About

Our Story

The story of our Student Investment Fund dates back to 1993, when an opportunity was identified to provide Smith School students with real-world investment experience.

The Robert H. Smith School of Business Foundation made an initial $250,000 contribution to establish the first initiative, the Mayer Portfolio, with a focus on second-year MBA students. The results have been very successful. Through generous donations and the savvy investments of our students, the Student Investment Fund grew to $12,000,000 – it now embraces additional portfolios and, from growing student profits, has made more than $3,000,000 in grants directly to the Business School.

Leadership of the Smith School of Business identified the need to provide similar opportunities to the undergraduate, Part-time MBA, and Master of Finance students. Thus the Senbet Portfolio (2006) and the Global Equity Portfolio (2009) were created and funded.

What Our Students Gain

While similar funds can be found at other business schools, what makes the Smith School program unique is its success and the wide latitude for decisions that the students have been given. From accredited in-class coaching under the watchful eye of highly qualified instructors, student team members develop a deep understanding of the financial markets while managing real assets within the volatile and constantly changing global marketplace. They learn which strategies to replicate, as well as which strategies to avoid, by reviewing the results of decisions they previously made and from team-built, dynamic computer model simulations of future what-if possibilities.

The career benefits are also enormous: students develop knowledge and skills that enhance their attractiveness to hiring companies. In addition, students are offered unique networking opportunities and gain industry contacts to take with them throughout their careers. In-person visits with professionals in financial market firms and market trading places add to the many other attributes of the student experiences.

Students Fearlessly Lead Our Portfolios

Much emphasis is placed on the fact that the Smith School students are given responsibility for decision-making about the investment of large sums of real money. Students are chosen through rigorous application and interview processes. Students are expected to possess analytical skills, communication skills, leadership qualities, work ethic, and an expressed desire to be strong ambassadors for the Robert H. Smith School of Business and the University of Maryland.

“I found the Mayer Fund program to be a pivotal part of my MBA experience at Smith. The deep focus on business fundamentals, macroeconomics, and valuation techniques has been something that I’ve relied on over and over again in my career in Investment Banking and Corporate Finance.”

Johannes Thorsteinsson

SVP of Finance and Treasurer, T-Mobile - Smith School MBA ‘07

Mayer Portfolio

The Mayer Portfolio for full-time MBA students consists of two portfolio managers and ten or more investment analysts.

While participating in a year-round second-year course, the student management team is charged with meeting the Portfolio’s long-term performance goal of achieving capital appreciation outpacing the S&P 500 index on a risk-adjusted basis.

Specific tasks include forecasting global economic trends, assessing risk, conducting industry studies, evaluating competing firms, preparing fundamental company analysis, pitching investment ideas, tracking performance, and executing all back-office functions.

Senbet Portfolio

The Senbet Portfolio for undergraduate students includes two portfolio managers and ten or more investment analysts.

Modeled on the Mayer Portfolio, students who work with the Senbet Portfolio participate in a year-round, advanced course with the long-term performance goal of outpacing the S&P 500 index on a risk-adjusted basis. Students develop skills and knowledge, including portfolio management, security screening, valuation analysis, and trading strategies. Corporate recruiters highly covet such skills.

Global Equity Portfolio

The Global Equity Portfolio is managed by twenty or more students in the school’s Flex MBA, Master of Finance, and Master of Quantitative Finance programs.

In a Smith School course that meets once per week for an entire year, students gain unparalleled financial knowledge and skills, including asset management exposure, quantitative portfolio management experience, and financial modeling skills. This Portfolio invests primarily in stocks of companies outside the United States. The fund’s goal is to outperform the MSCI All Country ex-US Index.

Board of Directors

Robert H. Smith School of Business Foundation, Inc. 2023-2024

John M. Boyle

Chairman

  • Managing Director, Greenbelt Associates LLC
  • Formerly, Senior Banker, J. P. Morgan Private Bank
  • Series 7, 63, and 79 licenses
  • RHS School of Business, BS, Finance, ’76 (Men’s Basketball, ’72 – ’76)
  • The Columbia University Graduate School, MBA, Finance and Accounting, ‘80
  • BOD Catholic Charities of Orange, Sullivan & Ulster Counties, NY
  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’94 -, Donor, Chairman ‘21 –

Charles Olson

Treasurer

  • Emeritus Professor of the Practice, RHS School of Business, ’04 – ‘22
  • Retired CEO, Olson Associates, Inc. ’76 – ’04 (Public Utilities consultant for rate setting)
  • Formerly, Associate Professor of Business Economics, The University of Maryland, Dept. of Business Admin. ’69 – ‘76
  • University of Wisconsin at Madison, MBA, ’68, PhD, Finance and Economics ‘70
  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ‘04, Major Donor, Treasurer ‘19 –

Jo Anne Weimer

Secretary

  • President & CEO Luce Creek Associates, ’98 –
  • Formerly, Assistant Dean, External Relations, RHS School of Business, ’85 – ‘97
  • Initiated the Mayer Portfolio ‘93
  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’99 -, Donor, Secretary, ‘06 –

M.Christine Baker

Assistant Secretary/Assistant Treasurer

  • Retired
  • Formerly, Assistant Dean for Finance and Administration, Robert H Smith School of Business, ’98-’12
  • Formerly, Olson Research Associates, ’79-’96, Chief Operating Officer, ’90-’96
  • Holds CPA Certification, Maryland ’78 (President, Maryland Association of CPAs ’98-’99)
  • The University of Maryland, Accounting, ’77
  • The University of Baltimore, MS, Finance, ’85
  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’23

Ron Dalal

  • Partner, Declaration Partners, Washington, DC office, ’18 – current

  • Formerly, JBG Washington, DC, ’16 – ‘18

  • Formerly, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, (UAE) Investment Manager for America Real Estate, ’11 – ‘15

  • Formerly, Goldman Sachs IMD/IBD, Philadelphia and New York, ’07 – ‘11

  • RHS School of Business, BS Finance and Biology, ‘07

  • Senbet Portfolio ‘07 (Inaugural year)

  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’22 –

Dennis M. Gurtz

  • Semi-Retired, Co-Founder, Brostrom & Berlin Wealth Management (financial planners), ’82 – current

  • Formerly, Securities and Exchange Commission, Director of Office of Internal Audit, ’72 – ‘82

  • CFA and CFP Certifications, CPA Certificate, Maryland ‘69

  • The University of Maryland, BS, Accounting ’68, MBA, Finance ‘72      

  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ‘17 -, Chairman ’19 – ‘21

Scott Samels

  • McCormick and Company ’00 – current, Finance Global Delivery Lead ’22 – current

  • Formerly, KPMG, ‘92 – ‘95

  • Formerly, PHH Corporation, ‘95 – ‘00

  • Currently Advisory Board Member, University of Maryland Smith School’s Center for Global Business since ‘20

  • CPA Certification, Maryland ‘93 (inactive)

  • The University of Maryland, BS, Accounting ‘92

  • Loyola University, MBA, Finance, ‘99

Johannes Thorsteinsson

  • SVP Finance and Treasurer, T-Mobile, ‘20 – current

  • Formerly, Managing Director, Deutsche Bank Telecom, Media & Technology Investment Banking Group, ‘07 – ‘20

  • University of Iceland, BS, Computer Engineering, ‘03

  • The University of Maryland Clark School of Engineering, MS, ‘05

  • RHS School of Business, MBA, ‘07

  • Mayer Portfolio ‘07

  • BOD Nova (Nova.IC) ‘23

  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’22 –

Ryan Turner

  • Managing Director and member of BOD, Fundamental Global®, ‘20 – current

  • Formerly, Ballantyne Strong (various positions, group of companies), ’12 – ‘19

  • Formerly, T. Rowe Price, Associate Analyst, ’06 – ‘12

  • CFA Certificate ‘14

  • University of Arizona – Eller College of Management BS, Finance & Accounting ‘02

  • RHS School of Business, MBA ‘14

  • Mayer Portfolio ‘14

  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’22 –

Lane Wiggers

  • Managing Director, Operating Partner, Argosy Private Equity, ‘15 – current

  • Formerly, Founder and/or Officer, several Investment firms, ’02 – ‘15

  • Formerly, Wells Fargo, Associate VP, Investment Banking – Aerospace & Defense ’99 – ‘02

  • Clemson University BS, Mechanical Engineering ‘94

  • Lamone Scholar, Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship ’99,

  • RHS School of Business MBA, ‘99

  • Mayer Portfolio ‘99

  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’22 –

Sherwood Zhang

  • Responsible Officer/Portfolio ’19 -, Matthews Global Investors (HK) Ltd, ’11 – current

  • Formerly, Passport Capital, Analyst, ’07 – ‘10

  • CFA Certificate

  • Graduate Assistant, Financial Markets Lab, RHS School of Business, ’05 – ‘07

  • RHS School of Business, MBA, ‘07

  • Mayer Portfolio ‘07

  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’22, Donor

B. Gary Dando

Emeritus

  • Retired, Ernst & Young ’64 – ’01, Partner ’76 – ‘01

  • Formerly, Board of Directors, public companies, ’03 – ‘14

  • CPA Certificates, Maryland ’66, DC ’07, Ohio’77, California ‘91

  • The University of Maryland, BS, Accounting, ’64,

  • Distinguished Alumnus, RHS School of Business, ‘00

  • BOD University System of Maryland Foundation, ’99 – ’23, Treasurer, ’09 – ’23, Emeritus, ‘23

  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’99, President ’99 – ‘19, Emeritus, 22

Ron Olson

Emeritus

  • Retired CEO, Olson Research Associates, Inc., ’69 – ’99 (Computer models and bank risk management)

  • Formerly, Associate Professor of Accounting, The University of Maryland, Dept. of Business Admin. ’64 – 69

  • Formerly, Financial Accounting Standards Board, Task Force on Financial Instruments, ’88 – ‘02

  • Shippensburg State College, BS Business Education, ‘60

  • CPA Certificate, Indiana ‘62

  • Indiana University, MBA, ’62, DBA Accounting and Finance, ’64

  • BOD RHS School of Business Foundation, ’73 -, President, ’73 – ‘99, Donor, Emeritus, ‘06