New Social Impact Fund at UNC Kenan-Flagler
Students at the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School are going to invest real money using socially responsible principles through a new $250,00o public equity fund managed by both MBAs and undergrads.
UNC Kenan-Flagler has a variety of student-run funds that collectively manage more than $12 million. Each fund has a distinct investment strategy, but the goal for all of them is to achieve superior returns while providing students with a unique educational experience. Students have access to all aspects of the fund management and investment analysis, and those experiences and the skills they develop prepare them for careers in investing.
Working with the Applied Investment Management’s (AIM) Global Perspectives Fund, a $2.5 million hedge fund, a select group of students will manage the new funds using socially responsible investment (SRI) principles.
“This social-impact fund is a wonderful intersection of areas for which UNC Kenan-Flagler has a long track record of excellence: investment management, sustainability and real-life learning,” says Carol Hee, director of the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at UNC Kenan-Flagler, in a recent media statement. “Our students will be able to test their hypotheses about what makes one company better than another using the triple bottom line as the metric.”
“Even students who wouldn’t describe themselves as ‘interested in sustainability’ will benefit from exposure to this new investment strategy,” says Chip Snively, a finance professor at UNC Kenan-Flagler. “After participating in the AIM program, our graduates are well equipped to add value to the organizations that hire them.”
Details on investment policy, fund operational procedures and social impact goals for the fund will be established by students with an expected launch during the 2015-16 academic year.
