The Torch Funds
FOR 1ST YEAR MBA STUDENTS:
HASLAM AND LAPORTE TORCH FUNDS
Due to the generosity of Jim Haslam, Pilot Oil Corporation (Knoxville) and Mr. and Mrs. Christopher LaPorte, Coastal Securities (Houston), UT MBA students have the opportunity to gain valuable experience managing a portfolio of securities. During the four calendar quarters beginning October 1st and concluding September 30th, students selected to participate will manage the Haslam Torch Fund or the LaPorte Torch Fund. These funds are currently worth between $200,000 (Haslam Fund) and $250,000 (LaPorte Fund). The objective of each fund is to maximize total return to the portfolio.
Torch fund managers are selected each September and those selected receive a total of three (3) hours of academic credit for their one-year tenure as a manager. The three (3) hours in Finance 599 count as a finance elective and awarded at the end of the one-year tenure. Each fund is responsible for four written quarterly reports and oral presentations. The quarterly reports detail the fund’s holdings and performance over a particular quarter and relate that performance to a benchmark. Torch fund managers meet once a week during a time period and day suitable to the managers and the faculty advisor.
View the profiles of the current LaPorte Torch fund managers here, and the Haslam Torch Fund managers here.
View most recent quarterly fund reports here.
Chris LaPorte (center) with Torch Fund managers at a LaPorte Torch Fund meeting in Knoxville on April 19, 2008.
If you have questions or wish to be considered for the position of portfolio manager, please contact the current faculty advisor, Dr. Deborah Murphy, Department of Finance, 433 SMC, 974-8396, dgunthor@utk.edu.