Nittany Lion Fund Announces 2007 Management Team

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (February 13, 2007) – The Nittany Lion Fund LLC, a $4.7 million student-managed investment portfolio at Penn State's Smeal College of Business, has appointed its new executive board and management team for 2007.

Each year, the new leadership is appointed by the previous executive board in consultation with J. Randall Woolridge, Smeal professor of finance and chief executive officer of the Nittany Lion Fund.

Every student appointed to a leadership position was previously involved with the Penn State Investment Association (PSIA) or the Nittany Lion Fund as a general analyst for at least one year. Because the appointments run January to January, seniors may not be appointed to a leadership position and generally only students in their junior year may serve on the executive board, which consists of the president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer.

Morgan Samet, a junior Schreyer Honors Scholar majoring in finance, takes over as president for 2007 from John Beberus, a senior finance student. Samet has been an active member of the PSIA throughout her college career, previously serving as the organization's lead analyst for the utilities sector.

The new vice president of the fund is John Borys, a Smeal junior majoring in finance. Borys previously served as lead analyst for the health care sector, as well as a member of the materials sector and the portfolio analysis group.

Rounding out the executive board are Matthew Simonetti and Alex High as secretary and treasurer, respectively. Simonetti, a Schreyer junior with a double major in economics and finance, has been involved with the PSIA since his freshman year, serving in 2006 as lead analyst for the information technology sector. High, a junior studying finance, has also been involved with PSIA since he was a freshman, most recently as lead analyst for the industrials sector.

The remaining 23 members of the management team include three directors—of portfolio analysis, equity research, and compliance—as well as a lead analyst and an associate analyst for each of the 10 different sectors.

Unlike most of the nearly 200 other student-managed investment funds around the country, the Nittany Lion Fund did not come from a university endowment. Rather, 69 individual investors have each placed at least $25,000—and as much as $250,000—under the control of the student fund managers.

Members of the Penn State Investment Association manage every aspect of the fund, including equity research, stock selection, asset allocation, portfolio management, trading, compliance, and investor relations.

Since its inception in January 2005, the portfolio has garnered approximately an 18 percent return.

For more on the Nittany Lion Fund, visit www.smeal.psu.edu/fund.