Student team succeeds in Tennessee Valley Authority Investment Challenge

MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State University’s student team recently participated in the Tennessee Valley Authority Investment Challenge, and was one of 15 university teams which beat the S&P 500 Total Return Index for calendar year 2023. 

TVA’s Investment Challenge Program (ICP) is one of the largest student investment programs in the nation. ICP is one of TVA’s partnership initiatives, teaching university students to actively manage stock portfolios under the guidance of faculty members and within investment guidelines established and monitored by TVA staff.

This year’s Murray State team consisted of four students:

Addie White, graduate student from Russellville, Kentucky

Thiago Kapps Kronemberg, graduate student from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Matthew Delaune, senior from Gilbertsville, Kentucky

Dustin Mercer, senior from Charlotte, North Carolina

The students managed a $500,000 equity portfolio and earned an annual return of 29.48 percent, outperforming the S&P 500 by 3.19 percent. The program is the focus of a portfolio management course offered at Murray State University. Dr. Michael D’Antuono is the instructor for the course and the faculty adviser for the TVA Investment Challenge portfolio.

Murray State has been involved with the TVA Investment Challenge since the inception of the program in 1998. To date, Murray State students have earned performance awards exceeding $135,000. Those funds are invested with the MSU Foundation and are used to benefit programs in the Economics and Finance department.  

For more information about the Investment Challenge Program, visit tvainvestmentchallenge.com.