THE MOLINAS:
A Family of World Changers Continues its Legacy and Commitment to the Men of Moeller
Today’s world presents challenges to individuals and countries alike that financial markets will need to help solve. And with financial responsibility for funding retirement increasingly shifting
Student-Run Endowment Introduced at Moeller
from employers and governments to the individual, financial literacy has never been more important. Moeller has the opportunity to address this challenge and amplify positive change in the world by educating students on how to invest and manage their finances. The Moeller business department has been educating students about how to invest and manage their finances for the last several years. From finance classes to investment club, the young Men of Moeller are learning financial responsibility for themselves and for the world around them.
The Raise the Shield capital campaign raised funds to build a one-of-its-kind high school innovation hub. This building will house classrooms and investment centers where students will have state-of-the-art tools to learn about and work with financial and investment principles through discovery and practical experience. The hub will be modeled after the University of Dayton’s Davis Center for Portfolio Management the brainchild of Business School Dean Dr. Sam Gould and Founding Center Director, Dr. David Sauer, with critical sponsorship and industry introductions by UD Board Trustee Dr. Robert Froehlich. The Davis Center is comprised of 60 students from across the University who gain real-world portfolio management and leadership development each year. The center’s high-tech investment technology classroom is equipped with industry-leading financial analysis software including eight Bloomberg terminals and Morningstar Direct.1
Also paramount to the founding of the Davis Center was two Moeller graduates: Dan ’93 and Adam ’96 Molina. Dan and Adam are sons of Cuban refugees Daniel ’70 and Maria Molina.
Daniel and Maria Molina
Adam Molina
Dan Molina
To help get the Davis Center off the ground, Dan, as part of his master’s thesis, completed an independent study with Dr. Sauer. Completed in April 1999, The Relative Historical Performance of Diverse Assets and Styles and Their Implications for Optimal Asset Allocation, tracked investment patterns over nearly 20 years providing statistical risk assessment across asset classes. The study contributed to a body of work utilized by Dr. Sauer in teaching future Davis Center fund managers.
The August 1999 launch of the Davis Center and the establishment of the student team responsible for managing $1,000,000 of the UD endowment was an endeavor with no blueprint. Following Dan’s introduction, a close partnership between Dr. Sauer and Adam formed that would bring something new to life. “What made UD’s center unique was the combination of a physical trading floor equipped with the same hardware, software and media you’d find in the real world,” said Adam, “add that to Dr. Sauer’s integrated academic curriculum and a competitively-vetted investment team to run the fund. Some universities had a program with one component. None had all three at the time.” The success of this program can be seen in the numbers. The Flyer Investment team has grown the original $1 million investment into $56.6 million as of June 30, 2021
At right: Adam Molina and Dr. Sauer on the cover of Dayton Business Leader, 2001
“What made UD’s center unique was the combination of a physical trading floor equipped with the same hardware, software and media you’d find in the real world. Add that to Dr. Sauer’s integrated academic curriculum and a competitivelyvetted investment team to run the fund. Some universities had a program with one component. None had all three at the time.”
- Adam Molina
The Davis Center soon followed its launch by founding the annual R.I.S.E. (Redefining Investment Strategy Education) symposium which gained national attention from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a symposium participant, and coverage by CNBC and the USA Today. The Davis Center members rang the bell for both NASDAQ & NYSE Stock Markets.
“Learning investments, working with Dr. Sauer to design the center’s student structure, and leading the inaugural team catalyzed my career. The exposure and network gained from the program led to an introduction to Dennis Buchert (Moeller ’64; UD ‘68) who opened doors to a finance career in New York. This created an employment channel into New York City for me and future UD grads which, up until then, was pretty limited.”
- Adam Molina
Another Dayton Flyer and Moeller champion, Bill Hunt, actively supported both the Davis Center and R.I.S.E. He played an instrumental role in creating the Joe Belle Young Alumni Award, which Adam won its inaugural year in 2002.
“In both Dr. Sauer and Adam’s work you saw the patience and persistence to catalyze change and I was often reminded of how Fr. Chaminade saw change evolving,” said Bill. “He often compared the change process to a brook that encounters obstacles, sees those as temporary and negotiates them by growing broader and deeper and eventually overflowing the obstacle.”
- Bill Hunt
RELATIONAL EXPERIENTIAL AUTHENTIC LEARNING
Bringing a similar opportunity of a student-run endowment to Moeller was a natural next step for both the Molinas and Marshall Hyzdu, president of Moeller and a 1996 alumnus. Adam and Marshall were classmates at Moeller and Marshall knew of Adam’s success with the endowment investment program. He also saw how it was a game-changer for student managers after graduating from UD. “It is our goal to make the Men of Moeller into world changers. This real-world approach to learning is at the core of a Moeller education, and learning to manage money with an ethical, Catholic foundation will only elevate the success of our students who are part of this,” said Hyzdu, “I am amazed by the Molina family’s commitment to the Men of Moeller. They show their passion for Moeller with three generations of Molina men calling Moeller home, and they continue to reach out to students through scholarships and by creating more REALearning: relational, experiential, authentic.”
Moeller’s student-run endowment will be the largest of its kind in the country. Students will have $100,000 to begin. This is Moeller’s academic philosophy of REALearning at its best. REALearning encompasses Relational, Experiential and Authentic learning. The real-world nature of the student-run endowment does not just give the students a taste of what the investment world holds, it immerses them in the experience. Adam and Dan Molina’s generosity and dedication to bring the student-run endowment to the Moeller Innovation Hub will make a lasting impact on the Men of Moeller for generations to come.
Molina Men of Moeller Left to Right: Charles Molina ’67 Rene Molina ’69 Daniel Molina Sr. ’70
Jose P. Arencibia ’70 Bryan Molina ‘92 Dan Molina ‘93
Mike Molina ’96 Adam Molina ’96 Roland Molina ’97
Current Student: Joshua Molina ’25
Catholic. Marianist. Forming our Students into Remarkable Men.