Early Bird

Reimagined plans

Northstar Investment Advisors celebrates anniversary with a gift to Roadrunners.

By Lynne Winter ’17

November 3, 2020

Like many organizations, Northstar Investment Advisors had its plans for 2020 thwarted by COVID-19.

“At the beginning of the year, we were planning a 25^th-anniversary party for the spring. Then, the pandemic struck,” said Fred Taylor, president and co-founder of the fiduciary investment-advisory firm and Metropolitan State University of Denver partner. “Given the impact of COVID-19, it was no longer possible to get together, but we still wanted to celebrate.”

The question was, how?

Taylor thought back to earlier in the year, when he guest-lectured for Adam Schor’s Advanced Investment Management course in MSU Denver’s Department of Finance, where senior-level students manage a live equity portfolio with cash value.

“The students left quite an impression on me,” Taylor said. “I could feel their overwhelming passion for what they were learning, and after class, at least 10 of them approached me for a business card.”

Unfortunately, COVID-19 struck before Taylor could meet with the students who reached out. Still, the experience gave rise to an innovative way for Northstar to recognize its silver anniversary.

“My partners and I asked ourselves what we could do to make a significant difference in our community,” Taylor said. “We wanted to contribute by funding a scholarship, and where better to make a lasting impact than at MSU Denver?”

As a result, the Northstar Investment Advisors Annual Scholarship was established. Each year, over the next five years, two scholarships will be awarded to students planning to enter the financial industry. Taylor says Northstar wants the field to diversify, to feel welcoming and to be accessible to anyone interested in joining. A scholarship felt like the best way to provide students at MSU Denver with a pathway into the profession.

“Because the quality education that students receive is affordable, a $5,000-a-year scholarship can make a meaningful difference,” he said. “It's not just a drop in the bucket like it might be somewhere else.”

Taylor is hopeful other financial firms will follow suit and join Northstar in connecting with people who might not have previously considered a career in finance.

“It’s time to think outside the box to make things happen and attract people to our industry who are typically underrepresented,” he added. “We want a diversity of identities and experiences in the financial field.”

The Northstar Investment Advisors Annual Scholarship was awarded for the first time this fall, and Taylor was recently able to meet the recipient virtually. A first-generation college student, Miguel Moroyoqui will graduate in December with a B.S. in finance, a major that will capitalize on his math skills and expand his budgeting and investing knowledge.

“Miguel is a great kid,” said Taylor. “Not only does he want to educate people to help them maximize their earnings, but he also wants to support his hardworking parents with his career in finance.”

In the future, Taylor hopes Northstar can offer internships to scholarship recipients. He knows it is tremendously helpful to students when they are looking for a job after graduating if their learning is supplemented with real-world experience and mentorship.

“We’re disappointed that we can’t have interns in the office right now – having that on a résumé paves the road to being hired – but some things can’t be done virtually,” he said.

Even before his guest-lecturing stint, Taylor attended a lunch with University leadership that left him feeling like MSU Denver’s values fit nicely with Northstar’s, making the decision to invest in Roadrunners easy.

“Everything came together at the right time – a confluence of connections,” he said. “It felt really good to do something like this.”

For more information about creating opportunities for students, contact University Advancement at ua@msudenver.edu.