🔵🟡 Day of Giving: Help Fund WVU SMIF’s NYC Finance Trips
Your support keeps this life-changing experience alive!
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Support WVU SMIF on Day of Giving – Help Us Keep the NYC Finance Trips Alive!
Each year, West Virginia University’s Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) provides an unparalleled experiential learning opportunity for students interested in finance, investments, and capital markets. Since 2017, SMIF students have managed a real $650,000+ investment portfolio, gaining hands-on experience that sets them apart in the job market.
Through SMIF, students don’t just learn about markets in a classroom—they make real investment decisions, present their analysis to an advisory board of professionals, and gain Bloomberg Market Concepts certification. But one of the most valuable aspects of the program is something that can’t be taught in a classroom: real-world networking and exposure to the finance industry.
The Impact of SMIF’s NYC Finance Trips
Each semester, SMIF students take a three-day trip to New York City to visit some of the world’s most influential financial institutions and connect with WVU alumni working in finance. These visits provide insights into careers in investment banking, asset management, private equity, and wealth management—fields where many of our alumni now work.
Over the years, SMIF students have visited firms including:
🏦 J.P. Morgan
📈 Ares Management
💰 Blackstone
📊 BNY Mellon
🏛️ Bank of America
📉 UBS, Cantor Fitzgerald, RBC Capital Markets, Bloomberg, GTS, the New York Stock Exchange, and more
These experiences are transformative. They give students a firsthand look at the fast-paced world of high finance, help them build relationships with alumni, and often lead to internships and full-time job offers at top-tier firms.
The Challenge: Funding These Life-Changing Trips
While these trips are invaluable, they are also expensive—costing approximately $25,000 per trip, or $50,000 per year. Without external support, continuing to provide this opportunity for future students becomes increasingly difficult.
That’s why we need your help.
How You Can Support SMIF on Day of Giving
Today, during WVU’s annual Day of Giving, we are asking alumni, friends of the program, and finance professionals to help fund these trips.
✅ Make a one-time or recurring donation – Just $50 per year (about $4/month) from enough alumni can fully fund our NYC finance trips.
✅ Alumni: Donate between 8:00-9:00 PM EST – WVU is running a special Young Alumni Challenge where the program with the most young alumni donors during this hour will receive an extra $3,000 in funding! Donations of any amount count toward this challenge—so even a small gift helps!
🚨How to Donate
To ensure your gift goes directly to SMIF, follow these steps:
1️⃣ Go to the donation page: WVU SMIF Day of Giving
2️⃣ Select “Chambers College of Business & Economics” under Department or Program
3️⃣ Choose “Other” under Fund Designation
4️⃣ Enter Fund Number: 2U187 (Student Managed Investment Fund)
This ensures that your donation directly supports SMIF and the NYC trips.
Why Give?
If you are a SMIF alum, you understand the impact of this program firsthand. Many of you landed top finance jobs thanks to the knowledge, skills, and connections gained in SMIF. This is your chance to pay it forward and make sure future students have the same opportunity.
Even if you’re not a SMIF alum but believe in educational opportunities that create career pathways, this is an incredible way to make a direct impact on students’ futures.
🚨Every dollar helps. Every donor counts. And tonight, between 8:00-9:00 PM EST, every donation from a young alum (2014-2024) can help us unlock an extra $3,000 for SMIF.
Let’s rally together and keep this program strong for future generations of WVU finance professionals.
Make your gift today: WVU SMIF Day of Giving
