TVA Investment Challenge

The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Investment Challenge provides a real-world learning experience in portfolio management to students at 25 universities within TVA’s service territory. The managed funds are a part of TVA’s Asset Retirement Trust Fund, which was established in 1996 to meet the financial obligations of decommissioning the agency’s non-nuclear power units.

Students at the Haslam College of Business actively manage a portfolio of approximately $360,000 in common stocks and compete with teams from other participating universities for prizes awarded by TVA on the basis of performance. The TVA Investment Challenge primarily focuses on a value-investing approach to portfolio management.

Since its inception in 1998, the University of Tennessee has been awarded over $121,000 in prize money, and UT teams have outperformed the S&P 500 for multiple years.

Team Selection

Students are selected for the program in both the spring and fall semesters. To apply, students must have completed Finance 301 with a C or better and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher in all upper-division business courses.

Participation in the TVA Investment Challenge is by faculty permission and selection only. Students who wish to be considered for the position of portfolio manager should send a current resume, letter indicating their interest and one-page discussion of their academic and work background to the current TVA Investment Challenge director.