The Dayton Foundation is partnering with the University of Dayton Davis Center for Portfolio Management to allow undergraduate investors to advise and manage a $1.5 million pool of assets designated by Foundation donors.

The partnership builds on the students’ record of success over the last 20 years in managing a growing slice of the University’s endowment that today totals more than $35 million. Their Flyer Investments Fund is the third largest student-run investment portfolio in the nation and the largest handled exclusively by undergraduates. Students make all the decisions to buy, sell or hold stocks, and consistently beat the S&P 500 benchmark fund and outperform even professional money managers.

“We are thankful to the Foundation donors who are making this experience possible for our students. We believe our students are among the first in the country to have an opportunity to manage money from a community foundation,” said School of Business Administration Dean John Mittelstaedt. “Not only will this give students an even greater competitive advantage when they enter the job market, it will deepen their connection to the Dayton community and the strong legacy of philanthropy here.”

Students will report quarterly on the performance of the Foundation’s portfolio and the market outlook. As is customary of a fund manager, the students will charge a portfolio management fee. Unlike any other manager, though, they will not keep the fees and will work with the Foundation to grant those funds back out to charitable activities in the community.

“We are thrilled to make possible this real-world investment management opportunity to the students of the University of Dayton’s Davis Center for Portfolio Management and so grateful for the Foundation’s donors who have generously designated a portion of their charitable funds to this asset pool,” said Dayton Foundation President Michael M. Parks. “What an outstanding real-life experience these Foundation donors are providing to the students.” 

The Davis Center, named in 2003 for Richard and Susan Davis for their generosity and leadership, simulates a Wall Street investment firm with the industry-leading technology of Bloomberg and Morningstar investment terminals. Davis Center alumni, who now number more than 600, have gone on to work at top investment firms, including BlackRock, Citi, Citadel, Cleveland Research, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, PIMCO, Robert W. Baird and William Blair.

“It is going to be an amazing experience to manage the Foundation portfolio,” said Senior Manager of the Davis Center Jake Blewitt, a senior majoring in finance from Philadelphia. “Experiential learning is a huge part of what we do at the University of Dayton and this is a great way for us to get real-world experience. It’s a significant responsibility and incredibly humbling to be able to do something like this as a student.”

More information on how to support the fund is available through The Dayton Foundation.