{"id":57923,"date":"2024-04-01T07:54:04","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T11:54:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=57923"},"modified":"2024-04-03T11:54:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T15:54:15","slug":"eight-isnt-enough-for-utc-smile-fund-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2024\/04\/eight-isnt-enough-for-utc-smile-fund-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight isn\u2019t enough for UTC SMILE Fund team"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The UTC SMILE Fund team, from left: Ryan Rinker, Ava Kelton, Blade Kisler and Trent “TJ” Lowe. Photo by Dr. Hunter Holzhauer.<\/p><\/div>\n

For the eighth consecutive year, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga SMILE Fund team was victorious in the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute Greater Tennessee Research Challenge.<\/p>\n

And not surprisingly, the success has continued.<\/p>\n

The SMILE Fund (Student Managed Investment Learning Experience) team, comprised of Gary W. Rollins College of Business seniors Blade Kisler and Ava Kelton and sophomores Trent “TJ” Lowe and Ryan Rinker, recently beat out student groups from 10 other universities to advance to the Southeastern sub-regionals.<\/p>\n

After another round of competition, the UTC student group was selected late last week as the sub-regional champion for the second consecutive year and the third time in four years.<\/p>\n

The regional semifinals will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, April 2, at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an impressive group, and I\u2019ve been very proud of their preparation and performance,\u201d said Dr. Hunter Holzhauer, a Robert L. Maclellan and UC Foundation associate professor of finance and director of the SMILE Fund. \u201cI\u2019m very proud of this team; they\u2019re making the most of their situation. If we get the right questions in the next round, I don\u2019t see any reason why we couldn\u2019t advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think their presentation is probably the best we\u2019ve put together thus far.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual worldwide equity research competition that provides hands-on mentoring and intense training in financial analysis and professional ethics. University teams examine a company\u2019s financial health, record their results in a formal research report and present their conclusions to a panel of judges. Unlike the UTC all-undergrad squad, most university teams are typically made up of graduate students.<\/p>\n

Kelton is the chief analyst for the SMILE Fund\u2019s consumer team. Kisler is vice president of analyst development and chief analyst for the tech team. Lowe is the tech team\u2019s chief analyst and the new macro analysis vice president. Rinker is the chief analyst for the financials team and vice president of analyst development.<\/p>\n

Along with Holzahuer, the group is mentored by industry expert Ray Ryan.<\/p>\n

Holzhauer said the company the SMILE Fund and other regional teams were selected to analyze this spring is Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBRL). Cracker Barrel, the American chain restaurant and retail store, is headquartered in Lebanon, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always get a company based out of Tennessee in the local round,\u201d Holzhauer said, \u201cbut when you move on, you\u2019re going to compete with teams that don\u2019t have that same company. So it\u2019s always interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s regional semifinals will quickly be followed by the regional finals on Thursday. The CFA Institute Research Challenge finals will take place on May 16 in Warsaw, Poland.<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s SMILE Fund team advanced to the Americas region finals. More than 6,400 students from 90 countries and nearly 1,300 university teams were competing when the 2023 version of the yearly CFA Institute Research Challenge began, and UTC\u2019s group was one of the final 16 teams.<\/p>\n

2024 CFA Institute Research Challenge Sub-Regional Champions<\/h4>\n

AMERICAS<\/strong><\/span>
\nAtlantic Islands and Latin America<\/strong><\/p>\n