Senior appreciates time with swim team, investment club as he approaches graduation

Max Matthaei is excited for the future, and credits his time at St. Cloud State University with helping him get there.

Originally from Germany, Matthaei started his postsecondary education at a junior college in Oregon before transferring to SCSU. In addition to St. Cloud State’s swim program and the University’s affordability, he was especially drawn to SCSU’s Herberger Business School for its accreditation.

Matthaei was initially in the management program until he joined the University’s Investment Club his junior year. His involvement in the club led to him switching to a finance major. Matthaei is part of the group of students who manage the Husky Growth Fund — a University owned portfolio that gives students the opportunity to research, analyze, invest and track financial assets for the betterment of the portfolio. Started in 1999 with a beginning value of $100,000, Matthaei said the fund is currently just under $600,000. Students present weekly equity pitches and analyze stocks before voting on where they’ll be investing.

“It’s awesome. You directly apply what you’re learning in the classroom,” he said. “Obviously I learn a lot in my classes, but I improve my knowledge with that fund because I can directly apply what we’ve done in the classroom to the real world.”

Matthaei hopes to start a career in finance — whether through equity research or wealth management and investment banking following his graduation in May 2025. His ultimate goal is to help clients make strong financial decisions.

In addition to being president of the Investment Club, Matthaei is a member of the Huskies swim team and is president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. He said he has especially appreciated his time as a student-athlete on campus.

“It’s hard; swimming is a hard sport,” he said. “We practice a lot, but in the end — when you compete and you’re with your team, it’s really enjoyable.”

Matthaei considers going to conference championships with the swim team as well as going to New York with the Husky Growth Fund to be highlights from his time at SCSU.

“It was life-changing,” he said.

While he’s applying for jobs to see what his next chapter entails, Matthaei is excited about the next steps. While he’s currently looking to enter the financial workforce, he said pursuing a master’s or CFA designation are likely in the cards as well.

“I’ve always been good with numbers and I like to organize numbers and graphs — I’ve always enjoyed that. With finance, if you look at a company, it’s like trying to tell a story — what happens with the company and explaining the numbers,” he said. “It's just very interesting to look at different companies and how their business models vary. There's so many different businesses and they work so differently.”

Throughout his time at St. Cloud State, Matthaei has said he has appreciated how welcoming swim team coach Jeff Hegle has been, and how Dr. William Hudson helped get Matthaei into the finance world as an advisor with the Investment Club. He also credits fellow student Cole Jackson, who worked with him on a CFA research challenge.

"I just really appreciate the chances people gave me here. It helped me to grow a lot for myself, helped me develop my professional skills,” he said. “I’m grateful that I had the chance to be here at SCSU.”