Last year, Julian Garcia met Chris Gardner at an investment group conference.

“He made the whole stadium cry when he told us his story,” said Garcia, a member of the University of North Texas Student Investment Group, about the self-made millionaire and entrepreneur featured in a film about his life, The Pursuit of Happyness.

Garcia, 24, said that he hoped to follow Gardner’s footsteps and own a business one day. In the meantime, he is learning about the world of finance and investment not only by majoring in international business but also by leading the student group in charge of managing their own endowment of $300,000.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

The Student Investment Group at the University of North Texas is an active 100-member group in charge of investing about $300,000 in endowment funds. Members shown are from left: James Spoonts, Yacxara Chavez, Julian Garcia, Chelsey Hayes, Jaxon Hunter, Sarah N. Bhagwat and Carlo Checri.

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“The memorandum of understanding is that once its reaches $1 million it can be used for scholarship purposes,” said Don McDonald, associate professor of finance at UNT and the group’s faculty advisor since its inception.

Founded in 2002, the student investment group started with a donation by Col. Guy M. Cloud, who presented the organization with $285,000. Since then, the group has been meeting every semester on a weekly basis to decide what stocks and funds to buy in hope of increasing their gift.

“This club is open to all majors, and you have the opportunity to grow and take leadership positions that could later translate to more job opportunities,” said Garcia about how students outside of the finance department can also join, including graduate students.

“It teaches you how to think,” said Anthony Bassili, an alumnus and past president of the group.

Bassili said the experience he gained while in the group helped him get a job with an investment firm in Addison.

“Even if you are not a finance major, we teach you how to do it,” he said.

The student investment group operates their 100-member organization through committees designed to investigate certain aspects of the economy and later provide recommendations on how to best improve their portfolio. Through the committees — economic, portfolio management, accounting, auditing and organizational management — members of the group get to apply their knowledge outside of the classroom.

“Most of them [committees] are faculty-led or in a classroom setting,” Garcia said.

Students say they have fun learning about the market and even like that they get to decide the future of their endowment.

The decision to invest in certain stocks is decided as a group and by a majority vote, McDonald said. The student investment group does not have access to the money, but can make decisions on its assets.

Yacxara Chavez, born in Temple, leads the economic committee, which assesses the state of the economy. Her committee provides recommendations on the selection of stocks.

“It does not really intimidate me,” said Chavez, one of three female students leading committees in the group.

A finance major with a minor in eco nomics, Chavez said the investment group was the first student organization she joined when she enrolled at UNT three years ago.

Carlo Checri is the director of the portfolio management committee. He provides analysis and evaluation of the group’s portfolio.

“If I own a stock and give a presentation, I have to disclose that information. I have not had that yet.” Checri, 22, said about how serious the group takes its role.

In order to join Checri’s committee, members have to take a foundation finance course.

In addition to participating in the investment group, students have the opportunity to meet business executives and top leaders from Wall Street by attending the Redefining Investment Strategy Education Global Strategic Partners Symposium, held each year in Ohio. The event is one of largest strategic investment conferences in the nation and attracts close to 1,700 participants from 218 colleges and universities, and 58 countries.

Last year, 10 local members received scholarships and help from faculty to attend the event.

This year, in addition to managing their fund, the members hope to raise funds for next year’s conference, Garcia said.

Josh Monaco, with Ameritrade, one of the groups’ sponsors, said that partnering with the organization has helped both his company and the student investment group.

“We have several members that are interns and we have a couple that have accepted full-time positions as well,” Monaco said.

With a plan to reach $1 million in assets in about 10 to 12 years, the student investment group will continue to study and decide which funds will help them reach their goal, Checri said.

“They are not playing with something fake,” Bassili said. “They are living the dream that Wall Street professionals live every day.”

Karina Ramírez can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com.

Student Investment Group

First meeting: 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at the University of North Texas Business Building, Room 176

On the Web: http://orgs.unt.edu/sig/index.html