A team of undergraduate students from the Smeal College of Business recently won the University of Michigan Ross School of Business 2015 Stock Pitch Competition.
Finance majors Vlad Munteanu, Ameya Naik, Michele Carchedi and Aleksei Cremo teamed up to defeat teams from more than 20 other leading U.S. business schools.
The teams made an equity presentation to a panel of industry professionals in both preliminary and final rounds. The Smeal team’s winning investment idea was a buy for Ralph Lauren Corp.
All four students participate in Smeal’s Nittany Lion Fund (NLF), a $7 million student-managed, investor-owned equity fund. Team members said they owe their success to experience built in the NLF.
“The Nittany Lion Fund teaches you what makes a good stock. Not only are we constantly searching for good investments, but we are forced to defend our losers each day,” Cremo said. “The level of conviction behind each stock that we have ever pitched in the fund was absolutely the driving force that prepared us for this stock pitch competition.”
All four students have already accepted investment banking positions at major Wall Street firms.