Impact of Student-managed Investment Fund Participation on Financial Knowledge, Financial Satisfaction and Financial Behavior

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental study was to examine the effect of student-managed investment fund participation on financial knowledge, financial satisfaction, and the occurrence of best practice financial behaviors. Student-managed investment funds are experiential learning opportunities where student-led investing occurs in an academic setting. Households in the United States headed by millennials age 25-34 are exhibiting declines in retirement plan participation, financial knowledge, best practice financial behaviors and household net worth. The specific business problem addressed is the lack of financial knowledge necessary to make best practice financial behavior decisions at an early age. Participants for the study consisted of three groups of alumni who graduated between 2007 and 2016 from a selected Tennessee university: finance majors within the College of Business, College of Business students who participated in a student-managed investment fund, and all other College of Business students. An online survey was distributed to 301 College of Business graduates and 131 complete responses were received (N=131). The two methods used for statistical analysis for this study were one-away ANOVA and an analysis of two independent group means. The findings provided statistical support for the impact of student-managed investment fund participation on financial knowledge, but did not provide statistical support for the relationship between student-managed investment fund participation and financial behaviors or financial satisfaction. As such, educators and policymakers should utilize experiential learning opportunities in financial education initiatives to increase financial knowledge. Recommendations for future research include a longitudinal study of student-managed investment fund participant financial knowledge, satisfaction, and behaviors