New gift to provide ECU students with hands-on, real-world experiences
A new gift to the College of Business will allow students to gain firsthand experience managing a multi-strategy financial portfolio whose proceeds will pay for high-impact travel and other experiential activities outside the classroom.
A group of graduate and undergraduate COB students visited New York City in fall 2023. The new Blacksail Fund will help finance future student travel opportunities.
Through a $1 million gift from Sanford Bailey ’64, the COB will establish the Blacksail Fund, a student-managed investment fund under faculty oversight. Select students in a finance-related program, student organization or course will work under the direct supervision of a faculty advisor to assist with fund management and investing decisions. Periodically, information from the Blacksail Fund will be shared with the ECU Foundation Investment Committee.
A portion of the gift will be used for startup expenses, including faculty stipends and the acquisition and ongoing support of a Bloomberg Terminal located in the COB.
Bailey’s intent is for investment returns from the Blacksail Fund to pay for student travel experiences and experiential learning opportunities.
“Mr. Bailey’s generous investment will provide experiential learning opportunities for ECU students, especially in the College of Business,” Chancellor Philip Rogers said. “When donors support our mission and strategic plan priorities in the way Mr. Bailey has, our entire university benefits. This innovative learning opportunity will help prepare graduates for success at ECU and beyond.”
The Blacksail Fund, according to COB Dean Mike Harris, provides students with transformative opportunities that combine their classroom knowledge with business destinations and opportunities to meet with successful alumni and business leaders.
“The return on investment the fund will provide the college is two-fold,” said Harris. “Obviously, the financial return on the initial and future funding will support high-impact travel experiences for our students. Additionally, the hands-on professional experience and mentoring the students receive from operating the fund will have them well prepared for their future career choices.”
The faculty advisor for the Blacksail Fund will be Matthew Slate ’96, a 28-year financial services industry veteran who also teaches financial markets and institutions in the COB.
“We have work to do,” said Slate. “We’ve got a roadmap to lay out bylaws, investment policy statements, and how we can think about setting up the fund,” said Slate.
“There is going to be an advanced curriculum in investment strategy taught by experienced faculty with a background in investment management,” said Bailey, whose gift was set up to be a perpetual investment that will provide funding for future travel opportunities.
Bailey and COB leadership hope that the Blacksail fund will be an opportunity for others to give and support business students.
“What an amazing opportunity this presents for our students interested in investing,” said Brenda Wells, COB’s Department of Finance and Insurance chair. “I’m thrilled that we are bringing this to Pirate Nation, and I deeply appreciate the Baileys’ generosity.”