Ivy Capital Management Launches First University Branch at UPenn
Baystreet Staff.
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Baystreet, 19 October 2015
Ivy Capital Management (ICM), an investment firm based in New York City, has kicked off its University Program by opening its first branch at the University of Pennsylvania. ICM currently has over $500,000 assets under management just months after incorporation. ICM is also backed by multiple hedge funds and corporate sponsors.
The inaugural branch of ICM University was recently celebrated with an invite-only beta launch, where guests learned about opportunities to join the founding team of the UPenn branch and further career opportunities with the ICM firm.
The goal of ICM Universities is to provide a select group of undergraduate students with the opportunity to be involved in managing a real fund. The ICM Universities program emphasizes a hands-on approach, where members, all university undergraduates, will be taught the basics of investment research and analysis. The program also enables students who do not invest in the fund itself to be involved with ICM by working with investment partners in coming up with investment solutions.
Each University branch operates as an entity under the ICM brand but not bound by liability issues arising from the firm’s financial operations. Instead, university branches operate as independent clubs that serve to familiarize students at the respective universities with investing: students gain exposure to the world of investing through creating stock pitches, which are presented to ICM’s investment partners every month. Outstanding members of the different university branches will then be invited to become part-time principals at the ICM firm, and will receive invitations to ICM Investment Partner meetings and events, where investment decisions are made.
David Zhao and Michael Cheng, students of the prestigious dual-degree program at Penn-Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology, are instrumental in the program’s launch. As co-founders and investment partners, Zhao and Cheng aim to take the mission of investment literacy to multiple universities across the states. Back on Penn’s campus this fall, the two are leading the nation’s first ICM Universities chapter, along with Wharton student Jeff Sheng and Jun Yoo.
“We want to cultivate a culture of education through active investing experience and involvement. Students who are interested in investing can have their investment ideas heard by managers of a real fund. This will ultimately create opportunities that are not to be found in textbooks or classrooms. Similarly, we can leverage the strengths of a diverse group of talented individuals in order to create more profitable investment strategies for ICM,” Zhao commented at ICM’s private launch party.
“ICM Universities is a unique initiative because members will have access to an unparalleled network of talented investors and future business leaders across elite universities around the country,” added Cheng.
Tentatively, Ivy Capital Management will be launching University branches at Harvard, Columbia and NYU within the next two weeks, according to a representative from the firm.
About Ivy Capital Management:
Ivy Capital Management is a global investment firm that utilizes a research-driven approach to construct risk-managed investment strategies. A fund in New York currently with $500,000 AUM three months after incorporation, Ivy Capital Management is looking to recruit talented and motivated undergraduates from select universities to provide insight on market trends as well as investment recommendations based on research. Selected undergraduates will work alongside ICM’s financial advisors, consisting of hedge fund and mutual fund managers, in managing ICM’s portfolio. Ivy Capital Management aims to have branches across different universities in the United States in order to 1) grow the ICM brand and 2) provide exceptional students with the opportunity to work with finance professionals in managing a real fund. For more information, please visit http://www.ivycapmanagement.com/.
