UF wins first place in Russell IM&R Case Competition

Gainesville, Fla. – The Warrington College of Business Administration’s Student Investment Club (SIC) secured another victory for The Gator Nation as it captured first place at the annual Russell Investment Management and Research Case Competition. Undergraduate SIC team members Tolulope Bukola, Matt Hayes and Alexandra Mirchev competed with rival investment clubs from across the nation, ultimately triumphing over the University of California–Berkeley, the University of Texas and the University of Washington.

Russell Investments, headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., is a privately held subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual. The asset management firm held initial tryouts for the competition through an essay contest early last fall. Three top competitors were selected from each of the four sponsor schools to represent their respective investment clubs during the competition, held in January 2009.

The representatives from each team were then asked to create a mock fund comprised of several fictitious money managers. Teams presented their mock fund to Russell’s panel of judges via teleconference, consisting of a forty-minute presentation and a 15-minute Q&A session.

The competition required participants to create a successful fund by analyzing the economic climate and its effect on different sectors of the economy—much in the way a Russell investment manager would.

Judges of the case competition included three of Russell’s top equity analysts and portfolio managers.

The long standing relationship between the UF Student Investment Club and its corporate sponsor has proved to be very rewarding for both parties, with the case competition victory only serving to strengthen the partnership.