NEW ALBANY, IN, (March 13, 2013) – Indiana University Southeast and the Horseshoe Foundation of Southern Indiana were named the co-winners of the Partnership Spirit Award from One Southern Indiana.
The Axiom Financial Strategies of Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC Partnership Spirit Award was presented at the One Southern Indiana’s 25th annual Business Awards dinner on March 12.
The University collaborated with Horseshoe Foundation in 2011 for The Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County Student Investment Fund, a project designed to provide real-world learning experience in investment portfolio management.
“It was an honor to be selected for the prestigious recognition of One Southern Indiana’s Partnership Spirit award,” said Jerry Finn, Executive Director of the Horseshoe Foundation of Floyd County. “Working with IU Southeast to establish this Student Investment Fund, the first, and still only, of its kind in Greater Louisville has been a great partnership.”
The fund was established with the IU Southeast School of Business with a $100,000 gift from the Foundation. School of Business students actively manage the fund by designing long-term investment strategies, recommending trades, and providing performance reports to the Foundation.
“Local investment professionals have shown strong support for the fund by sharing their knowledge, experience and advice with the student portfolio managers,” said finance lecturer Elizabeth Reisz, instructor of the Portfolio Management class that manages the fund. “Students’ research and recommendations show their appreciation for the responsibility of managing the Foundation’s funds.”
The fund works in conjunction with the Sanders Financial Markets Lab, established in 2010 to create a center of learning in Southern Indiana and the Greater Louisville Metropolitan Region. The lab, the first of its kind in the area, is a state-of-the-art lab that prepares students for the transition from classroom to Wall Street.
“The experience provided by The Horseshoe Foundation and IU Southeast cannot be underestimated from a student’s perspective,” said IU Southeast graduate business student Wesley J. Simpson. “Industry research, financial analysis, and asset allocation with real money provides an environment that successfully bridges the gap from class room theory to real world application. Managing real money creates a sense of responsibility and stewardship for the student that cannot be replicated with hypothetical funds.”