Spartan RE Fund
History
The Silicon Valley Fund name is short for Silicon Valley Aggressive Growth Fund, launched in the Spring 2017 semester as part of San Jose State University’s Lucas College of Business. The Fund began its journey with the funding and support of Dr.Nancie Fimbel and the Center for Banking and Financial Services (CBFS). The Fund utilizes fundamental analysis to evaluate investment companies that are part of the Spartan Bay Area Index. The Spartan Bay Area Index is custom-built and made up of Bay Area companies that are also part of the Russell 2000 Index. The student-managed investment fund provides students with hands-on learning experience through the built-in Learning and Development Committee. With an initial $30,000 provided by our sponsors, undergraduate students are assigned and responsible for evaluating companies that are part of the Spartan Bay Area Index.
Moreover, the Fund primarily uses 12 Bloomberg terminals that the school generously provides for equity research and individual certifications. Internally, the Fund comprises equity research analysts, portfolio managers, board members, and the board of donors. With voting rights among certain student board members such as the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Investment Officer, and Chief Development Officer, companies are evaluated through industry reviews, presentations, and ongoing equity research.
Our Mission
We believe that having the opportunity to manage real money is an exceptional and unique valuation learning experience. In that respect, the fund will be managed on a continuous basis throughout the semester and academic years by a selective and bright group of students.
We believe that the market is weak-form efficient so that through mostly fundamental analysis we can pick stocks that reveal superior market values. We strive to beat the MSCI US REIT Index by creating a portfolio of stocks with superior value. The focus will be both on valuation as well as in portfolio management.
The objective of the fund is to learn how to evaluate real estate investment trusts (REITs),
mortgage-backed securities (MBS), real estate closed-end funds (CEFs), real estate exchange traded Funds (ETFs), and California real estate/infrastructure municipal bonds through market, industry, credit, and fundamental analysis.