Assets Under Management
Responsible for managing over $400,000 on behalf of the University of Michigan’s endowment
Action-Based Learning
Our platform allows MBA and BBA students to apply the concepts of asset valuation, equity research and portfolio management in the real world
Pathway to Wall Street
Our alumni remain actively engaged with the Fund, connecting members with successful financial service professionals
Our Process
Fund membership is highly selective, enabling members to work with other talented and highly-motivated students in an environment similar to an investment firm.
Upon admission into the Fund, new members will partake in a series of training sessions on key concepts in equity research, financial modeling and valuation, and portfolio management. Fund members will become fluent in technical tools such as FactSet and Bloomberg.
The Fund is organized in to 3-4 person pitch teams led by a Senior Analyst. These teams will be responsible for sourcing and pitching equity investment opportunities (2-3 pitches per semester) and monitoring ongoing investments.
Investment Style
The Fund focuses its efforts on identifying undervalued US equity securities for long-term investment by leveraging industry research, financial statement analysis and valuation analyses, including discounted cash flow modeling, comparable companies and precedent transactions. The Fund uses the S&P MidCap 400 Index as a performance benchmark, giving the Fund an inherent bias towards investment in public companies with a market capitalization between $2 and $10 billion.
Faculty Advisors
Robert Dittmar
Associate Finance Professor
Robert Dittmar is a Finance Professor at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. His research centers on empirical and theoretical topics in the pricing of fixed income and equity securities. His research has been published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, and Journal of Econometrics. His past experience includes a position as Assistant Professor at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University and work as a financial analyst at First Chicago (now JP Morgan Chase) and First Union (since acquired by Wachovia and Wells Fargo).
Tyler Shumway
Chair of Finance, Director Tozzi Finance Center
Tyler’s research examines the structure and function of financial markets and the pricing of financial securities. Some of his recent work concerns bankruptcy prediction and the pricing of corporate bonds, the efficient market hypothesis and the intersection of psychology and finance. Tyler’s research is published in the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies and the Journal of Business. His research also has been featured in numerous business and popular publications, including the Economist, The New York Times, Time Magazine and The Wall Street Journal.
Kai Petainen
Adjunct Finance Lecturer, Trading Floor Manager
Kai Petainen is the Tozzi Trading Floor manager and an adjunct finance lecturer at the Ross School of Business. He teaches Finance 334, “Applied Quant/Value Portfolio Management”, a class that uses ‘action-based learning’, to evaluate stocks and funds from a quant/value perspective. Petainen is featured in Matthew Schifrin’s book, “The Warren Buffetts Next Door: The World’s Greatest Investors You’ve Never Heard Of and What You Can Learn From Them“. He’s also a contributing blogger at Forbes. Petainen had articles in Forbes, MoneyShow.com, Welt Am Sonntag, the San Francisco Chronicle, Santa Cruz Sentinel, MSN Money, Financial Post, the Globe and Mail, and many others.
Executive Board
Jonathan Smith
Co-President
Jonathan is a full-time second year MBA at the Ross School of Business. Prior to his MBA, Jonathan served six years as a logistics officer in the US Army. While serving in the military, he managed an equity portfolio on his personal account, and continued this as his full-time employment for three years after exiting the military. In the summer of 2018, Jonathan interned at with the small-cap equity team at Thrivent Asset Management. Please reach out to Jonathan at jonsmi@umich.edu with any questions you may have about Maize & Blue Endowment Fund.
Steffan Larcoran
Co-President
Steffan is a senior studying finance at the Ross School of Business. This past summer, Steffan was an Investment Banking Summer Analyst with Perella Weinberg Partners in New York, where he will be returning full time after graduation. After his sophomore year Steffan interned as a Summer Analyst with Hawkeye Capital Management, a deep value, cross capital structure hedge fund in New York. When outside of the classroom or office, Steffan enjoys running, hiking, music, and following the NBA. Please reach out to Steffan at szlar@umich.edu with any questions you may have about the Maize & Blue Endowment Fund.
Ziqiao Wang
Co-President
Ziqiao is a senior studying finance at the Ross School of Business. This past summer, Ziqiao was an Investment Banking Summer Analyst with Goldman Sachs in New York. After his sophomore year, Ziqiao interned as a Summer Analyst with Navadir Partners, an investment bank in Austin, TX. When outside of the classroom or office, Ziqiao enjoys playing basketball, sailing, and playing billiards. Please reach out to Ziqiao at ziqiaow@umich.edu with any questions you may have about the Maize & Blue Endowment Fund.