Scheel Fund Hones Finance Leaders

L-R: Brendan Trump, Kyle Siemers, Matt Burd, Max Mona, Luke Lindhorst, Chris Claussen

A $100,000 experiment that started in 2012 is paying important dividends for Concordia students’ educations. The Scheel Fund is a student-run investment group that began when Steve Scheel invested in the idea by donating $100,000 for students to purchase stock and figure out the concepts of buying, selling, and trading. The first couple of years, the Fund lost money and the students learned valuable lessons. The last two years have been booming.

“Over the 2020 winter holiday, the Scheel Fund passed 200K in portfolio holdings for the first time ever,” says Max Mona ’21, co-portfolio manager for the Fund. “We were fortunate to have a significant return higher than our benchmark (S&P 500) and began incorporating our sustainability focus into our investment decisions.”

Focusing on sustainability is what the Fund leaders call their ESG Strategy – taking into account the environmental, social, and governance of a company and then consider if they will invest in that company based on those factors. ESG investing was introduced in the past year and is in line with Concordia’s sustainability focus.

“It’s been interesting finding companies that are socially responsible, furthermore finding companies who focus on sustainability provide value for both the individual and the environments,” says Kyle Siemers ’21, an assistant portfolio manager.

The Fund has been gaining good financial traction, but now they hope to gain ground with more students being part of the investment fund from around campus. The team works to make the club meetings accessible to those who have experience with investments and those who have never had the opportunity to learn about investments.

“One factor that every Cobber has in common, no matter their major, is that at some point we will all be saving for retirements,” says Chris Claussen ’21, co-portfolio manager. “The Scheel Fund is a great place to learn and make mistakes that don’t necessarily impact your long-term goals.”

Mona says that the Fund’s investment strategy is very exciting and knows that the collaboration and teamwork skills combined with in-depth problem solving will be key to his future work. Claussen agrees.

“Many things that we learn in class we put to work with the Fund and many lessons that aren’t taught in the classroom are learned through handling of real money in markets through the Fund,” Claussen says.

And if you want to see what the Scheel Fund is investing in, the group is pretty much an open book. The companies the students invest in are listed on the group’s website along with a breakdown sheet about the companies including the ESG grade. The team hopes to recruit more students to participate in the coming year.

“Regardless of major, the Fund is open to everyone on campus,” Siemers says.