Bison Fund

Tonight we got to have Zach Nipp, CFA join us at the NDSU Bison Fund. He talked about his experience working in the high-yield and small to mid cap equity portfolio as well as the South Dakota Investmemt Council’s asset allocation. He also discussed future opportunities and how passionate he is about not only working for the South Dakota Investmemt Council but the people surrounding him. Students from the fund and faculty were all able to attend and lots were appreciative of the topics he discussed, awesome meeting for tonight. Thanks again Zach Nipp, CFA!!

Tonight we got to have Zach Nipp, CFA join us at the NDSU Bison Fund. He talked about his experience working in the high-yield and small to mid cap equity portfolio as well as the South Dakota Investmemt Council’s asset allocation. He also discussed future opportunities and how passionate he is about not only working for the South Dakota Investmemt Council but the people surrounding him. Students from the fund and faculty were all able to attend and lots were appreciative of the topics he discussed, awesome meeting for tonight. Thanks again Zach Nipp, CFA!!

This past Monday, I had the opportunity to travel to Minneapolis on behalf of the NDSU Bison Fund to meet with Xcel Energy, The Minneapolis Foundation, and Okabena Investment Services. We began our day with a visit to Xcel Energy, where we learned about their various investments under management, financial modeling techniques, and their activities in the debt capital markets. A special thanks to Greg Zick, CFA and Lucas Asmus for hosting us! Next, we visited The Minneapolis Foundation, where we explored their structure as a community foundation and discussed the significance of talent and culture in the workplace. A big thank you to Karen Florez, CFA, Maude Diggs, MBA, Greg Wenz, Kevin Rockwell, Joseph Moryn, and Milpha Thomas Blamo, EdD for hosting us and sharing such valuable insights! Lastly, we wrapped up our day at Okabena Co., where we explored their wealth management offerings for families and individuals, along with their customized investment strategies and funds. A special thanks to Dennis Santos and Jack Graff for your time! This was a fantastic opportunity and experience to deepen my understanding of different financial firms and foundations, gaining valuable insights into their work! Bison Fund

Check out Jon Spahn’s interview! Thank you Robert Morier!

Recent NDSU College of Business graduate, Jon Spahn shared his memories from his time in school and the impact the Bison Fund had on his experiences in and out of the classroom. Like many student-run investment funds, the Bison Fund is committed to developing all students into capable and successful investors.  Drexel University's Dragon Fund, Drexel University's LeBow College of Business student-managed equity portfolio, was started in the fall of 2007 with $250,000. The fund, which specializes in U.S. midcap stocks, has since grown to more than $3.7 million. On the private markets side, the Drexel University Innovation Fund invests in early-stage Drexel student and postgraduate-led startups, as well as startups founded to commercialize the results of scientific research developed at Drexel. The fund, which launched in 2023, is an evergreen fund where all returns are re-invested through the fund in future Drexel startups. Drexel recently selected three University-affiliated startups to receive support from the second cohort of its Innovation Fund. Aer Cosmetics, a sustainable cosmetics brand founded by Paige DeAngelo, 1DNano, a nanomaterial cleantech company; and Mxene, Inc., a company focused on the commercialization of nanomaterials called MXenes; will each receive an investment of $150,000 from the fund. I was proud to co-teach and design this course with my colleague Chuck Sacco, with the invaluable guidance and direction of Chelsea Samuelson (Koglmeier) and Lillie Rukenstein. Learn more about this pathway to support our entrepreneurs from idea to launch and beyond at the link below. https://lnkd.in/exAihF98 Catch the full episode with North Dakota State University and the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands at the link below to learn more about growth of capital in North Dakota. https://lnkd.in/e-CE-xhT

New podcast out!!! I would love to invite everyone to check out a podcast I was featured on, the latest episode of the Dakota Live! Podcast, hosted by Robert Morier, Professor at Drexel University. The podcast is focused around highlighting asset managers and capital allocators, and this episode Rob brought his podcast on the road to Fargo, to North Dakota State University / NDSU College of Business. He brought on a panel of 3 other guests and myself: Joseph Heringer, North Dakota Commissioner of University and School Lands, driving policy and strategy Frank Mihail, CFA, Chief Investment Officer at the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, managing investments for the state’s sovereign wealth fund Allyson Peterson, CPA, CGMA, Chief Financial Officer for the NDSU Foundation, who manages decisions around their assets and investments As mentioned above, I also got the opportunity to sit on the panel, and represent Bison Fund Throughout this, the goal was to highlight the growth of capital in North Dakota. We had conversations about investments, capital needs, filling strategic asset allocation holes, and connecting it back to how all the capital benefits education. Big thanks not only to Robert, but also Sasha Cole and Thomas Cavalcante for putting it together! Feel free to check it out below!

Theodor Roosevelt once said about the North Dakota people and landscape, "It was here that the romance of my life began." After sitting down with this incredible group of people at North Dakota State University to learn more about the intersection of education, energy, and investment policy for our dakota viewers and listeners, I came to understand why Roosevelt wrote so warmly about North Dakota. It all started with a networking opportunity from a student at NDSU College of Business, who was exploring careers in asset management and listening to a past episode of ours to help prepare him for an interview. Jon Spahn, President of the Bison Fund and graduating senior was eager to better understand the dynamics of manager research and asset allocation through the podcast. Jon and I connected over LinkedIn, and started hashing out a plan to help other students. I wanted to demonstrate the inter-connectedness of our nation's public pension systems and the institutions they support for our listeners and Jon also wanted to helps students better understand career opportunities in the industry. Why not start with North Dakota? The first request was to the wonderful Kathryn Birkeland, Dean of the NDSU College of Business. Her support and willingness to open the school's doors set the plan in motion. The next call was with Allyson Peterson, CPA, CGMA, CFO of the NDSU Foundation. With an endowment of nearly $500 million, she would be able to explain the connection between the Foundation and student initiatives like the Bison Fund. Through her stewardship of the Foundation and responsibilities for the OCIO relationship with SEI, whose CEO, Ryan Hicke had previously graced our podcast, she would be able to share the attributes she and the Foundation look for in a fiduciary partner. We then reached out to Frank Mihail, CFA, CIO of the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands and Scott Anderson, CFA, CIO of the North Dakota Retirement Investment Office to join us on the desk to help bring it together. Unfortunately, Scott was unable to make the trip to Fargo (but still wanted to support our efforts by joining us on a recent episode). Frank and his colleague, Joseph Heringer, the North Dakota Commissioner of University and School Lands drove three hours from Bismarck to Fargo to sit with us and bring the story to life. As investment sales professionals, you are often expected to know a prospective investor by understanding their mission in the context of the investment environment in which they operate. I couldn't think of a better way to help you with that initiative than with this fantastic group of people. I am grateful to be sharing this upcoming episode with asset allocators, asset managers, sales professionals, and students, to help you better understand the investment ecosystem of North Dakota. "Life is a great adventure…accept it in such a spirit."

Come join us next week!

Earlier this week we had presentations for Bison Fund! We would like to highlight our groups who pitched here… Our first group pitched McCormick & Company (MKC); this group consisted of Braxten Bastian, Ellah Larson, Maya Aus, Matthew Weierke, Acacia Collado and Aidan Clarke. McCormick manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to the food industry. Our second group pitched DT Midstream (DTM); this group consisted of Owen Arndt, Ellie Meyer, Rudy Kummer, Tosin Oyewole and Adrian Trejo DT Midstream is involved in operating and developing interstate and intrastate pipelines for natural gas, along with storage and gathering systems, as well as compression, treatment, and surface facilities. Regardless of our recommendations and investment choices, great job by the students on these company pitches! Disclaimer: These are shouldn’t be construed as investment recommendations. We will have another round of pitches next week at our same meeting time, it will be our last official meeting of the semester! We also will be hosting an asset management event in the lab next Friday, keep an eye out for the announcement tomorrow! NDSU College of Business

This weekend/Yesterday we had the privilege on behalf of NDSU Bison Fund to travel down to the cities, have a dinner and visit firms the next day. Sunday night, we had a great alumni dinner at Lions Tap in EP. Special thanks to Lars Erickson, Andrew Weller, Mason Stachowski and Kenneth Blattenbauer for joining our group for the dinner. Yesterday we started out the day visiting Parametric. We got to learn about their history, cash overlay strategies and their clients. Special thanks to Daniel Wamre, CFA, Yuepeng "Perry" Li, CFA, FRM, Greg Liebl, CFA, Nathan Brand and Antony Motl for hosting us! Next, we got to visit SFM Insurance and huge thanks to Amanda Aponte, FCAS, MAAA for sharing how they think about working with asset managers and managing their assets as a insurance company specializing in workers comp. Lastly, we finished our day with Bernstein Private Wealth Management. We got to spend time hearing about how they advise clients, and how their company works along with about roles within the business. Thanks to Sheila Healy Berube, CFA, Craig Kleis, Robert Dietz, CFA and Paul Johnson! See picture from there below! Overall, a great trip and a great experience! Also pictured: A quick trip to Runyon’s downtown in between firms for a few of us, would highly recommend, great food!