Silberman College of Business Offers Online MBA Program

An accomplished wealth manager, Ken Mathieson applies more than 30 years of experience in the finance industry in his role as the managing director of Laidlaw Asset Management. Prior to working in an executive capacity at Prudential Securities, Smith Barney, and Morgan Stanley, Ken Mathieson earned an MBA in finance from the Silberman College of Business at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Ranked among the best business schools by Princeton Review (2018), the Silberman College of Business offers undergraduate, graduate, and combined degree programs in accounting, finance, international business, management, and marketing. Silberman has a 31-month accredited online MBA program that provides opportunities for students and young professionals to enhance their competencies in the areas of innovation, business strategy, organizational growth, project management, and human resources.

The online MBA curriculum comprises 12 credits of foundational courses, 18 MBA credits, 10 discipline-enhancing credits, and a two-credit capstone course. Students who have taken related undergraduate courses may request to waive up to 12 credits of foundational courses in financial accounting, statistics and data analysis, economic analysis, and basic principles of finance, management, and marketing. To ease some of the financial burdens, Silberman grants financial aid through scholarships and loans. The college also allows students to transfer academic credits from other universities. Visit https://online.fdu.edu/online-degrees/online-mba/ to learn more about the program.

Choosing Between a Private Foundation and Donor Advised Fund

Ken Mathieson is a respected presence in the New York financial services sphere who currently holds responsibilities as founding partner of Laidlaw Asset Management, LLC. Working with family, corporate, and institutional investors, Ken Mathieson has extensive knowledge of multi-generational strategies that preserve and sustain wealth.

For those looking to leave behind a lasting legacy, two central strategies are a donor advised fund (DAFs) or a private foundation. Providing a sense of prestige and purpose, foundations provide donors with complete control over which qualified charities are given grants. They also offer control over board member and trustee succession over the lifetime of the organization. 

By their nature, foundations are complex with extensive paperwork, as well as the involvement of upfront and annual maintenance fees. In addition, they must annually pay between one to two percent of net investment income to satisfy the excise tax and distribute five percent of their total assets. 

In contrast, DAFs can be set up immediately with no upfront costs involved, and they offer superior tax benefits when it comes to deducting charitable donations. With no excise tax placed on investment gains, they also offer more privacy than foundations, as they can’t be looked up in public databases. 

An overarching advantage of both vehicles is that they enable control over tax deduction timing and when charities distribute funds. This can be strategic move during years of unusually high income.