Student-run Boulevard Investment Group donates to BBA Scholars

By Meredith Carey

In high school, Doug Rothfeldt convinced his Miami high school to let him invest and manage $65,000 of its endowment. It should come as no surprise that Rothfeldt, now a senior, brought this financial tradition to SMU.

Last Monday, Rothfeldt, along with three fellow seniors and the student-run Boulevard Investment Group they created two years ago, donated $3,000 of realized returns to the BBA Scholars program.

“We had known about the group for some time, so we were not surprised that they donated the money. What surprised us was the amount they were able to donate, and how quickly they were able to make a donation,” said associate dean of BBA admissions, Jim Bryan. “They are clearly very talented.”

For Rothfeldt, the group was a chance to take the classroom to the business world, who simply texted a few of his friends with the idea during his sophomore year. This is the students’ first donation.

“We thought that it would be fun to design a program where we could implement what we were learning in our practicum and finance classes, teach younger students and try to make investment returns to then give back to other business school students,” Rothfeldt said.

“We wanted to do something with our time that wasn’t just studying but using what we were learning in the real world,” co-founder Giuliano Blei said.

The group, registered as a 501(C)(3) non-profit and not affiliated with the university, was formed as an outlet for finance-savvy students. Traditionally, business students are more restricted when they participate in the practicum class, which manages the Ann Rife Cox Endowment Fund.

Read the full story.

# # #