Investing in Dragons

When Mike Benson wrote a $5,000 check to Minnesota State University Moorhead nearly two decades ago, he wasn't thinking about creating a $400,000 investment portfolio.

He was thinking about his dad. 

Benson, a 1971 marketing graduate, had recently lost his father—a World War II veteran, teacher, farmer and lifelong learner who had a passion for the stock market. He believed in living within your means, investing wisely, and letting time do the work. "Just because you have money doesn't mean you have to spend it," his father often said.

At the same time, Benson was serving on MSUM's School of Business advisory board when faculty began discussing the idea of creating a student-managed investment fund, led by then-chair Dr. Olgun Sahin. The concept immediately resonated with Benson. "My dad would have loved this idea," Benson said. "The next day, I wrote the check."

That single gift became the seed that grew into today's Dragon Investment Fund—a student-managed portfolio valued at more than $400,000 that gives Dragons something many finance students don't experience until after graduation: responsibility for investing real money.

Learning Beyond the Classroom

In the Dragon Investment Fund, finance isn't just something students study—it's something they do. Students enrolled in the one-credit course research companies, analyze financial statements, evaluate economic trends, debate investment strategies, and make recommendations for buying or selling securities. Working under the guidance of faculty and an advisory board of investment professionals, they help manage a real investment portfolio with real consequences. It's a learning experience that extends well beyond textbooks.

Students learn how to assess a company's financial health, weigh risk against opportunity, build diversified portfolios, and defend their investment decisions as part of a collaborative team. Along the way, they sharpen critical thinking, communication, leadership, and professional skills that employers value. The course can be taken for up to four semesters, allowing students to build their expertise while mentoring newer members and experiencing the long-term impact of investment decisions.

From Classroom Exercise to Career Advantage

What began as an investment club has evolved into one of the Paseka School of Business's most valuable experiential learning opportunities. Since its inception, approximately 120 students have served as fund managers, gaining hands-on experience that helps distinguish them in a competitive job market. "Student fund managers are working with live money and gaining knowledge," Benson said. "It's a great way to get hands-on experience and is helpful to add to a résumé."

 Managing an actual investment portfolio also teaches something impossible to replicate in a simulation: accountability. Every recommendation has consequences. Every market shift becomes a learning opportunity. Every discussion mirrors the collaborative decision-making students will encounter throughout their careers.

Growing Through Generosity

The Dragon Investment Fund has grown steadily thanks to thoughtful investing and the generosity of alumni, faculty, staff, and friends who have contributed over the years. Benson has continued making annual gifts, watching the fund grow far beyond what he first imagined. "At first, I wasn't sure what this could become," he said. "Now it's an example of something that started small but has helped a lot of people." The fund's long-term vision reaches beyond investment education. As it continues to grow, a portion of its annual earnings may eventually support scholarships, experiential learning opportunities, and other initiatives that further enhance student success—creating even greater impact for future generations of Dragons.

A Legacy that Keeps Growing

For Benson, the Dragon Investment Fund represents more than financial education. It honors the values his father lived every day: patience, discipline, thoughtful decision-making, and planning for the future. His mother also instilled in him the importance of financial planning, keeping track of her own stocks on the market and tracking her year-year progress. Those lessons shaped Benson's own successful career in the insurance industry, and he hopes today's students will carry them into their own lives and careers. "I truly believe the success I've had was in part from what my family taught me, but also from my start at Moorhead State," he said.

Every semester, another group of students gathers around conference tables, studies market trends, challenges one another's ideas, and makes investment decisions that will influence the future of the fund. They leave with more than stronger résumés—they leave with confidence, experience, and a deeper understanding of how thoughtful decisions today can create opportunities tomorrow.

Just as one alumnus's gift has done for nearly two decades.