The Robins School of Business’ reputation is consistently increasing and contributes to the University’s high national ranks in publications like U.S. News & World Report. The school’s finance department oversees the Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), and for the first time in UR history, women make up a quarter of the group — a big step in what is traditionally a male-dominated field.

“The systematic underrepresentation of women in finance has deprived this sector of an important source of talent,” said Robins Dean Mickey Quiñones. “It is widely known that diverse perspectives improve the quality of decisions made by teams such as those in our SMIF program.” 

The fund was designed to give students real-time experience in portfolio management with oversight from faculty advisors. The managers are split into a growth fund and a value fund, oversee a small portion of the University’s endowment, and invest at their own discretion. Female representation within the fund is at its highest since 1993, the year the Board of Trustees created the program.

While the number of women working in financial industries such as banking is increasing, C-suite leadership positions are still dominated by men, according to a 2018 McKinsey report. A 2020 study by management consulting firm Oliver Wyman found that women account for 26% of executive roles in finance.

“Finance concentrations average 20-25% female,” said finance professor and the fund’s advisor John Earl. “Given the composition of the business school and the University as a whole, those numbers are good, but not great. Most of the women are in accounting and marketing. Economics is increasing, but finance numbers are steady.”

Seeing female professors and students in visible leadership roles can inspire others to pursue a career in the industry, said senior Lizzie Reedy, who serves as head growth fund manager.  

“I think it is crucial to have a role model who you can look up to and who inspires you to pursue your dreams,” she said. “I think it is essential to have women in SMIF and in the business school in order to provide diversity of thought and to serve as role models forother students.”

Upon graduation, Reedy will join Perella Weinberg Partners as an investment banking analyst. She’ll be the first Spider at the company. Reedy said she wants to provide guidance and encouragement and recruit more women into the industry once she starts her career.

Reedy is joined by seniors Susan Pelczar, Isabel Nonemaker, and Rachel Perry, whose role in SMIF is another first for the University. Perry is the fund’s first environmental, social, and governance manager, and she said the University has given her the tools to explore her passion about the intersection of sustainability and finance. 

“I feel like SMIF and Dr. Earl gave me freedom,” Perry said. “I had no one telling me that I couldn’t do something or shouldn’t do something, which is incredible because I have matured and grown intellectually and professionally over the past year.”

The fund’s managers are selected through a rigorous process, and only those who are junior finance students with a 3.2 GPA or better are able to . 

"The Robins School is proud to play a role in closing the gender gap in finance,” Quiñones said, “by graduating women who are ready to contribute to this important industry.”