ETSU has three student managed investment funds including one within the TVA Investment Challenge and two accounts set up by the LaPorte Family, the LaPorte fund and the Citizens Bank fund.
Kevin Kilgore, Joe LaPorte, and William Trainor
In 2025, an agreement with the Citizens Bank Tri-Cities Foundation and the LaPorte family was initiated. ETSU’s Center for the Study of Finance advises and manages two Funds known as “The Citizens Bank Fund” and “The LaPorte Fund.” This support allows students to actively manage a portion of the foundation’s assets. It’s an opportunity that mirrors the work of professional investment managers and is availabe to all students on campus through the Students of Finance Association.
ETSU had been particulary succssful in the Investment Challenge Program and outperformed the S&P 500 in 2025. Historically, ETSU has outperformed the S&P 500 for 16 of the last 21 years. This has earned ETSU over $106,000 in performance bonus money while winning the competition twice in the last 7 years competing against 25+ other schools. ETSU has had 19 top ten and six top three performances since inception in 1998. Below is a summary of ETSU's performance:
ETSU’s TVA Performance by Year, 1998 – 2026
| Year | ETSU Return | Rank | Alpha | Year | ETSU Return | Rank | Alpha |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026* | 30% | NA | 17.30% | 2012 | 11.63% | 16 | -0.93% |
| 2025 | 22.86% | 6 | 4.98% | 2011 | 2.63% | 10 | 0.52% |
| 2024 | 15.22% | 22 | -9.80% | 2010 | 21.89% | 7 | 6.88% |
| 2023 | 27.42% | 12 | 1.13% | 2009 | 43.83% | 3 | 17.37% |
| 2022 | -15.02% | 6 | 3.09% | 2008 | -47.06% | 23 | -10.06% |
| 2021 | 43.09% | 1 | 14.38% | 2007 | 19.39% | 4 | 13.90% |
| 2020 | 25.01% | 9 | 6.61% | 2006 | 17.96% | 2 | 2.17% |
| 2019 | 39.06% | 1 | 7.57% | 2005 | 12.26% | 6 | 7.35% |
| 2018 | -13.27% | 23 | -8.89% | 2004 | 8.77% | 25 | -2.11% |
| 2017 | 26.81% | 7 | 4.98% | 2003 | 31.07% | 10 | 2.39% |
| 2016 | 18.60% | 2 | 6.64% | 2002 | -15.53% | 7 | 6.57% |
| 2015 | 1.80% | 10 | 0.42% | 2001 | -1.44% | 4 | 10.45% |
| 2014 | 10.57% | 12 | -3.12% | 2000 | -32.05% | 18 | -22.95% |
| 2013 | 46.41% | 3 | 14.00% | 1999 | 36.19% | 9 | 15.15% |
| 1998 | 15.61% | 16 | -12.97% |
| Horizon | Geometric Annualized Return (ending 2025) | Alpha |
|---|---|---|
| 5 years | 17.01% | 2.58% |
| 10 years | 17.40% | 2.58% |
| 20 years | 11.85% | 1.64% |
| 28 years | 10.76% | 1.69% |
*Through September 2026. Green represents outperformance of the S&P 500; Alpha is the outperformance amount.
To place ETSU returns in perspective relative to professional managers, over 5 years 89% of large cap managers underperform the S&P 500, over 20 years, 93% underperform (Ro, 2026). This places ETSU in at least the top 7% of all professional equity managers.
Student Fund Investment Reports
Spring 2026 LaPorte Fund Report