Smith School Students Ring Bell to
Open NYSE
College Park, Md. January 19,
2007 A group of Robert H. Smith
School of Business undergraduate and MBA
students had the honor of ringing the
bell to open trading on the New York
Stock Exchange this morning. The
students manage the Smith Schools two
investment funds the
Mayer Fund
and the
Lemma Senbet Fund and are in New
York for an educational trip to meet
with financial professionals.
(Watch video of bell-ringing ceremony)
The 9:30 a.m. bell-ringing ceremony
was televised on CNBC and Bloomberg
Television, as well as broadcast live on
NYSEs Web site,
www.nyse.com. A photo of the
ceremony and additional information can
be found
at the NYSE Web site. Following the
bell-ringing, the students took part in
an educational seminar at the exchange.
The successful MBA-managed Mayer
Fund, a $1.2 million portfolio, beat the
S&P 500 index by 9 percent last year.
The fund was established in 1993 and
each year pays dividends to the Deans
Office to benefit Smith School programs.
Second-year full-time MBA students
comprise the funds management team, two
as portfolio managers and 10 as equity
analysts. In addition, a member is
responsible for technology and marketing
for the fund.
The $50,000 Lemma Senbet Fund,
modeled on the Mayer Fund, is managed by
10 undergraduate finance majors. Named
for an esteemed Smith finance professor
for his contributions to the school, the
Senbet Fund launched this past fall as
one segment of the Undergraduate Fellows
Program. The fellows program is an
initiative Smith introduced last fall to
offer students participation in
small-scale specialized academic
concentrations, or tracks, that
provide hands-on experience and close
interaction with faculty, alumni, peers,
and companies.
Like the Mayer Fund, Senbet Fund
managers goal is to outperform the S&P
500. The undergraduate fund will also
pay a dividend to the Deans Office each
year. The New York Stock Exchange,
operated by NYSE Group Inc., is the
worlds largest and most liquid cash
equities exchange where investors buy
and sell listed companies common stock
and other securities. Ringing the bell
to open or close trading on the exchange
is an honor usually reserved for
representatives of listed companies or
dignitaries.
About the Robert H. Smith School of
Business
The Robert H. Smith School of
Business is an internationally
recognized leader in management
education and research for the digital
economy. One of 13 colleges and schools
at the University of Maryland, College
Park, the Smith School offers
undergraduate, full-time and part-time
MBA, Executive MBA, Executive MS, PhD,
and non-degree executive education
programs, as well as outreach services
to the corporate community. The school
offers its programs in learning
locations on four continents including
North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
