The Stetson Board of Trustees has allocated $4 million from the university’s $440-million endowment to the student-led Roland George Investments Program, reflecting confidence in the program’s strong performance and sustained success.

The allocation coincides with plans by the School of Business Administration to launch a new Investments Center on campus to bring Roland George and other investment programs together in one location.

With the additional $4 million, the Roland George program ranks as one of the largest student-run investment programs in the country in terms of assets under management with more than $11.5 million.

A frequent winner in state and national competitions, the Roland George program has a history of outperforming the market. Student-analysts conduct their own research and recommend transactions from a state-of-the-art trading room in the Lynn Business Center.

In providing the $4 million, the Board of Trustees directed the program to match the benchmarks used for the university’s overall endowment. This will require a longer-term strategy to buy and hold assets that follow a major market index, instead of trying to beat it.

By overseeing both active and passive investments, the student-analysts will gain a broader range of experience, better preparing them for careers with investment management firms.

“For the students, this is a differentiator because it gives them exposure to not just actively managing portfolios where they’re trading and trying to beat the benchmark,” said Matthew Imes, Director of the Roland George Investments Program, and the Roland and Sarah George Chair of Finance.

“On the passive side, which is increasingly a big chunk of asset management, they have a benchmark and they’re trying to match it as efficiently as possible,” he said.

Students in the Roland George program enjoy a 100% success rate after graduation. Many graduates receive multiple job offers and work for top investment firms like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BNP Paribas and others.

Through programs like Roland George, Stetson takes students way beyond their course material and into real-world applications and immersive experiences. That means with a Stetson degree, students are ready to step into their next chapter with confidence.

The new Investments Center will build on this success and expand opportunities for students.

In addition to the Roland George program, the center will include the Hatter Angel Network, a student-led program that invests in privately held companies. The Certified Financial Planning program will be housed in the center, too, preparing students to work in the retail side of the industry, focused on wealth management and financial planning and advising.

“One of the benefits of the center is it allows students to get involved immediately, first in the Finance Club and then in their sophomore year, we are preparing and equipping them to go into the Roland George, Hatter Angel or CFP program with a broader range of knowledge, experience and credentials than we’ve seen in the past,” Imes said.

“I think it will improve and increase the number of students who are involved in these programs and benefit from them, especially in their careers after graduation.”