Davidson is pretty picky about who it lets into the program. It has chosen around 20 schools between 1985 and 2017 (a few schools have been removed). Schools like the University of Idaho and Washington State University joined in 1993, while Oregon State University (2010) and Southern Utah University (2011) are the most recent ones. Though Davidson did not explicitly say why it chose the schools, it said each school administers the SIP differently.
Williams said the firm has been able to learn more about millennial investors through the program and even hire a few of the participants to join its own ranks. A few years ago, Davidson hired one of its research associates from the University of Utah program.
One of the insights Davidson has learned mirrors or maybe confirms what the financial services industry has already witnessed with today’s investors: that they shoud invest for reasons beyond returns.
According to Williams, environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing is what millennial investors and possibly Gen Zers are interested in.
This has allowed Davidson to learn as well, since “a lot of the investments that students choose, they are companies that score well and are socially responsible,” he says.
Davidson has decided to evaluate ESG companies more since a growing number of investors are expressing their interest in it.
“Those students will be taking the torch in investment management, and so this will be a great way to do our part in that,” Williams says. “Invest in the health of the industry.”