The Redlands Student Investment Fund (RSIF) is a non-profit, student-run organization that, within the context of specified guidelines provided by the University of Redlands (see attachment 1), manages equity and fixed income investments, and models a cooperative corporate structure for the educational benefit of its members and the University.

Objectives

RSIF aims to meet the following educational objectives:

Familiarize club members with the stock market and the valuation of securities
Provide the opportunity to work in a diverse team that mirrors a professionally run Mutual fund
Earn a return for the University
Provide opportunities for members to interact with professionals in the investment field

Benefits

RSIF is an organization that benefits students, alumni and the University of Redlands.

Students will benefit by gaining experience in leadership, stock market analysis, investment strategy, teamwork, and presentation skills.
Alumni will benefit by having an opportunity to interact with and directly contribute to, the educational experience of current students.
The college itself will gain because RSIF will provide an additional extracurricular opportunity at Redlands and will potentially attract prospective students. Redlands will also benefit from a student body that is more informed in the areas of business and investing.

Membership

Criteria

RSIF membership is open to all University of Redlands students.
New members are welcome at any point throughout the academic year to attend meetings, and they are encouraged to participate in the same manner as Analysts.
However, new members will not have voting privileges until they meet all the requirements to become an Analyst.
Consistent attendance is not mandatory to be a member of the Fund, but is expected if he/she has future aspirations to become an Analyst.

Voting Privileges

Attaining voting privileges:

Attend a minimum of 4 out of 6 consecutive meetings within the semester,
Present an investment opportunity to the Fund, and
Be voted into the Fund by a 70% vote of Analysts.

Maintaining voting privileges (failure to do so will result in probation, and loss of voting rights):

Present at least one potential investment to the club per semester, and
May not miss more than 3 scheduled general meetings as well as Analysts meetings.

Executive Board

These members shall attend all general meetings in addition to the meetings of the Executive Board (i.e. Analysts meetings, or meetings with the Board of Trustees Investment Committee). More than two absences by a board member in a semester will result in a review of the member’s status as an elected official. There are two levels of The Faculty Advisor will serve to break ties among Officer votes. Officer and Chair positions are all apart of the Executive Board. Chair positions report to their respective Officer positions.

President

Focuses on the overall management of the fund

Ensures communication between all Officers (holds officer meetings)
Attends any meetings between Officers and Chairs, and knows what each position is planning
Ensures other Officers are completing their jobs
Supports other Officers in completing their jobs
Plans and runs meetings
Any other tasks to ensure the continuation and growth of the Fund

Vice President

Focuses on supporting the President

Ensures the President is completing his/her job
Ensures there is open communication between all officers
Supports the President in completing his/her job
Attends any meetings between Officers and Chairs, and knows what each position is planning
Helps the President plan and run meetings

Chief Investment Officer (CIO)

Focuses on the Fund’s investment portfolio

Ensures the Treasurer’s Report is accurate
Develops the Fund’s investment strategy, each year
Communicates to the President when the Fund is not following, or in-line, with its investment strategy
Maintains a quantitative assessment of the Fund’s portfolio risk
Once per semester, reports on the performance of the Fund’s investments with the Treasurer Chair and Compliance Chair

Treasurer Chair

Focuses on tracking the Fund’s investments and expenses

Creates the monthly Treasurer’s Report
Ensures Treasurer’s Report is reviewed by the CIO
Reports on the performance of the Fund’s investments with the CIO and Compliance Chair, once per semester
Maintains a Balance Sheet for the Fund, tracking Cash and Expenses

Funding Chair

Focuses on acquiring funding for the Fund

Communicates with other Officers and gathers how much money they will need for their events, each semester
Fills out the funding request from COAB each year
Plans and organizes at least one fundraising event, per semester
Helps Fund members get reimbursed after their events

Micro Lending Chair

Focuses on managing the Fund’s Micro Lending investments

Communicates with other Officers about managing the Fund’s micro lending funds
Pitches what to invest in, and ensures the Fund is always fully allocated
Shares micro lending performance at least once per semester

Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Focuses on Fund membership

Sends out weekly email to all Fund members
Communicate with Chairs to ensure responsibilities are completed

Publicity Chair

Focuses on advertising the Fund to the UoR student body

Plans and organizes tabling for the Involvement Fair
Sets up and takes down the A-Frame outside the Commons
Ensures the poster in Duke is up-to-date
Runs social media accounts
Plans pitches to freshmen classes

Bonding Events Chair

Focuses on creating a community

Plans and organizes at least one bonding meeting, per semester
Plans and organizes at least one bonding event outside of the normal Fund meeting time, per semester
Focus on new members and communicates with the CMO and President if the content discussed at meetings is or is not beginner friendly

Events Chair

Focus on events and speakers

Bring speakers to meetings and campus at large
Organize trips to offices and conferences
Maintains list of alumni and relevant information

Sector/Industry Analysts:

-an entry level position in the Fund; all executive board members have already/actively assume this position by default
-requires attendance of at least 3 meetings before can present a company as a potential investment to the Fund to become an Analyst
-acquires voting rights on prospective companies
-is in charge of a specific industry/sector and is expected to come to every meeting with news/info on that industry/sector
-requires consistent attendance or voting rights and Analyst title may be revoked (typically minimum of 80% attendance or better)
-expectations of all Analysts to dress in business casual attire at every open forum meeting; optional dress code at Analyst meetings
-expected to attend both open forum and Analyst meetings each week
-must present on a company either by self or with another Analyst/aspiring Analyst each semester in order to retain Analyst title
-actively contributes to discussion and has potential to give educational segments when appropriate

Board of Advisors:

Faculty Advisor

At least one faculty advisor will be associated with the club and will be contacted whenever consulting services are required.
They will attend at least two general meetings per semester and perform a comprehensive review with the executive board each academic year. This review shall take place in October.
The faculty advisor(s) will ask for, and review, monthly statements and reconciliations that will be provided by the fund managers.

Other Advisors

Can be Redlands alumni, faculty, or other affiliated persons
Will be available to answer any appropriate questions or offer assistance on a consulting basis.
Past Presidents will all be members of the advisory board.

Election Guidelines

All officers will be elected for a term of one year.
All officers are eligible for re-election each year.
Only members who have served as an Analyst for at least one semester.
Elections shall take place at the end of each year (Prior to finals week of second semester) and roles will transition before the end of the second semester.
Only Analysts are allowed to vote during Officer elections.

Redlands Student Investment Fund Capital Structure

Investment Fundraising

Funds to be invested come in the form of private donations, donations from the University’s Board of Trustees and allocations from the Redlands endowment.

Fundraising for events discussed in Organizational Guidelines.

Dividends

The Fund is required to give back 4% of our total assets to the University’s endowment at the end of each academic year.

Fees

The RSIF will collect a 1% fee of our total assets at the end of each academic year to be retained in our student account with CAB (Club Advisory Board)

These funds are to be used for field trips, fundraisers, events, gas reimbursements, and other activities deemed appropriate or in the best interest of our education and success as students and financial analysts.

Micro-finance (Kiva) Funds

Funding is raised in association with the Community Service Learning office. Tony Mueller is the best contact for this. Approximately $2,000 will be available per semester to be split up evenly among students in the 2-credit Kiva CSAC class.

Scholarships

(Leave blank until further discussions)

Fund Composition and Compliance

No more than 20% of the securities in the Fund will come from any one sector, unless there is unanimous support for the investment strategy.

No additional investment can occur until the sector is less than 20%.

No more than 15% of total Fund value will be invested into a single security.

A portion of the security whose value eclipses the 15% threshold for the portfolio’s value will be sold to meet the guidelines of the Fund.

At the beginning of each academic year, Analysts will vote on the fund composition guidelines, which will be amended into the new constitution for that current year.
Once the Fund is fully invested and there exists no available free cash, a proposal to buy a given security must be accompanied with a proposal to sell another security.

The decision must include reassuring evidence and reasoning for why the new investment will outperform the current holding.

Transaction Guidelines

*Quorum for all voting related matters within the fund dictates that at least 75% of all voting Analysts be present during the vote. Voting members may vote by proxy, if and only if, prior to the vote they have officially emailed their decisions to the President and Vice President of the fund.

Buying

When an Analyst finds a potential stock, he/she will notify the President and COO in order to be included in the agenda for the next meeting. At the general meeting, Analysts present their proposed stocks to the club. A 2/3 majority vote of present voting members (only when a Quorum of 75% of current Analysts are present) passes the motion to purchase a stock with cash, or along with the proceeds from the proposal to sell another position. If the ‘buy’ proposal is rejected, fund managers may keep the stock on their watch list. Every completed transaction will be reported to all members by the President or CFO.

Selling

The fund managers are responsible for deciding when a stock should be sold (although, suggestions from any club member are always considered). Their first action is to attempt to confer with the Analyst associated with the stock. Before any positions can be sold, there must be a presentation made at a general meeting. The fund managers may sell a stock following a 2/3 majority of vote of voting Analysts when a Quorum of voting members is present.

Automatic Triggers

Whenever the value of a stock rises or falls by a sustained 20% or more in a two-week period, there will be an automatic review of that stock. Pending such a trigger, the fund managers are responsible for notifying the executive board of the activity of the stock, the recommended action to be taken, and the reasoning behind the recommended action. Supported by a majority of the Board, the fund managers will be required to enact the preferred response voted up on. If any transaction is made, the president must announce such a transaction at the next meeting. The default action in these cases will be to hold the stock in question.

Summer Logistics

Over the summer, the new President and active Analysts will meet through a video conference to continue discussions over investment ideas as they arise, as well as a review of relevant news affecting current holdings. Additionally, prior to dismissal for summer, the Fund’s list of positions will be divided up, and each Analyst will be given a stocks to follow closely throughout the summer. If any Analyst feels actions must be taken regarding current positions, they must call for a meeting via teleconferencing of Analysts to vote on a decision. If enough Analysts to make a quorum cannot be reached for the meeting over the summer, and there has been sufficient notice of the meeting, a majority vote of the present Analysts will pass.

Organizational Guidelines

Meetings

General meetings consisting of all club members will be held every week in addition to an informational meeting at the beginning of each semester. Each general meeting will consist of a report given by the Fund managers on the performance of the fund, presentations by any Analysts with potential stocks (no more than 3 per meeting, preference given to those who are put on the agenda the earliest), miscellaneous business, relevant news any scheduled educational segments, and any guest speakers. Presentations from any other officers will be included when needed. Analyst meeting will take place once a week to discuss any business, and prepare for the upcoming general meeting. Executive board meetings will be held twice a month (or as often as the president deems necessary).

Event Fundraising

Funds for events can be requested from the Club and Organization Advisory Board (COAB) every semester, and taken from our Fees.

Amendments

Any Board member may propose amendments to the president, who will then present them to Board members. A majority vote of the Board enacts the amendment. The president has veto power, however, this may be overridden by unanimous approval from the Board.

Updated & Ratified on 10/3/17