Phil Dorr Fund
The Philip M. Dorr Alumni and Friends Endowed Investment Fund was established in 2000 with an initial endowment of $250,000 from Philip Dorr of Chicago. With additional contributions raised by Dean Terry Maness from alumni and friends, the Fund opened with a total of $400,000. The Fund has since grown through contributions and investment gains to approximately $4.6million. A full list of contributors is provided in the Fund Donors section; however, special mention should be made of a generous gift from Don and Ruth Buchholz of Dallas, which was matched by a contribution from the endowment fund of the University.
The students run the Fund under the guidance of two professors. Mr. Brian Bruce, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Hillcrest Asset Management and Mr. Brandon Troegle, CFA, Analyst and Portfolio Manager of Hillcrest Asset Management. Together they teach students how to make well-informed equity investment decisions through fundamental analysis. The student analysts learn through first-hand experience the amount of research and analysis that goes into stock selection. They used a combination of Value Line, First Call, Bloomberg, and other financial websites to research earnings surprises, forward growth drivers, and other pertinent information.
The objective of the fund is twofold: 1) to provide an investment fund by which business students can learn investment management principles and techniques by managing real money and 2) to provide scholarships out of the growth in the market value of the Fund. Scholarships provided from the Fund now total $1,000,000 and include $75,000 in 2004, $175,000 in 2005, $200,000 in 2006, $210,000 in both 2007 and 2008 and $130,000 in 2009.
The investment policy of the Fund dictates that a long term return should be as high as possible, within prudent limits, but at least as high as the S&P 500 (with dividends reinvested). Due to the structure of the classroom setting surrounding the Fund, an infinite time horizon is assumed with a tolerance for risk. The Fund's normal or strategic asset allocation is 100% stocks.
