and CEO of the SIU Foundation. “It is amazing to witness the impact this program has on students. This type of real-world experience is a tremendous example of what sets SIU apart as a major research university.”
Life-changing experience
Marlo and SSIF members said in addition to the obvious benefits for the SIU Foundation, the paybacks for the students are multiple and myriad.
“This has been one of the best experiences I have had in college,” said Reagan Basso, a Sesser, Illinois, junior with a double major in business analytics and finance, who joined SSIF her freshman year and leads the industrials sector, which is the largest investment area with about 20% of the funds.
“I have learned so much more than I ever could have imagined. I’ve bolstered my soft skills by leading a team, making consistent presentations leveraging the many networking opportunities. Even more importantly, I’ve gotten real-world trading experience that is unique to the SSIF experience. I’ve learned how to use fundamental analysis to evaluate securities, how to run a valuation model, how to be proficient using Bloomberg Terminals and so much more.”
The students say they can’t imagine any other way they could get as much practical experience as they have through their work with SSIF.
“Initially, it’s like drinking from a firehose,” said Jordan Jansco, a nontraditional student and senior from Johnston City, Illinois, who is majoring in finance with an accounting minor after transferring from John A. Logan College. “There was so much information in the beginning. I made it a point to understand one topic every day. By the end of the first semester, I had a solid foundation to build on. I learned a lot of little details that I had been searching for during the last 20 years.”
That experience translates into opportunities outside campus.
“This experience is the No. 1 thing students talk about in interviews,” Marlo said. “SSIF is essentially a remarkable, unpaid internship. Many of our students get great internships as well at companies such as Amazon and Wal-Mart corporate, and about 90% or more of the students are employed at graduation or soon after.”
Marlo said the students do the heavy lifting and the fresh perspective they bring is beneficial.
“Our students are focused on making the best investment decisions possible for their primary client, the SIU Foundation. SSIF’s investment philosophy revolves around capitalizing on investment opportunities through focused fundamental research,” Marlo said. “Our big competitive advantages are our students’ unique, unbiased perspective, their drive and hard work, and their ability to spot market opportunities, particularly ones driven or favored by their generation. SSIF’s goal is to look for the best companies trading at discounts to fair value who will outperform the S&P Total Return Index mid-cap equity benchmark. Students put their classroom lessons to work in a professional environment. They learn to collaborate, research and take responsibility for their analysis and decisions.”
He noted that SSIF diversifies investments in a wide array of companies across the spectrum.
“We look for the superstar companies, the best players, often before they are superstars. And we try to beat the all-stars of the S&P 400 when we do it,” Marlo said. “One of the risk controls we have is that we invest in companies across the spectrum, from communication services to energy, from health care to industrials, real estate and more.”
In the past year, the best performers came from health care and communication services sectors, Marlo said.
“I am proud of the fact that we students consistently beat our benchmark, the S&P 400, which is something that very few professional firms can say they do,” said Basso. “We have a unique way of looking at companies and risk management, which consistently helps us perform better than people being paid to do investments.”
All majors welcome
The organization’s 45 undergraduate and graduate students range from freshmen to doctoral scholars, and although many are business majors, particularly finance or accounting, any student can participate.
“There is a lot of time involved in being part of SSIF, especially once you take on leadership roles,” Basso said. “We manage this money for the SIU Foundation like managers of a real investment firm would, which means we devote a lot of time and energy into staying up to date on all relevant information. We monitor our holdings 365 days of the year.”
She said the group holds general and sector meetings weekly, and on top of that, members research on their own. She also creates lesson plans and runs valuations, racking up 10-25 hours or even more each week. But it has been worth it, she said.
Jansco said his sector team devotes more time to SSIF when preparing for a buy and sale. Students analyze the companies, select one and prepare a “sales pitch” to share with the entire group.
Marlo said the huge investment of time and energy SSIF members put into the organization translates into their record of success. They don’t invest in gigantic companies like the $3.3 trillion Apple. Rather, they are looking for companies valued in the $2-15 billion range.
Often, mid-caps aren’t researched and studied as much as larger companies, he said. By narrowing their work to this segment, the students gain valuable research experience and have incredible opportunities to invest in an up-and-coming operation with the potential to experience great returns.
“A lot of mid-caps are suppliers to bigger companies, so we look at those relationships as well when we do our research,” Marlo said. He said one of SSIF’s most remarkable success stories was investing in TKO Group, a sports entertainment service holding company that recently experienced a shareholder value increase exceeding 80% during the past year.
Jansco said the most difficult aspect of the work for him has been handling the Excel-based valuation models, but he appreciates the varied opportunities SSIF offers to learn new things.
“The overall difficulty is what makes it fun,” Jansco said. “It’s a sandbox where we can constantly hone various skillsets. Consistent improvement is a must. Make mistakes, learn and keep going. This is a game that cannot be mastered in a single lifetime. Just enjoy the ride and learn as much as possible.”
Preparing for future success
Basso and Jansco are confident their involvement with SSIF is positioning them for success and the future they dream of.
“Ever since my first visit to SIU’s College of Business and Analytics, even before I graduated high school, I was very interested in learning how to trade and use the Bloomberg Terminals,” Basso said. She said there was a tough learning curve when she first got involved because she had “absolutely zero experience in anything related to business, let alone finance.”
But, she said, Marlo and the SSIF members “were extremely helpful and with some hard work, I now get to teach other new students, which is an incredible feeling. SSIF has a family atmosphere. It has given me so many wonderful friendships and the opportunity to work with some amazingly intelligent people. It’s a great team atmosphere.”
She believes her SSIF experience will position her well for her future aspirations. Basso recently obtained an internship with NISA Investment Advisors, a St. Louis asset manager with $446 billion in investment-grade fixed income.
“My end goal is to be a CFO or CEO for a nonprofit or hospital organization,” she said. “SSIF will most definitely help me obtain this goal. Although my career plans don’t directly relate to what I have been doing in SSIF, the fund has given me countless opportunities to connect with different companies. I’m also incredibly grateful that I’ve learned so much and am much more confident about my skills.”
Jansco, who serves as chief operating officer and leader of the materials sector, about 8% of SSIF’s investments, said he was introduced to SSIF by Xiaoxin Wang Beardsley, finance program coordinator, director of MBA programs and Hamilton Family faculty fellow in finance.
“When she explained that they use fundamental analysis, the same strategy that Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger use at Berkshire, I knew I needed to be in that room,” Jansco said. “I’ve followed Buffett and Munger since sixth grade. This was an opportunity I couldn’t miss out on.”
Jansco said his career goal is to own several small and medium-size businesses, as inspired by several mentors, including some at SIU, and by Bo Burlingham’s book “Small Giants.”
“Having employees in the past, getting to know them and their families, and providing an excellent workplace have always been very fulfilling,” Jansco said. “The skills acquired in the SSIF will absolutely assist in this journey. I’ll just be doing things on a much smaller scale.”
SSIF members even got to hear Warren Buffet speak when they attended the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, in May. Jansco especially appreciated the SSIF pilgrimage, something that was “on my bucket list. To see Warren Buffet on stage was impressive to say the least. At the lively age of 94, he spoke for the entire five-hour meeting.”
Lasting legacy
SSIF will observe its 25th anniversary in 2025, and a big celebration is planned, including an invite for Omar and Carol Winter, whose initial gift of $25,000 served as the seed money to launch SSIF. The SIU Foundation subsequently added $200,000 for the student organization, housed in the College of Business and Analytics, to manage. As the students grew the original investment, the foundation soon entrusted additional donor funds to their care.
Mark Peterson, finance professor, served as the inaugural SSIF adviser and guided the group for the first decade, when students grew the fund to over $325,000. In April 2011, the foundation increased SSIF’s funding to $1 million under Jason Greene. Beardsley led the group for a short time until Marlo took over in fall 2016.
“The net amount contributed by the foundation to the fund is just under $1 million, and SSIF has turned that into more than $4.2 million,” Marlo said.
The numbers consistently achieved by SSIF are outstanding and an indication of the students’ skill, he said.
“I am unbelievably proud of the students I work alongside and our adviser, Dr. Marlo,” Jansco said. “The people in this fund are truly amazing. I would put our SSIF’s intellectual horsepower against any other student-ed investment fund in the country. I have no doubt this group would come out on top. This SSIF space is a true meritocracy. Show up and work hard, and you will no doubt be successful.”
