Photo – Shown at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s spring conference are (front row, from left) Dr. Mahmoud Haddad, assistant professor of finance; investment team member Connor Williams of Dyer; investment team member Alex Bowker of Rock Island, Illinois; investment team member Maria Hudson of Knoxville; student attendee Kassidy Gresham of Waynesboro; student attendee Kayla Potete of Waynesboro; (back row) investment team member Courtney Pemberton of Flushing, Michigan; investment team member Jake Harrison of Flushing, Michigan; student attendee Archie Scott of Harvest, Alabama; student attendee Aaron Bartholomew of Parsons; and student attendee Oliver Cloyd of Union City.
MARTIN, Tenn. – The UT Martin TVA Investment Challenge students attended TVA’s annual spring conference in Nashville.
While attending the conference, students were able to engage with portfolio management professionals, senior leadership at the Tennessee Valley Authority and peer students from other universities.
The UTM TVA program received an award for its portfolio performance in 2023 at the conference as well, outperforming the portfolio’s S&P 500 benchmark. This award, while presented at the conference, also represents a monetary award that continues to fund investments related to student experiential learning in the College of Business and Global Affairs.
While at the conference, the program’s UTM presentation team of Alex Bowker of Rock Island, Illinois; Jake Harrison of Flushing, Michigan; Maria Hudson of Knoxville; Courtney Pemberton of Flushing, Michigan; and Connor Williams of Dyer presented the portfolio’s 2023 and year-to-date 2024 performance to fellow competitors from other schools and senior TVA leadership.
The students defended their trading decisions, answered questions and discussed opportunities for growth and change with various members of TVA’s leadership team.
The TVA Investment Challenge Program is an experiential learning opportunity at UTM funded by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Students in the program manage a $500,000 large-cap equity fund and are benchmarked against the S&P 500 just like professional money managers.
The portfolio is funded as part of TVA’s retirement trust. UTM has participated in the program since its inception in the early 2000s.
The current student managers are outperforming the S&P 500 year-to-date in 2024.
Dr. Mahmoud Haddad, assistant professor of finance, attended the conference with the students as the program’s senior faculty advisor, and Dr. Brittany Cole, assistant professor of finance, is the program’s junior faculty advisor.
Photo – Shown at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s spring conference are (front row, from left) Dr. Mahmoud Haddad, assistant professor of finance; investment team member Connor Williams of Dyer; investment team member Alex Bowker of Rock Island, Illinois; investment team member Maria Hudson of Knoxville; student attendee Kassidy Gresham of Waynesboro; student attendee Kayla Potete of Waynesboro; (back row) investment team member Courtney Pemberton of Flushing, Michigan; investment team member Jake Harrison of Flushing, Michigan; student attendee Archie Scott of Harvest, Alabama; student attendee Aaron Bartholomew of Parsons; and student attendee Oliver Cloyd of Union City.