The University of Dayton marks the 25th anniversary of its student-run investment fund, the largest in the country, with more than $80 million in assets under its management.

The Davis Center for Portfolio Management is home of the Flyer Investments Fund, which allows undergraduates to manage a portion of the University’s endowment and a pool of assets for The Dayton Foundation. 

"This isn’t theoretical; it’s about real dollars," said Nate Jabaay, senior manager. "Managing the Flyer Investments Fund empowers us to make impactful decisions for the University and The Dayton Foundation. This experience launches our careers in finance."

Jabaay said the students pride themselves on their success growing the endowment funds, which in part support scholarship opportunities. Through The Dayton Foundation, they also value philanthropy, donating more than $30,000 of their management fees to local charities like the Boys and Girls Club and Dayton Early College Academy.

"I am incredibly proud of our past and present members of the Davis Center. Since 1999, our student-managers have generated more than $60 million in capital gains for the University and The Dayton Foundation, demonstrating their exceptional skills and dedication to real-world investing," said Davis Center Director Daniel Kapusta. "In fact, these UD student-managers have beaten their respective benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, in six of the last seven fiscal years."

The Davis Center, made possible by the vision and gifts of UD alumnus Dick Davis and his wife, Sue, provides student-managers with an environment similar to a Wall Street asset management firm, equipped with industry-leading technology such as Bloomberg, FactSet, Morningstar and S&P NetAdvantage investment software. 

Davis Center alumni — now numbering more than 700 — earn positions at some of the most prestigious investment firms on Wall Street, including BlackRock, Blackstone, Citi, Citadel, Cleveland Research, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, PIMCO, Robert Baird, and William Blair.  

"The Davis Center opened my eyes to the future of finance," said George Eckerd, a 2007 graduate and now research director at JPMorgan Chase. "The strong alumni network provided me with valuable connections leading to my first internship and ultimately paving the way for my career in finance. UD was where it all began for me."

The Flyer Investments Fund is one of the flagship experiential learning programs in the School of Business Administration, alongside opportunities for undergraduates to start their own businesses, consult with nonprofits and other companies, act as an angel investor and practice in a professional selling laboratory.