UNT Wins a $50,000 Grant; Dave Ringing the NYSE Bell Today
Submitted by Grunden Financial Advisory, Inc on July 22nd, 2015Grunden Financial Advisory, Inc. congratulates the University of North Texas’ financial planning program for winning a $50,000 grant from TD Ameritrade! Our very own Dave Ragan drafted UNT’s winning grant submission and will now implement portions of the grant’s proposals over the next two years. In addition to Dave’s attentive service to Grunden clients, he is also professor of the capstone financial planning course at UNT.
Grunden aligns with TD Ameritrade because of their outstanding custody services for our clients and their exemplary commitment to the financial advisory industry.
“Registered investment advisors as a group are aging: roughly half are 55 years or older, and many of them will be looking to retire over the next decade,” said Tom Nally, president of TD Ameritrade Institutional, in a June press release. “Add that with the fact that fewer than 8 percent of advisors are under 35, and it’s clear our industry needs more young professionals to join us and help families better manage their finances.” With help from the TD Ameritrade grant, UNT aims to bring more qualified students into the profession.
UNT proposed unique ideas to boost students enrolled in the financial services program, increase financial literacy among college students, fund an internship program between the financial planning department and the Student Money Management Center, and introduce a live case study to the capstone financial planning course. Additionally, UNT will document the steps taken in each of these areas and disseminate the process to other universities across the nation. This will help position UNT as one of the leaders within the financial planning profession.
To celebrate and announce the award, TD Ameritrade Institutional is sponsoring Dave, along with Marcia Staff, the department chair, and Scrappy, the UNT Mascot, to New York City to participate in the New York Stock Exchange closing bell ceremony today, Wednesday, July 22. To watch the NYSE bell ringing ceremony, tune to CNBC a little before 3:00 CST. You may also watch the event beginning at 2:55 at https://www.nyse.com/bell.
Click here for UNT's press release.