MSF students place in top 7 at Wharton stock pitch competition

A team of three Master of Science in Finance students finished in the top 7 at the Blackstone x Wharton Undergraduate Finance Club (WUFC) Fall Stock Pitch Competition.

Zachary Godkin, Azat Agishev and Alejandro Salinas made up the University of Florida team. There were 75 teams that entered the competition, representing schools such as Columbia, Harvard, Michigan, MIT, Penn and Yale.

After going through a three-stage analysis process over a three-week period to prepare for the competition, the MSF students pitched Heritage Crystal Clean (NYSE: HCCI).

“Overall, it was an incredible learning and networking experience,” the team said. “Meeting other students with similar interests in financial markets from different schools was truly unique.” 

After submitting their analysis, the team qualified for the final round at the University of Pennsylvania. They spent the next week preparing at the UF Capital Markets lab while using the Bloomberg terminals to create a 50-page pitch deck.

Once at the University of Pennsylvania, the team went through their 20-minute presentation and answered questions from the panel of judges.

“These competitions directly correlate to our future work responsibilities and the academics we are learning in our MSF classes,” the team said. “For example, modelling the company’s financial health is a key component of an investment banker’s responsibility, and we were able to practice this skill in a competitive setting prior to entering the workforce full-time. By sponsoring these competitions, UF provides an edge to its graduates as they pursue professional careers in finance.”