USC Students Beat Their Benchmarks With ADRs

This upbeat sentiment was echoed by Kerrisha Jenkins, a manager of the Trojan Equity Fund. Jenkins says: "We have managed to exceed our benchmark [the S&P 500 Value Index] by a significant margin in large part by executing a tactical allocation strategy that significantly reduced our exposure to financials from May through September of this year. We chose to 'lock in' these gains relative to our benchmark, by purchasing international banks [like Lloyds TSB Group]with limited subprime credit exposure to more closely track benchmark sector allocations and further benefit from our expectation of a continuing decline in the dollar versus the Euro."

You can also see the Trojan Equity Fund's international theme at play in four of the equity fund's top five performing holdings:

• PetroChina (ADR ) (PTR - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)
• GameStop (GME - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)
• BHP Billiton(BHP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)
• Nokia (ADR) (NOK - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)
• Vodafone (ADR) (VOD - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr)

USC's fast-paced MBA-run investment fund is certainly making the Marshall school a dynamic place to start a financial career. But enrolling in business school is not your only option to get a rigorous hands-on education in investing. Eric Ward, a student manager of the Trojan Equity Fund, has a few suggestions for young people trying to break into the investing world -- whether as full-time industry pros or self-directed individual investors. Ward says: "Join or start an investment group that manages either real or 'paper' money and try to run it as you would a real investment fund. Set mandates on investment criteria and understand each stock in your portfolio. [That way,] you will learn a lot about the markets, the economy, and the potential emotions that come into play."

Afterwards, Ward advises to "get out and start meeting people in the industry." He says, "You will have a lot more to talk about [with professionals] if you have had a couple months under your belt [of] managing your [group] fund and have learned from the experience."