Funded generously by LSU's Center for Computation & Technology (CCT), the E. J. Ourso College of Business's Securities Market Analysis Research Training Lab, or SMART Lab, recreates a simulated interactive trading floor where students gain experience in the fast-paced world of securities analysis, research and trading. The lab's 44 networked workstations are equipped with the latest hardware and professional analytic software, which gives students significant on-the-job-style training in portfolio construction, risk management, and financial engineering. In addition, the SMART Lab provides faculty and graduate students access to professional tools for research in experimental economics and price-discovery theory.

In April 2009, the SMART Lab served as the setting for the E. J. Ourso College of Business's announcement that its Department of Finance had demonstrated its curriculum met the requirements to be a CFA Institute Program Partner. To earn this distinction, the Department of Finance illustrated to the CFA Institute that its undergraduate and graduate curriculum sufficiently covers the CFA Program Candidate Body of Knowledge and the CFA Institute's ethical and professional standards. An official partnership signing was held in the SMART Lab with CFA Institute University Relations Head Bob McLean, CFA representing the organization.

Along with its 44 networked workstations, the SMART Lab also features two Bloomberg terminals and offers students the opportunity to obtain Bloomberg certification. Bloomberg is a comprehensive interactive system that provides financial information about bonds and publicly traded companies worldwide as well as news and economic data. The Bloomberg certification program is designed primarily to expose users to Bloomberg's capabilities. The certification program is comprised of 18 separate modules, starting with Bloomberg basics and building to its more advanced uses, such as equity portfolio management strategy and mergers and acquisitions analysis.

Each semester the SMART Lab serves as both a classroom and teaching aide for the students managing the LSU Student Managed Investment Fund (SMIF), or the Tiger Fund. The Tiger Fund was founded in the spring of 2005 by a generous grant from the LSU foundation. The primary investment objective of the Tiger Fund is to achieve long-term capital growth by investing in marketable U.S. equities listed on the Standard & Poor's 100 Index and exceed the total return of the index. The secondary objective of the Fund is to enhance the educational programs of the E. J. Ourso College of Business by providing its students with valuable hands-on experience in security analysis and the management of an investment portfolio, and by strengthening their skills and abilities in market analysis, financial research, oral and written communication, and teamwork.