Alumni Named to Educational Investment Fund Board

Seven Illinois State University College of Business alumni were recently named to the Educational Investment Fund Board of Directors.  They are part of a 15-member group of alumni investment professionals that serve as mentors for a student-managed investment portfolio within the Department of Finance, Insurance and Law.

The newest members of the Educational Investment Fund Board of Directors are:

Donald D. Duncan, Downers Grove, a certified financial planner and certified public accountant with D3 Financial Counselors LLC in Downers Grove; Michael P. Heneghan, Chicago, senior analyst at Driehaus Capital Management LLC in Chicago; Michael H. Lansden, New Berlin, first vice president for investments at Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. in Jacksonville; Jaime Peters, Bloomington, senior equity analyst at Morningstar, Inc. in Chicago; Adam Polacek, Wilmette, director of client portfolio management at TIAA-CREF Asset Management in Chicago; Dominick Russo, Chicago, resin trader with The Plastics Exchange in Chicago; and Michael Valencia, senior equity analyst at Third River Capital Management in Chicago.

The student-managed investment portfolio is the on-going project in the Educational Investment Fund class, taught by Professor Thomas Howe.  The fund was set up through the Illinois State University Foundation nearly three decades ago as an opportunity for finance majors to gain hands-on experience in market research and investment management.  Throughout the semester, alumni advisory board members mentor the class on the workings of financial markets and professional standards. The advisory board members do not make specific investment recommendations, leaving the final judgment up to the students. Students make their investment decisions at the end of each semester and pass the fund into the hands of the next class.