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MONTICELLO — When Kevin Stevenson met Scott Saffold through the University of Arkansas Foundation, where they both serve on the board, Stevenson was looking for a university to help start an investment club for college students.
Saffold, executive vice president and senior lending officer at Union Bank & Trust in Monticello, saw an opportunity to collaborate and approached Stevenson about his alma mater, the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM). Told.
During his visit to UAM, Stevenson personally donated $11,000 to help fund the club. This club is located within his UAM Business School, but is open to all students on campus. “Regardless of their major, all students should learn about investing. Joining an investment club is a fun and effective way to do so,” Stevenson explains. “Especially after he visited the UAM campus last fall and met the wonderful students, faculty, and staff, he knew he had to join the UAM Investment Club.”
Mr. Stevenson’s personal gift will fund club activities, conference materials, online resources for researching investment opportunities, and potential field trips and conference attendance. But he’s not just giving financial support to the project. He also attended the club’s first meeting on November 9, 2023, where he shared his expertise on investment strategies and introduced finance majors to job opportunities outside of banking.
Mr. Stevenson is an expert on this subject, as he currently serves as president of Walton Investment Team LLC and is co-chief investment officer of the Walton Foundation.
Dr. Shana Knowles, faculty co-advisor for the UAM Investment Club, explains the importance of students having access to guest speakers like Stevenson: They manage such a large amount of money. ”
Dr. Knowles and faculty co-advisor Becky Phillips took the helm of the club, which had over 20 students join within the first few weeks.
“We want to encourage all UAM students, not just business majors, to join the UAM Investment Club and learn personal investing skills. “This is important knowledge,” says Dr. Knowles.
The club meets twice a month and hears from guest speakers with expertise in various areas of finance.
Ms. Phillips thanked Mr. Saffold for providing this opportunity for UAM students, saying, He attends conferences to share his expertise and helps arrange guest speakers from the community for future conferences. ”
Saffold has high hopes for the club’s results. “We hope our students learn the importance of starting investing early and how it can benefit them during retirement and other big moments in their lives. We hope that based retirement investing will help them create more retirement savings. We hope this will create wealth that can help with things like a down payment on a home or a child’s education. We hope to develop a broader knowledge of career opportunities in the industry,” Saffold said.
The club regrouped after the winter break and held its second meeting on January 25, 2024. Guest speaker Marcia Masters, Associate Director of Economics Arkansas, helped kick off the club’s first competition by announcing that her employer, Economics Arkansas, was paying for her participation. From January 2024 until April he will have his UAM team participate in the Stock Market Games, a nationwide investment competition held over 13 weeks. A team of 3 to 4 students pretends that he has $100,000 to invest in the simulated stock market. They must learn about different types of investments and evaluate risks with the goal of winning the most money by the end of the 13-week game. During the meeting, the master taught the club’s students how to invest and compete using the game’s software.
“Even though the game is only 13 weeks long, we want our students to learn to be long-term investors,” says Masters. “We want our students to learn about investing at a young age because we know it will benefit them and their future.”
UAM will compete against in-state colleges, and Economics Arkansas will offer a $125 cash prize to the winning college team from Arkansas. Jay Jones, a local financial advisor at Edward Jones Investments and former UAM vice president, also sponsors top-performing UAM teams with prizes of $100 per team member.
At the January meeting, Mr. Saffold introduced students to valuable investment resources such as Morningstar, allowing them to examine reports and make decisions about their investments during a stock market game. “For me, the club is an opportunity for students to learn about investing through investment professionals from various levels of the industry speaking to the club, as well as an opportunity to gain hands-on experience by investing $100,000 through stock market games. “I think we have a great opportunity, through the club, to add value to the education they receive at UAM,” Saffold said.
Dr. Peggy Doss, UAM Chancellor, expressed her gratitude to those involved in establishing the club at UAM, stating, “Kevin for his generous donation to fund the UAM Investment Club. I would like to express my gratitude to Stephenson.” Thanks to his support, our students have the opportunity to learn about the important life skill of investing. I would also like to thank Scott Saffold for bringing this opportunity to UAM. This is a shining example of the importance of alumni bringing resources to universities and supporting the next generation of students. ”
For more information about the UAM Investment Club, please contact Becky Phillips at phillips@uamont.edu or (870) 460-1111 or Dr. Shanna Knowles at knowless@uamont.edu or (870) 460-1311.
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