A Tale of Two Funds

About 15 investors gather around the table to summarize the week's markets, predict what will happen in the coming days and trade ideas about where to shift their assets.

But this isn't a Monday morning meeting of Fidelity fund managers; it's Sunday night in Lamont Library, and members of the Cambridge World Fund, an undergraduate-run mutual fund, are debating their next step down Wall street.

The World Fund is one of two student-run mutual funds at Harvard, together with the more exclusive Charles River Growth Fund. Like commercial funds, both let members pool their money and diversify their investments, reducing the burden of risks that individual investors might shy away from.

While the groups don't always perform as well as professional funds, members stress that it's the learning experience, not the bottom line, that motivates them to join.

"We're not looking just to beat indices and make money for our members necessarily," says Alexandra R. Wilkis '99, managing partner of the Charles River Fund. "There is an underlying educational purpose."

Charles River is a "high-risk" mutual fund with 27 undergraduate members who pool their money to invest primarily in foreign and domestic low-cap equities--smaller, startup companies, as opposed to established blue chip giants like General Electric and AT&T.

Since January the fund has posted a negative 28 percent yield, a loss of about $2,000, which Wilkis attributes to tremors this summer that rocked markets around the world. The yield over the life of the fund is 34 percent, however, and the yield since the end of September is 7 percent, she says.

Charles River Fund manages about $5,000 and limits both the number of partners and the amount each can invest. Prospective members apply to join the fund by submitting their resumes and writing an essay on why they should be included. They are evaluated based on past investment experience.

Last year about 30 students applied for 10 spots. According to managing partner Thomas A. Knox '99, the fund "prefers to include people who have a genuine interest in investing and avoid those interested in simply resume building."

On the other hand, the World Fund, with about 70 members, manages about $14,000, mostly in hi-tech stocks like Sun Microsystems and 3COM. Fund managers look to gain in the short-term by finding undervalued high-growth companies. Yield thus far for 1998 is 13 percent or roughly $1,600.

The only requirement for membership is a minimum $100 investment, says Co-Chair Charles W. "Whit" Collier '99.

Explaining the open policy, World fund Co-Chair Saadi Soudavar '00 says, "the more money we have, the more people we have generating ideas and thinking about the market, the more savvy our fund."

In both funds, members meet weekly to make investment decisions. Members of the Charles River Fund invest and vote equally, while in the Cambridge World Fund, voting power is proportional to a member's share in the fund.

The year has been a rough one for both funds, as tumultuous markets both here and abroad have made professional investors sweat. Even the stewards of Harvard's multi-billion endowment are looking to break even this year after devastating losses at home and abroad.

Soudavar credits an increase in membership with allowing the Cambridge World Fund to make better investments. He was cautious in evaluating how the fund will finish the year, however.

"We're in a very volatile market these days," he says.

Mark G. Heiman '00, who says he plans to withdraw his money from the Charles River Fund, says the recent losses can be attributed to a case of "too many chiefs and not enough Indians."

"There were lots of positive ideas, but impossible to act on all of them," he says.

To provide some comparison, the S&P 500 Index, a commonly used benchmark of stock performance, has increased by 18 percent since the beginning of the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has increased by 10 percent.

Wilkis encourages students of all interests, not just future investment bankers, to join student-run funds.

"Harvard students have a lot of knowledge, which should lead to market knowledge," she says.

A Romance Studies concentrator, she says shehas been interested in investing for a long time,having grown up in an investment-conscious family,with ticker-tape strewn around the house andBloomberg financial reports playing on TV.

While Wilkis will start a job with MerrillLynch next fall, not everyone is looking to investas a career, however, which "lend[s] a diversityto the group that is valuable in picking stocks,"she says.

Neiladri Sinhababu '01, a philosophyconcentrator and member of the World fund, joinedthe fund after his dad told him to "learnsomething practical."

"I want to be able to ward off starvation if acareer in philosophy doesn't work out," Sinhababusays.

The groups have no official ties to the campusthrough other student organizations or the Dean ofStudents' Office, which will not recognizefor-profit student organizations. They havesimilar origins, started several years ago bystudents who went into business.

Three members of the class of 1996 started theCharles River Fund in 1995. Wilkis says their goalwas to introduce students to the challenges andrewards of personal investing, not explicitlymoney making. All three founders later joinedMorgan Stanley, where one, Andrew Earls '96,remains as an associate.

The established network of fund alumni givesmembers a distinct advantage in the recruitingprocess, Wilkis says.

"Nearly every person I interviewed with knewabout the fund or had been part of it," she says.

The Cambridge World Fund is newer, startedabout three years ago with roughly 20 members. Ithas tripled in size over the last year.

Present members say the funds fill a gap leftby Harvard's liberal-arts education.

Soudavar, who took two years off to work for aninvestment bank, says he became interested inrunning the fund because there is a void on campusfor those interested in the practice, not just thestudy, of investing.

"[The Harvard Investment Association] does agreat job bringing in speakers. We try to applyour knowledge," he says.

Past member of both funds and current GoldmanSachs associate Kris Thiessen '98 says, "The fundsare the only place on campus where you can sitdown with a bunch of other students and say 'doesthis stock make sense for this price!"

"Harvard is too much about theory and notenough about practice," Soudavar says. "Managingthe fund is an opportunity to learn aboutaccounting, market psychology, and valuation. Theweekly meetings recreate scenes like the morningmeetings one might witness in the equitiesdivision of an investment bank."  --Saadi Soudavar '0

A Romance Studies concentrator, she says shehas been interested in investing for a long time,having grown up in an investment-conscious family,with ticker-tape strewn around the house andBloomberg financial reports playing on TV.

While Wilkis will start a job with MerrillLynch next fall, not everyone is looking to investas a career, however, which "lend[s] a diversityto the group that is valuable in picking stocks,"she says.

Neiladri Sinhababu '01, a philosophyconcentrator and member of the World fund, joinedthe fund after his dad told him to "learnsomething practical."

"I want to be able to ward off starvation if acareer in philosophy doesn't work out," Sinhababusays.

The groups have no official ties to the campusthrough other student organizations or the Dean ofStudents' Office, which will not recognizefor-profit student organizations. They havesimilar origins, started several years ago bystudents who went into business.

Three members of the class of 1996 started theCharles River Fund in 1995. Wilkis says their goalwas to introduce students to the challenges andrewards of personal investing, not explicitlymoney making. All three founders later joinedMorgan Stanley, where one, Andrew Earls '96,remains as an associate.

The established network of fund alumni givesmembers a distinct advantage in the recruitingprocess, Wilkis says.

"Nearly every person I interviewed with knewabout the fund or had been part of it," she says.

The Cambridge World Fund is newer, startedabout three years ago with roughly 20 members. Ithas tripled in size over the last year.

Present members say the funds fill a gap leftby Harvard's liberal-arts education.

Soudavar, who took two years off to work for aninvestment bank, says he became interested inrunning the fund because there is a void on campusfor those interested in the practice, not just thestudy, of investing.

"[The Harvard Investment Association] does agreat job bringing in speakers. We try to applyour knowledge," he says.

Past member of both funds and current GoldmanSachs associate Kris Thiessen '98 says, "The fundsare the only place on campus where you can sitdown with a bunch of other students and say 'doesthis stock make sense for this price!"

"Harvard is too much about theory and notenough about practice," Soudavar says. "Managingthe fund is an opportunity to learn aboutaccounting, market psychology, and valuation. Theweekly meetings recreate scenes like the morningmeetings one might witness in the equitiesdivision of an investment bank."  --Saadi Soudavar '0