It’s like winning the lottery but not being able to spend the money: Marquette’s Applied Investment Management program gives business students $1.5 million … to invest on the university’s behalf.

Lee Havorka, AIM program assistant, said the program has been a rewarding experience both personally and for the student members.

“Senior students in the AIM program create financial portfolios with the endowment funds, and they follow the same guidelines as the professionals working with Marquette’s finances,” Havorka said.

The program allows a select number of undergraduate finance majors to get hands-on experience both in academics and security analysis.

Through the program, students study the information covered in the Chartered Financial Analyst Level 1 exam. A passing grade is a necessary step toward a career in the money management industry, said David Krause, the AIM program director.

“The ability of the AIM graduates to take and pass the Chartered Financial Analysts exams is an important trademark of our program that sets us apart from other schools with similar programs,” he said.

Krause said the program’s curriculum is based on the CFA Institute’s core body of knowledge, and can prepares its students to enter the industry years ahead of their peers.

Most students applying to the AIM program are finance majors, but some are also majoring in other business areas, such as accounting and international business.

AIM application material indicates that accepted students share an exceptional academic record and a desire for a career in the investment industry.

Students submit their applications during the fall semester of their junior year, and, if accepted, take their first AIM course in the spring of their junior year.

Krause said he was pleased with how the program has developed since its inception in 2005.

“We have had over 100 Marquette students graduate following their involvement in the program — and most of them are working in the investment and financial services industry,” Krause said.

The opportunity to work at summer internships and actively manage financial portfolios is a major draw for students.

“This program prepares you to be working on Wall Street. You are trained to be an analyst and how to pick and pitch a stock,” said Leonard Hartanto, a junior in the College of Business Administration and a recently-accepted member of the AIM Class of 2012.

An advantage of Marquette’s program is an emphasis on investment ethics, which enables AIM students to enrich their educational experience with practical examples and cases so they are better able to face the challenging issues encountered in today’s global investment industry, Krause said.

Even with the success of the program thus far, Krause indicated he looks to continue to develop it in the future.

“I believe we have the best undergraduate investment management program in the country,” he said. “If someone can find one better, I’d love to visit it and figure out how we can continue to improve and move the AIM program forward.”