Student Investment Fund continues to grow under new leadership

Oklahoma Christian University’s student-led investment fund has grown to more than $300,000 and is under new leadership this semester with Steven Yerkes as the program director.

The Student Investment Fund is a three-semester class where finance students manage several thousand dollars of real money in investments.

Original program leader Bill Goad passed oversight of the fund to visiting professor Steven Yerkes in the Fall 2025 Semester.

“The Student Investment Fund is a really unique program where the finance students get to be hands-on with a few hundred thousand dollars and actually making investment decisions,” Yerkes said. “I took it over. Dr. Bill Goad had set this up and been running it for years with a lot of success.”

The fund is almost entirely student-led, with Yerkes primarily filling the role of facilitator.

“They’re the ones that lead the class,” Yerkes said. “They’re the ones that present to the board. It’s really a student-led ordeal. There’s a president, a vice president, a compliance officer, and a secretary. They effectively run the entire class each week.”

Money in the fund comes from donors. Having students manage it gives them practical experience with investing.

“It’s donor money that we manage,” Yerkes said. “They are growing it just like a professional money manager would. The money needs to be managed, but by letting students do it, it gives them real world experience in the world of investment management. It’s one thing to read about investment management in a book. It’s a totally different thing to say you want to buy something with hundreds of thousands in real money that affects people.”

Yerkes said he finds the student-led format of the fund rewarding.

“The biggest reward has been being able to see them completely own the entire thing,” Steven Yerkes. “I may ask a question during class time, but, other than that, it’s not me leading. Seeing the officers lead, the students interact, and for them to drive this on their own. It’s really awesome. Dr. Goad created a great framework for how this operates.”

Luke Habermacher, the current president of the Student Investment Fund, explained the process of selecting stocks:

“At the beginning of the semester,” Habermacher said, “we do a sector analysis. We go over the 11 sectors in the market and we split everyone into groups. We have two people per team. Everyone has around nine holdings in three to four sectors depending on how many we have in there. They go over the stock, present it in class, and we will send out a vote at the end of the day.”

In spring 2025, the market took a hit, resulting in losses for the Student Investment Fund.

“Last semester, Trump and his administration put a lot of tariffs on foreign countries,” Habermacher said. “In April, we had a pretty significant decline because everybody was panicking. Trying to navigate that from April till now, seeing the resurgence and seeing how every foreign country is adapting to what Trump did — that was a pretty big change.”

The fund has since recovered.

Habermacher said he is grateful for the Student Investment Fund and the real world experience it provides.

“It’s definitely a blessing,” Habermacher said. “I’m very grateful for the opportunity, and I think everyone in the Student Investment Fund is really grateful for it because I don’t think most schools have that kind of program. It’s definitely very cool to have that kind of experience for students to grow and learn how actual money works.”

Seeing the benefits of organized teamwork first hand has been Habermacher’s biggest takeaway.

“My biggest takeaway is learning that I don’t have to do everything,” Habermacher said. “Having other students help me and working as a unit. I like that. There’s not one person who’s making all the decisions.”

Habermacher said he appreciates the pre-existing structure of the Student Investment Fund:

“I really like how the fund was structured when I came in,” Habermacher said. “I think all the past presidents and professors have had really good organization over it. I just love it how it is right now.”

Steven Yerkes will continue to oversee the program going forward.