The Torch Funds
A Portfolio Management Opportunity for First Year MBA Students
Haslam and LaPorte Torch Funds
Due to the generosity of Jim Haslam, Pilot Travel Centers (Knoxville,TN) and Mr. and Mrs. Christopher LaPorte, Coastal Securities (Houston, TX), UT's 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 hours of academic credit for their one-year tenure as a manager. The three hours in Finance 599 count as a finance elective and are 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 suitable to the managers and the faculty advisor. The Torch Fund meets in the new Investment Learning Center in the Haslam Business Building
The 2008-2009 Haslam and LaPorte Torch Fund managers completed their one-year tenure as portfolio managers on September 30, 2009. The fund managers for both teams will present their performance results to Mr. Jim Haslam on Monday, November 2, 2009, from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 in the Investment Learning Center (Room 237) in the new Haslam Business Building on the UT campus.
View the profiles of the 2008-09 LaPorte Torch Fund managers here, and the 2009-10 LaPorte Manager profiles can be found here.
The 2008-09 Haslam Torch Fund managers are on this page and the 2009-10 managers can be found here.
View most recent quarterly fund reports here.
Larry Martin of Martin and Company, and Jim Haslam, sponsor for the Haslam Torch Fund, at the final presentations of the 2008-09 Torch Fund managers on November 2 , 2009.
Torch Fund managers present their cases in the Investment Learning Center in the Haslam Business Building.
Contact:
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 Stockley Management Center, at 865-974-8396, or to dgunthor@utk.edu.