Finds the opportunities
“Should we own this company, and why?”
Pods of three or four analysts take one company at a time and bring the whole case to the room: thesis, model, catalysts, risks, price target.
Investment Fund
Student-run, built around one institutional workflow. Research finds the opportunities. Portfolio Management decides how they fit. An Investment Committee decides where the capital goes.
The philosophy
Nobody owns a slice of the money. Ideas are found, sized, and approved by different people — and every one of them has to survive a challenge first.
“Should we own this company, and why?”
Pods of three or four analysts take one company at a time and bring the whole case to the room: thesis, model, catalysts, risks, price target.
“Does this idea get approved?”
Five seats — the CIO, the Director, and the three team heads — hear the pitch and the Q&A, then debate and vote. Three of five approve.
“Now that it’s approved, how much do we own?”
Only after the committee approves: portfolio fit, correlation with what we already hold, sector exposure, risk, the position size — and exactly where the money comes from.
Research never sizes a position, and Portfolio Management never sources one. That separation is what makes the fund run like a fund — and it's the same separation you'll find on a real desk.
Structure
This is the same chart the leadership team designs in the club's operating system — seats, teams and the people holding them, as they stand today.
The two divisions
Should we own this company, and why?
Every pod works one name at a time and delivers the full institutional package — then pitches it to the whole fund, every week or two. That's a constant pipeline of ideas, and every analyst gets grilled the way they will be in interviews and competitions.
If we agree, how much should we own?
Portfolio Management runs the book: what goes in, how big it is, what it does to risk, and when the macro picture genuinely warrants a tactical move.
Decisions
Four steps, in order. Portfolio Management allocates nothing until the committee has voted.
Once the committee approves an idea, Portfolio Management turns it into a trade: a position size and a funding source. Approval isn't “buy NVIDIA” at any size — and nothing is funded before the vote.
The Bootcamp
Weeks one through three are taught by the Research team, week four by Portfolio Management. Dates are announced when the Bootcamp opens.
Pick a company with alpha. This is what the market sees, this is why the market's wrong — and the catalyst that proves it.
Excel, spreading and forecasting financials, the DCF, comps and precedent transactions, sensitivity and scenario tables.
PowerPoint, how to portray your vision and paint the picture, and when to use a pitch deck versus a one-pager.
Portfolio allocation, risk management, performance measurement, and macro analysis.
The pathway
Competitions aren't a separate club. They're what Research pods grow into.
Every internal pitch is graded on the same six things: thesis, research, modeling, valuation, presentation, and Q&A. By the championship, nobody's ranking is a surprise.
The internal championship brings in alumni and professionals to judge — the same audience you'll face in interviews. The winners are the spring competition team.
Selection
Two stages: a Bootcamp that gives a lot of people a real shot, and an analyst team that stays small enough to manage real capital properly.
Accepted applicants join the four-week Bootcamp — finding a thesis, modeling and valuation, investment memos, and portfolio management.
Apply to the Bootcamp →After the Bootcamp, leadership places analysts on merit — not by asking which team you'd prefer. Didn't make it this time? Reapply next semester; the Bootcamp runs again.
Fund analysts are drawn from YIC members. Apply for the Bootcamp — and if you're not a member yet, join the club first.