The Carlson Funds Enterprise (CFE) was founded in 1998 by a group of Twin Cities financial executives and Carlson School professors. The Carlson Funds consist of two Limited Liability Companies run by MBA students and selected undergraduates. The Carlson Growth Fund (formerly the Golden Gopher Growth Fund) was funded by four institutions in May 1998 and has grown to include nine participants and a total of $12 million in assets under management. In March 2003, the Carlson Fixed Income Fund was funded by six institutions and now has seven clients and over $14 million in assets. The CFE is among the largest student-run funds management programs of any educational institution, and is unique among our peers in that our participants are institutions and individuals (not donors or university endowment). 

The mission of CFE is to leverage the Carlson School’s combination of faculty and financial community resources to create a real-time learning environment, immersing students in strategic and financial analyses of companies from top to bottom. The program builds on financial concepts learned in traditional classroom settings and provides students with real money to manage and real experience in investment management. The CFE combines classroom concepts, hands-on experience, and industry mentoring to prepare students for real-world jobs. Much of this work takes place in the School’s Financial Markets Lab which is equipped with the same on-line market data services used by investment professionals. For the financial industry, the program provides a pool of highly trained Carlson School graduates who can "hit the ground running" and help their firms prosper. For the Carlson School, the fund enhances the institution's status, strengthens ties to the business community and helps attract topnotch students and faculty - initiating a continuing cycle of ever-improving financial education.