History

History & Founders of the Funds Enterprise

US Bank Trading Floor

It all started in 1997, when University of Minnesota Professor- Tim Nantell- made a special visit to Dean Kidwell's office to explain to the Carlson School Dean that the school is situated near a large financial community and that students at the Carlson School of Management could greatly benefit from the expertise of the professionals in the area.

It wasn't until 1998, that the program started to take shape. A group of investment professional visionaries set out to build what is now one of the most successful student-managed funds in the country. Based on the model created by The University of Texas McCombs School of Business, this group of dedicated investment professionals were able to convince Carlson School leaders that this program would teach students how to apply their learning to the real-world and would have a substantial impact on the caliber of students entering, as well as graduating from, the Carlson School of Management.

The program, originally known as the Financial Community Partnership Program (FCPP), was established in early 1998 and launched the Golden Gopher Growth Fund when US Bank invested the first $1 million. This program was positioned to be the "bridge" between the theory-based academic world and an application-oriented financial industry and became so successful that local companies invested an additional $11 million to start the Carlson Fixed Income Fund in 2003.

Bruce Anderson

Bruce Anderson cofounded the investment firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, or WCAS, and has been a general partner of WCAS since March 1979. Prior to that, he served for nine years with Automatic Data Processing, Inc., or ADP, where, as executive vice president and a director of ADP, and president of ADP International, he was active in corporate development and general management. Before joining ADP, Mr. Anderson spent four years in computer marketing with IBM. He holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota.

William H Dudley

Bill Dudley forged a 41-year career with American Express Financial Advisors that began in 1955 in the Securities Research department at IDS. In 1989, Dudley was instrumental in founding the Friendship Foundation; a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children and adults with mental retardation and other department disabilities, and their families. Dudley received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business from the Carlson School of Management and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program.

Herbert Hanson (1924 - 2010)

Herb Hanson, who was a former member of the Carlson School's Board of Overseers, founded the San Francisco-based Hanson Investment Management Co., a money management firm with more than $3 billion in assets when he retired in 1993. Hanson said his gift is in gratitude for the education he received at the University of Minnesota. Hanson helped launch the Carlson Funds Enterprise and provided the lead funding for construction of Hanson Hall, which houses the Carlson School undergraduate business program. Hanson said he credits his success to the late professor Arthur Upgren, who became a close friend and mentor. Herb received his degree in economics from the University of Minnesota.

Al Harrison

Al Harrison is the retired Vice Chairman of the Board for Alliance Capital Management Corp. He holds a B.A. and M.A. with honors from Christ's College, Cambridge University, in England. Prior to joining Alliance Capital in 1978, Harrison was President, CEO and cofounder of IDS Advisory Corp. He had previously managed the IDS Progressive Fund, a large mutual fund oriented to capital appreciation. He and his wife have generously supported the arts and championed organizations and institutions focusing on higher education, international health and human services, and children's health.

David R Hubers

Dave Hubers served as Chief Executive Officer, Chairman and President of American Express Financial Advisors Inc., from August 1993 to June 2001. Mr. Hubers joined American Express Financial Advisors Inc., in 1965 and held various positions until being named Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer in 1982. He served on the Boards of Directors of the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, Fairview Hospitals, the National Council on Economic Education, American Express Mutual Fund Group, and American Express Property Casualty Co. Mr. Hubers has B.S. and M.B.A. degrees from the University of Minnesota.

Jay Kiedrowski

Jay Kiedrowski is a senior fellow in the Public and Nonprofit Leadership Center at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Before coming to the University of Minnesota in 2004, Kiedrowski was the executive vice president for Wells Fargo. He was responsible for leading institutional trust, institutional brokerage, and trust operations for the merged Northwest/Wells Fargo organization. Kiedrowski earned a B.S.M.E. in industrial engineering from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Arts from the University's School of Public Affairs. He also earned an Ed.D. from St. Mary's University of Minnesota.

Lou Nanne

Mr. Lou Nanne is a Senior Managing Director and National Sales Manager at RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc. He is responsible for oversight of institutional sales and marketing efforts throughout the United States and Canada. Mr. Nanne has been in the investment industry since 1991 and joined the firm in 1994. Mr. Nanne has received a B.S.B. from the University of Minnesota.

Tim Nantell

Tim Nantell has been an instructor at the University of Minnesota since 1980 and has held positions including Acting Dean, Associate Dean of Faculty, Finance Department Chairperson, and Faculty Director of the MBA Program. He was instrumental in the development and launch of the Carlson Funds Enterprise. His current research and teaching interests concern valuation models and their application. He has been recognized for teaching excellence in the MBA Program a number of times and was named 'Dedicated Faculty Member of the Year' by the MBA classes of 2002 and 2003. In 2004, he was given an Outstanding Service Award by the Carlson School.

David Runkle

David Runkle, Director of Quantitative Research for Trilogy Global Advisors, LLC, has 20 years of investment and related experience. He joined Trilogy in 2007 from Piper Jaffray, where he was an Investment Research Manager. Mr. Runkle has been an award-winning professor in finance, accounting, and economics at Brown University and the University of Minnesota, and has served as a Research Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. In addition to holding a PhD in economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mr. Runkle has earned CPA and CFA credentials and has served on the CFA Institute's Curriculum Committee and Corporate Disclosure Policy Committee.

William Westhoff

Bill Westhoff started Lakeview Investment Advisors in 2002 as a small investment advisory firm dedicated to using his investment experience to help his individual clients preserve and build wealth. Before starting Lakeview, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of Minnesota Life Insurance Company and President of Advantus Capital Management. Prior to joining Advantus, Bill spent 26 years with American Express Financial Advisors. His most recent experience was Senior Vice President of global investments, responsible for all equity and fixed income international investments, including offices in London and Hong Kong. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of fixed income management and was responsible for fixed income asset investments. During this time he also managed two mutual funds and served as Chief Investment Officer of IDS Life Insurance Company.

Other Honorable Mentions

Dedicated Community Contributors 

  • Sally Anderson
  • Nelson Cevello
  • Larry Denviste
  • Katherine Donnovan
  • David Grandstrand
  • Jon Horick
  • Mark Jordahl
  • Mort Silverman
  • Matt Thompson

 Previous Staff Members

  • Joe Barsky
  • Tom Brakke
  • Jerry Caruso
  • Emily Dombeck
  • Linda Henderson
  • David Kidwell
  • Sue Kaseus
  • Jeannette Parr
  • Corey Redfield
  • Paul Richardson
  • Paul Seguin
  • Bonnie Till

 Previous Academic Contributors

  • Gordon Alexander
  • Raj Aggarwal
  • Murray Frank
  • Bob Goldstein

 

FundsAllianceCapital
Alliance Capital invests in student-managed fund
Funds-NorwestFund
Norwest sees $1 million fund investment paying off in several ways

 

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