{"id":30799,"date":"2022-04-16T06:06:25","date_gmt":"2022-04-16T06:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/?p=30799"},"modified":"2022-04-16T06:06:25","modified_gmt":"2022-04-16T06:06:25","slug":"student-run-investment-fund-performs-well-in-uncertain-market-awards-scholarships-local-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjstudents.com\/index.php\/2022\/04\/16\/student-run-investment-fund-performs-well-in-uncertain-market-awards-scholarships-local-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Student-run investment fund performs well in uncertain market; awards scholarships | Local News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rising inflation, a lingering pandemic and a war with impacts rippling across the globe.<\/p>\n

These frightening scenarios have sent financial experts into a frenzy on the stock market.<\/p>\n

Joining them were around two dozen Citrus High School students managing the Manatee Investment Fund, which weathered the storm on Wall Street thanks to lessons learned from the Nature Coast Investment Practicum (NCIP) Program taught at the Inverness campus.<\/p>\n

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Get more from the Citrus County Chronicle<\/p>\n<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On Thursday, April 7, at The Depot in Inverness, this school year\u2019s aspiring financiers presented their respective investments to a banquet of family, friends and teachers honoring their successful returns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting opportunity for me as a teacher,\u201d Citrus High\u2019s NCIP instructor and business teacher Terri Cooke told attendees of the event. \u201cI think after you hear them, you will realize how truly blessed I am to spend an hour a day with these students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edward Jones Investments, the Citrus County School District and the Citrus County Education Foundation (CCEF) partnered to launch the Manatee Investment Fund to house the monies invested by students, with approval.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is our third year, and it continues to be a huge success; these students prove to us how bright our future is,\u201d CCEF board president and local Suncoast Credit Union branch manager David White said at the event, \u201c\u2026and I continue to be amazed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investment returns and private donations have grown the fund, which went from a little more than $25,000 in 2019\/20 to $120,811 as of March 21, 2022.<\/p>\n

While 2022\u2019s rate of return so far for the Manatee Investment Fund was at -0.90 percent, the performance was still better than the -4.65 percent benchmark of the Large U.S. Cap Equities, according to the fund\u2019s latest annual report.<\/p>\n

Scott Lee, a financial advisor with the Edward Jones office in Inverness who taught a portion of the NCIP course alongside Cooke, said the students remained positive with their investment choices despite impacts from increasing prices and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe kids have done a really good job,\u201d he said April 7. \u201cWe want them to have an education about how the world works. … Sometimes, you have things happen in the world that impact your investments, negatively or positively.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the goal of the Manatee Investment Fund to either provide at least $500 or 3 percent of the fund balance (whichever\u2019s greater) in scholarships to participating students by December\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

To learn more about the Manatee Investment Fund and how to contribute toward it, visit citrus education.org\/programs<\/a> or call Edward Jones at 352-860-2839.<\/p>\n

When it first started, the investment fund paid for two $500 scholarships to award to participating Citrus High students.<\/p>\n

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This year, the fund was able to pay for five $1,250 scholarships, awarded each to senior McKinley Franklin, junior Keirston Perkins, junior Bastion Sprouse, junior Darla Edwards and junior Laci Hindalong, according to the CCEF.<\/p>\n

Before they could think about investing, the NCIP students had to learn the basics of budgeting, account balancing, banking and economic theory.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order for them to understand what Mr. Lee teaches,\u201d Cooke said, \u201cthey need to understand some fundamentals of accounting, and we also try to provide them with some real-world knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Afterward, Lee introduces the pupils to more complex subjects and financial institutions, like how a country\u2019s gross domestic product, or GDP, is measured against another country\u2019s; and why\/how the Federal Reserve sets interest rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thought process for this program started about five, six years ago, and focuses on a lot of programs you see in college,\u201d he said, \u201c\u2026to teach students about economics, finance, how the world fits together; and it\u2019s not all about stocks and bonds.\u201d<\/p>\n

With guidance from the Manatee Fund Advisory Council, NCIP students were divided into groups to research, analyze, report on and invest across 10 different industry sectors of the stock market, like health care, communications, energy, technology and utilities for instance.<\/p>\n

Lee said diversifying the investments was one of the key rules students had to follow to help them avoid losses, making sure no more than 5 percent of their fund invested in any one stock.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t put all your money in one basket,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to limit the exposure; bad things can happen to good companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooke and Lee also taught their apprentices tips in the art of public speaking, preparing them for presentations to the advisory council on why their investments are sound.<\/p>\n

Students could also only pursue stocks that were \u201cBuy Rated\u201d by Edward Jones.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to set the students up for success so we limit them to certain stocks they can buy,\u201d Lee said. \u201cWe force you to stay with best companies out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the latest NCIP class took over the Manatee Investment Fund Sept. 1, according to its annual report, the portfolio was worth $107,856 before the students started purchasing investments Oct. 13.<\/p>\n

Expenses from investments and scholarships totaled $13,120 during 2022, leaving the fund with a balance of $97,246 in February before a $20,000 donation bolstered it in March.<\/p>\n

Perkins told attendees of the April 7 NCIP banquet the course taught her how to evaluate the performance of the stock market \u201cafter the first couple weeks,\u201d and inspired her to pursue career in either finance or accounting.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing in this class has provided me with many new opportunities,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I first entered Ms. Cooke\u2019s class on the first day of school, I had no idea what the stock market was or how it worked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout this course,\u201d added Hindalong, who\u2019d like to get a degree in criminology and biology to become a crime scene investigator, \u201cI learned how to manage and maintain my finances properly and efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sprouse said the NCIP program helped move his own \u201crags-to-riches story\u201d forward by teaching him how to make his money work for him after he obtains a business degree in college.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my future,\u201d he said, \u201cI want to make more money than everybody I know combined.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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