Investment Professionals & Mentors
Dedication. Expertise. Passion.
About the Investment Team
The Spires Trading Team began managing money for the University of Saint Mary in 2021. This transformative college experience originated from the creative imagination of Kevin Fox, a friend of the university, who has more than 30 years experience as an investor and manager for leading U.S. hedge funds. Mr. Phil Watlington, a longtime professor of accounting and finance in the university’s business program, coaches the team and has since its inception. In late 2024, the university reorganized the trading fund into Saint Mary Fund Investments, LLC, a subsidiary of Saint Mary Fund, Inc., a non-profit tax exempt 501(c)(3) operating under an independent board of directors and open to investment by accredited investors. All profits that accrue to Saint Mary Fund, Inc., will be used for general charitable purposes of the university, predominantly scholarships.
Spires Trading Team
FOUNDER AND PORTFOLIO MANAGER
Kevin Fox manages his personal investment portfolio after a long career as an innovator and leader for some of the nation’s largest hedge funds. He managed trading and investment teams for the Millennium multi strategy hedge fund, and he started and managed the energy trading groups for both D.E. Shaw & Co., L..P. , and for Aquila, Inc. in Kansas City, Mo. Notably, Kevin held engineering and management positions at Long Island Lighting Company, culminating in division manager responsibilities for Lilco’s electricity generation facilities where he helped establish interregional natural gas trading markets. At General Dynamics Corp, Kevin spent two years building reactor compartments and engine rooms for nuclear powered submarines. He earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering from the New York Maritime College and received M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Polytechnic University.
meet the Team
Meet the Team Helping Students Learn Professional Money Management Techniques in a Transformative College Experience
Phil Watlington
secretary and faculty advisor
Phil Watlington teaches Finance, Accounting and Economics. Phil earned a Master’s Degree in Accounting from the University of Missouri. In his first career, Phil retired from the General Electric Company as a Division Financial Director after serving in various financial leadership positions over his 26-year career there. Phil has authored several books and his upcoming book, One Step from Heaven and Two from Hell, deals with business ethics and character for today’s young business leaders. In 2024, Phil was recognized as the Saint Marian of the Year award winner for his work with the Trading Team.
ANDREW BLACK
VICE president
Andrew graduated from S.U.N.Y. Maritime college in 1981 with a Bachelor of Engineering degree. Following a year working in shoreside engineering he went to sea, sailing out of New York harbor, predominantly on coastal oil tankers and tugboats. After a few years at sea, an industrial accident interrupted his career as a Merchant Marine engineer, and he came ashore for good. In 1987 he earned a master’s degree in science education at Syracuse University and began teaching science to middle school and high school students on Long Island, New York. During his 34-year career in public school education Andrew earned two more master’s degrees in education: one in Education Administration from Dowling College, and the other in Educational Technology from Long Island University, CW Post. Andrew and his wife relocated from Long Island to western Missouri three years ago and he serves as a volunteer teacher and mentor to the Spires Trading Team.
harold bradley
vice president
Harold retired as chief investment officer of the $1.8 bb Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. He also worked twenty years at American Century mutual funds in a variety of investment roles – serving as group chief investment officer (~$9.0 bb AUM), portfolio manager, head of trading, and director of the American Century Tomorrow quantitative engineering group. Harold has served on many boards, with deep experience in mutual funds, foundations and endowments, exchanges, venture capital and hedge funds. He led a team of quantitative finance engineers at American Century, exploiting artificial intelligence techniques, including fuzzy logic and evolutionary algorithms. He currently serves on the board of Ironstone Properties (IRNS). He was a member of the CFA Institute’s Board of Regents, and previously served on the NYSE EuroNext Pension Managers Advisory Committee, the Investment Company Institute Task Force on Market Structure and was appointed by SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt to the Federal Advisory Committee on Market Data.
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