{"id":74994,"date":"2026-03-04T08:18:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T13:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=74994"},"modified":"2026-07-16T09:00:35","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T13:00:35","slug":"decade-of-dominance-utc-smile-fund-wins-10th-consecutive-cfa-research-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/decade-of-dominance-utc-smile-fund-wins-10th-consecutive-cfa-research-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Decade of dominance: UTC SMILE Fund wins 10th consecutive CFA Research Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_74995\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" ><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"880\" height=\"586\" data-attachment-id=\"74995\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/decade-of-dominance-utc-smile-fund-wins-10th-consecutive-cfa-research-challenge\/cfa-winners\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?fit=1280%2C853&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1280,853\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"CFA Winners\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?fit=880%2C586&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-74995 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?resize=880%2C586&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Brannon Smith, Rilee Ervin, Shaun Williams, Bana Sulieman and Ethan Tidwell stand smiling in business wear. \" style=\"max-width: 100%;\"style=\"max-width: 100%;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?resize=800%2C533&amp;ssl=1 800w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?resize=580%2C387&amp;ssl=1 580w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?resize=610%2C407&amp;ssl=1 610w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.utc.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2026\/03\/CFA-Winners-.jpg?resize=600%2C400&amp;ssl=1 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">UTC SMILE Fund members Brannon Smith, Rilee Ervin, Shaun Williams, Bana Sulieman and Ethan Tidwell won the fund\u2019s 10th straight Chartered Financial Analyst Institute Greater Tennessee Research Challenge. Photo by Vanee Patel, a finance major and marketing director of the SMILE Fund.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga SMILE Fund has won its 10th straight Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute Greater Tennessee Research Challenge.<\/p>\n<p>The CFA Research Challenge is an annual global competition that challenges students\u2019 valuation, report writing and presentation skills to gain real-world experience before graduation.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/tag\/smile-fund\/\">UTC SMILE Fund<\/a><\/strong> (Student Managed Investment Learning Experience) team consisted of Gary W. Rollins College of Business students Brannon Smith, Rilee Ervin, Shaun Williams, Bana Sulieman and Ethan Tidwell. The five undergraduates competed against 11 universities from across the state, including UT Knoxville, Vanderbilt University, Belmont University and Lipscomb University.<\/p>\n<p>Robert L. Maclellan and UC Foundation Associate Professor of Finance Hunter Holzhauer serves as the faculty advisor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not something you just start on day one and say we\u2019re going to win the most competitive competition for business school students and win your state 10 times in a row,\u201d Holzhauer said. \u201cIt happens over time, and you just have to continue to build your process and continue to invest in your students.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve upped our game every time and the other teams are upping their game trying to beat us. So, we\u2019re trying to stay not just one step ahead of them, but stay competitive at the next level. It\u2019s been a very interesting learning curve, but it\u2019s also been a testament that UTC and the SMILE Fund are serious. We\u2019re training the best students in the world to be leaders in the investment industry and business in general.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Holzhauer said the team examined Harrow Inc., an ophthalmic pharmaceutical retailer. He described the company as \u201cinteresting\u201d to examine because it is a small-cap stock classified as a smaller or newer publicly traded company.<\/p>\n<p>Part of the research was to determine whether the company\u2019s business model was favorable. Students conducted a social media analysis to learn what patients were looking for in products. An Institutional Review Board-approved survey was created and sent to 6,000 ophthalmologists, yielding over 90 responses.<\/p>\n<p>In terms of valuation, the team also provided specific growth assumptions and risk assessments at the product level.<\/p>\n<p>Holzhauer said the team will now shift its focus to the Southeast Regionals, where UTC representatives have won three of the last five years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe students have already done the ground-level due diligence that most teams don\u2019t even consider doing,\u201d he said. \u201cNot only did they consider doing it, but they did it the right way, and I\u2019m really impressed.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4>Learn more<\/h4>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utc.edu\/enrollment-management-and-student-affairs\/admissions\/visit\">Visit UTC<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/tag\/smile-fund\/\">SMILE Fund<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utc.edu\/gary-w-rollins-college-of-business\">Gary W. Rollins College of Business<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.utc.edu\/apply\">How to apply<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga SMILE Fund has won its 10th straight Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute Greater Tennessee Research Challenge, an annual global competition that challenges students\u2019 valuation, report writing and presentation skills to gain real-world experience before graduation<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrap\"><span><a class=\"more-link button text\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/decade-of-dominance-utc-smile-fund-wins-10th-consecutive-cfa-research-challenge\/\"><span>Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2058,"featured_media":74996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,70,123864,3,7712,122425,57,48007,661],"tags":[126761,126758,124160,123827,123826,126762,127069,127098,83473,123828,124776,123829,126759,126760,70452,126763],"class_list":{"0":"post-74994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-advancement-and-alumni","9":"category-community","10":"category-faculty-and-staff","11":"category-finance","12":"category-college-of-business","13":"category-news","14":"category-research-academics","15":"category-students","16":"tag-bana-sulieman","17":"tag-brannon-smith","18":"tag-chartered-financial-analyst-institute-greater-tennessee-research-challenge","19":"tag-creating-the-mocs-experience","20":"tag-cultivating-a-culture-of-innovation","21":"tag-ethan-tidwell","22":"tag-goal-1-2-enhance-learner-success-strategic-plan-2030","23":"tag-goal-1-3-placement-strategic-plan-2030","24":"tag-hunter-holzhauer","25":"tag-leveraging-our-special-place-as-chattanoogas-university","26":"tag-mocs-learn-mocs-do-mocs-lead","27":"tag-operating-with-excellence","28":"tag-rilee-ervin","29":"tag-shaun-williams","30":"tag-smile-fund","31":"tag-vanee-patel","32":"entry"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - 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