The Asset Management Track

Students wishing to pursue investment management careers will typically enroll in the capstone asset management course, Applied Portfolio Management, informally known as the Cayuga Fund course, in the second year of their MBA program, or, if undergraduates, in their junior or senior year in college.  This is the course in which students have an opportunity to serve as portfolio managers, managing real money, in the approximately $1.5 million Cayuga Fund.  Students who wish to enroll in Applied Portfolio Management cannot pursue study abroad or other Johnson programs requiring a significant time commitment such as Big Red Ventures. For more information on the Cayuga Fund, please click The Cayuga Fund on the left nav.

In addition to the Cayuga Fund course, Johnson offers several other courses tailored to meet the needs of future investment professionals. These include courses in financial statement analysis, financial markets and institutions, intermediate accounting, corporate governance and policy, ethics, and others.  We encourage students to see any of the Parker Center faculty or staff for more information on how best to prepare for asset management careers.

We encourage undergraduates interested in exploring investment management careers to take the capstone class in asset management at Johnson, the Cayuga Fund class, in which select students have the unique opportunity to manage real money for the Cornell University endowment.  In order to be prepared to take this course in the fall, undergraduates should take Professor Scott Stewart’s Equity Investment Research and Analysis course (NBA 4120) as a pre-requisite.  Undergraduates would also benefit from attending the Parker Center’s flagship events, the Undergraduate Stock Pitch Challenge and the Undergraduate Women in Investing conference in the fall semester of their sophomore, junior, or senior years.  These events are also meant to facilitate the networking and recruiting opportunities for selected students and are therefore, a great opportunity to get in front of recruiters.   For more information on these events, please contact Lakshmi Bhojraj, Breazzano Family Executive Director of the Parker Center for Investment Research at lr10@cornell.edu.

Cayuga Fund First Year Sector Analyst Program

A unique opportunity for students interested in pursuing investment management careers is the Cayuga Fund first-year sector analyst program – an opportunity to be involved in the management of the Cayuga Fund in the first year of their MBA program for course credit. First-year students are selected through a competitive process for this opportunity. Successful students are paired with a second-year Cayuga Fund analyst and can begin covering a sector and pitching stocks into the fund as assistant portfolio managers. They are also given the unique opportunity to be featured in the Cayuga Fund annual report and can indicate their position on their resumes.

Fall Treks and the Investment Management Club (IMC)

Every fall, the CMC coordinates an informational trek to Boston to visit with several investment management firms and hear from investment professionals, including successful Johnson alumni. These sessions offer an invaluable peek into each firm’s distinct culture, what it takes to succeed in the investment management business, and allows students to ask questions in an organized forum. To learn more, please contact Dave Capaldi, Director, Career Management Center at dbc3@cornell.edu. In addition, the student-run Investment Management Club (IMC) also organizes other trips to NYC. Joining the IMC is a must for students interested in pursuing investment research careers on the buyside or sellside, sales, trading, or private wealth management.

MBA Women In Investing (WIN) Conference

The Parker Center for Investment Research host two flagship events in November of every year, MBA WIN conference. The conference features representatives from top-tier investment management programs and peers from top MBA programs, the event allows students to showcase their stock-picking skills and network with peers and industry professionals alike. The opportunity to represent Cornell’s teams for the conference is determined through a competitive selection process. For the WIN conference, students may attend without having to participate in the stock-pitching portion of the conference. Resume books will be distributed to sponsors.