Navigating Market Uncertainty: Lessons from an MBA Student in the Cayuga Fund
Owais Aslam MBA ’25 presenting to the Cayuga Fund class, alongside classmate Alberto Alegria MBA ’25. Photo Credit: Chris Kitchen
Being part of the Cayuga Fund reminded me of something simple: Capital flows to where risk is priced right. That is it. Stories, sentiments, and signals are everywhere, but at the end of the day, capital does not care unless the process behind it is real. I did not join the Cayuga Fund for the name. I joined the fund because I wanted to build a real investment mindset, especially in a market this volatile.
Joining the Cayuga Fund in an uncertain market
The backdrop was not easy. Inflation stuck around longer than anyone expected. Rates did not move the way consensus thought they would. With the election noise and global trade tensions rising again, uncertainty was constant. None of it was theoretical. It forced us to respond—with structure, not guesswork.
I came into the yearlong course already thinking about markets differently. In the first year of the Two-Year MBA Program at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, I participated in the investment research and asset management immersion. This gave me a head start—learning how institutional capital moves when there are actual constraints. That program made me more aware of how allocators think and pushed me to treat every decision in the fund like it had real consequences—because it did.
Behind the scenes of my teams
I was a member of the financials sector team and the investor relations functional team. The financial industry stocks did not play by the usual rules in 2024. Regional banks moved like high-beta tech. Insurers were under pressure. Asset managers fought off consistent outflows. Despite that, the financial sector delivered a 29.4% return and beat our benchmark by over 1,600 basis points (December 31, 2023, to December 31, 2024). Our 3.3% net alpha came from being deliberate, constantly reassessing our exposures and managing through volatility, especially in rate-sensitive and credit-heavy stocks.
On the investor relations team, I worked on updating the endowment and reporting performance results quarterly. That helped me get a clearer picture of what matters to investors: process, downside protection, and consistency. On the investor relations team, I learned quickly that sounding smart is not enough. People want to know if the work holds up.
Fund performance and how we got there
The fund performed well, but for me, it was how we got there that mattered. Sector teams operated as one unit. As a group, we debated harder, incorporated more quantitative inputs, and tightened our risk across the board. That kind of collaboration makes a team durable.
The credit module made a huge difference in my learning journey. This was a year in which refinancing risk, credit spreads, and capital stack durability were real issues. That module helped me get sharper at understanding liquidity traps and asymmetric risk—and how to evaluate balance sheets under stress.
Visiting senior lecturer Chris Meredith’s class on quantitative investing changed the way I thought about portfolio construction. It was not just about coding models—it was about building systems that reflect how capital behaves. We learned how to pressure-test assumptions, link signals to exposures, and think systematically about risk. The class made me more confident in combining intuition with structure—and knowing when one should overrule the other.
Showing up with professional-grade thinking
The Parker Center for Investment Research lab became a place where ideas were tested, not just discussed. Parker Center clinical professor Scott Stewart, lecturer AJ Edwards, and Meredith did not just give feedback; they raised the bar. They expected you to show up with professional-grade thinking, and it made everyone better.
What changed everything for me was realizing this was not a typical classroom exercise. This is a real mandate. Your name is attached to real capital. There’s no grading curve—just outcomes.
The biggest challenge was knowing when conviction becomes stubbornness. As portfolio analysts, we must stick to our framework but quickly adapt. This is not about ego. It is about staying flexible without drifting.
The Cayuga Fund gave me more than a return stat. It gave me structure, and the confidence to know what kind of investor I want to become. I am walking away sharper, clearer, and more grounded in how I think about risk, process, and performance.
That is what I came from; that is what I am leaving with.
About the author
Owais Aslam is a second-year MBA candidate specializing in investment research and asset management. As a portfolio manager for the Cayuga Fund, he covers the financial sector and contributes to the investor relations team. While at Cornell, he cofounded Paroya & Aslam Capital, a firm dedicated to transforming dental practice management through operational excellence and innovative financial solutions. His expertise in mergers and acquisitions and data-driven decision-making has significantly impacted post-acute practices, leading to early success in healthcare mergers and acquisitions following the Affordable Care Act. Aslam is an influential leader within finance and private equity circles at Cornell, further honing his investor relations skills through initiatives like the Johnson Summer Startup Accelerator.