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.

Knowing how to use best-in-class software tools can provide a competitive advantage to students in the investment management job search process. Undergraduate and Johnson students have a unique advantage in that they have access to a range of analytical tools, including FactSet, Capital IQ, Bloomberg, Morningstar, Zacks Investment Research, Advantage Data and other tools, that rival the best of what investment professionals use, in the state-of-the-art Parker Center trading room. Students are encouraged to sign up for training on the use of these tools. Training sessions can be arranged upon request. For more information, contact Emily Ravet, Administrative Assistant, Parker Center for Investment Research at eer52@cornell.edu.

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. Approximately 6-7 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 Stock Pitch Competition (SPC) and Women In Investing (WIN) Conference

The Parker Center for Investment Research hosts two flagship events in November of every year, the MBA SPC and the WIN conference. Both featuring representatives from top-tier investment management programs and peers from top MBA programs, the events allow students to showcase their stock-picking skills and network with peers and industry professionals alike. The opportunity to represent Cornell’s teams for both these events is determined through a competitive selection process and interested students are encouraged to participate in student tryouts held for this purpose. For the WIN conference, women may attend without having to participate in the stock-pitching portion of the conference. Resume books will be distributed to sponsors at both these events. In addition, students have the opportunity to try out to represent Cornell in other stock-pitching venues that provide recruiting opportunities. For more information on the SPC, WIN, or other competition opportunities, please contact Lakshmi Bhojraj, Breazzano Family Executive Director of the Parker Center for Investment Research at lr10@cornell.edu.