SALT LAKE CITY–Westminster University finance students won both the D.A. Davidson Student Investment Program (SIP) and the Fred Dickson Memorial Award for the period ending August 31, 2026. Westminster University students outperformed students from twenty-one colleges across the Mountain West.
In the D.A. Davidson SIP, twenty-one colleges across the Mountain West receive $50,000 to invest each year, with the profits split with D.A. Davidson above a 5% return. Westminster's 54.8% return topped all other colleges, resulting in a profit-share check for $12,443.
The Fred Dickson Memorial Award honors the most outstanding school in the D.A. Davidson SIP, factoring in investment performance, student engagement, and how well programs stick to their investment process. The Fred Dickson Memorial Award means that Westminster University received an additional $2,000 check and an all-expenses-paid trip to D.A. Davidson's Seattle office for five Westminster students.
Drew Morin, CFP, AIF, CWS, is a financial advisor and an associate vice president of D.A. Davidson. Morin met with students, Dean Dax Jacobson, and Professor Matt Crouse to personally deliver the award checks.
“Westminster University joined the [D.A. Davidson SIP] in 1999, so we’ve enjoyed over two and a half decades of partnership. As you know, it’s real money in real markets. It’s not just a hypothetical paper portfolio. Your portfolio earned a total return of 54.8%. For reference, the S&P returned 20.38% during the same period. You outperformed by almost 34.5%. That’s incredible,” said Morin.
The award checks will be used to support programming in the Bill and Vieve Gore School of Business, ensuring that future students can participate in opportunities like the D.A. Davidson SIP. Current student Benjamin Angerer (’27) and alumni Roman Frost (’26) and Trent Pennington (’26) were part of the winning Westminster University team and were present to receive the award checks.
“A big thanks to D.A. Davidson for allowing us to learn through this program. It was cool to have my first real investing experience, and I’m grateful for the class and opportunity,” said Benjamin.
Roman Frost is now pursuing a Master of Science in Finance (MSF) and credits Westminster’s finance program and the D.A. Davidson SIP with ensuring that he was well prepared for graduate school.
“Every week, we met to talk about the market, macroeconomics, politics, and how those impacted our portfolio. I was super involved, and it was a great group to be a part of,” said Roman.
Trent Pennington spoke about the connection to course material and the D.A. Davidson SIP.
“A huge thanks to Professor Matt Crouse for facilitating this program. We studied just about every financial topic you could think of over two semesters and immediately got to apply that knowledge [through the D.A. Davidson SIP],” Trent said.
According to Professor Matt Crouse, CFA, "The D.A. Davidson SIP has become a mainstay of Westminster’s finance program, offering students the opportunity to manage a portfolio while gaining firsthand experience with real-world investment decisions and accountability. Many schools limit participation in student-led funds, capping enrollment and demanding a rigorous application process. At Westminster, all finance students benefit from this experience, demonstrating another feature of our small class sizes besides personalized attention. What's more, our smaller size means that a sizable proportion of our finance students participate in enriching activities such as the CFA Institute Research Challenge and Banking on Women."
From left to right: Drew Morin, Professor Matt Crouse, Benjamin Angerer ('27), Trent
Pennington ('26), Roman Frost ('26), and Dean Dax Jacobson.
