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spring 2026 smip alumni speaker From left: Jon Vinge, John Trimbath, Christopher Barto ’18, Derrek Schwartz, Connor Bethmann, Dante Henry, Trevon Teribury

smip spring 2026 alumni speaker 2From left: Isaac Greenblatt, John Trimbath, Nathan Hartle ’14, Derrek Schwartz, Connor Bethman, Domenico Micco, Trevon Teribury, Andrew Michael

The Student Managed Investment Portfolio organization navigated another successful academic year. During the spring 2026 semester, SMIP sponsored an alumni speaker series. Current undergraduate SMIP students had opportunities to interact in person with the alumni speakers, learn about different career paths in the finance industry, and extend their networking outreach.

We are grateful to these alumni for sharing their time, talent, and expertise!

  • Christopher Barto ’18 — Founder and portfolio manager of Block House Investments, Barto discussed his career path and the experiences that led him to establish his own investment firm.
  • Nathan Hartle ’14 — As a former portfolio manager for Stewart Capital, Hartle spoke about his professional journey and provided students with an inside look at portfolio management and investment strategy. Hartle currently works as a financial analyst with the Braff Group, a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm specializing exclusively in health care services.
  • Tony Blair ’09 — Presently working as a portfolio analytics manager for Reliance Standard Life, Blair spoke about his professional journey from undergraduate internships to progressing through different positions over 10 years at Vanguard to his more recent career progression at Reliance Standard Life. He discussed the steps to earning the CFA and shared insights into fixed income trading.
  • Elam Gates ’19 — As a senior finance associate at PNC, Gates spoke about his work in commercial banking, including the structure of the business, key client services, and how commercial banking operates within PNC. Gates encouraged students to begin planning for internships early so that they are prepared to meet application deadlines set by larger organizations. This event was co-hosted by the SMIP, the SFA, the SAA, and the Econ Club.

Student leadership continued the end-of-semester newsletter to continue bridging the gap between students and alumni. If you would like to receive an electronic copy of the SMIP newsletter, inquiries can be sent to eberly-smip@iup.edu. 

This semester also marked the first term for the newly appointed officer team and sector leaders. Working together as an entirely new leadership group, they quickly established strong communication and collaboration to support SMIP’s continued growth.

SMIP looks forward to another great semester in fall 2026!