
The Student Investment Fund (SIF) comprises up to 12 students who manage over $4 million of the UCLA Anderson endowment through bottom-up security analyses. Through quarterly distributions to the UCLA Foundation, the SIF finances fellowship awards for Anderson students.
The SIF is a prestigious element of the Anderson experience that exposes students to situations they would encounter in a typical investment management firm. For the first six months, SIF Fellows collectively manage the fund. The equity portion is then divided equally among the Fellows and managed individually for the remaining six months. The fixed-income portfolio is managed as a group for the entire period. The Fellows visit at least 25 investment managers to learn about different investment philosophies and styles, as well as at least five current or prospective portfolio companies to conduct in-depth due diligence.
The SIF was created in 1987 as a result of the generosity and initiative of Bernard Johnson, president of Provident Investment Counsel. Provident pledged $50,000 per year over five years to start the fund. In 1989, Kayne Anderson Investment Management Co. contributed an additional $250,000. The Friends of the Student Investment Fund program was launched in 1993 and has brought in more than $250,000 in additional capital to date. Ed Shapiro (’90) initiated a Million-Dollar Challenge grant to support the SIF in honor of his 25th reunion in 2015. Haejin Baek (’90), Tim Sambado (’90) and Keith Webster (’91) have also made significant contributions to the fund.
SIF Portfolio Managers

Summer Placement:
Glaukos Corporation

Summer Placement:
Morgan Stanley

Summer Placement:
Sun Capital Advisors

Summer Placement:
Accel-KKR

Summer Placement: Beach Point Capital

Summer Placement:
Piper Sandler

Summer Placement:
Bank of America
Faculty Advisors

William Cockrum
Adjunct Professor of Finance
Prior to joining the UCLA faculty, Bill Cockrum spent 25 years in financial services, initially as a marketer and last as CFO/CAO and one of the top senior officers at Becker Paribas Inc., a 3,000-employee investment banking firm. He teaches courses in entrepreneurial finance, leadership and business ethics, real-world challenges leaders face and investment management. He serves as a consultant in a variety of industries on issues such as organization structure, strategy, marketing, finance and administration.

Shawn Patt (’07)
Lecturer
Shawn leads advisory of the UCLA Anderson Student Investment Fund. Shawn currently manages Atala Financial, a SEC-registered investment firm that he founded. Shawn also teaches undergraduate courses at UCLA including Personal Financial Health and Foundation of Business & Entrepreneurship. Previously, Shawn worked for nearly 20 years at RBC Wealth management, Morgan Stanley, and UBS Financial Services. A Triple-Bruin, Shawn is a lifelong supporter of UCLA.
Application Process
- Stock Write-ups – Applicants produce a two-page stock write-up for two assigned companies, providing an overview of the business, investment thesis, analysis of risks and stock recommendations.
- Personal Essay – The essay addresses how the candidate will contribute to the SIF, related personal experience and discussion of recent market events.
- Company Presentation – Applicants deliver an in-depth five-minute presentation on a company of their choice and its valuation/prospects, and engage in a Q&A session with a student-led panel.
- Final Interview – Professor Bill Cockrum, faculty advisor to the SIF, leads a panel interview, which is the final step of the selection process.
Investment Approach
- Asset Allocation – The group begins the year with a collaborative report on the domestic and global economy, highlighting important secular and cyclical trends, and identifying potential valuation catalysts. This report is then used to create strategic and tactical asset allocation reflecting views on various asset classes and to set asset allocation weights for equities, fixed income and alternatives.
- Universe of Stocks – The group develops an approved list of 100 to 120 stocks, with each member writing up 10 stocks to create the universe of secondary securities.
- Portfolio Construction – The fixed-income and alternative assets are typically managed via mutual funds and ETFs, while the equity portion is managed through bottom-up security selection.
Portfolio Management
Additions to the approved list of securities must be presented to the group and vetted before they are added.
Portfolio guidelines mandate that no security be more than 7.5% of the portfolio at cost and no industry sector exceed more than 20% of the total fund value. The fixed-income asset class must maintain a minimum of 15% of the total value of the fund. The SIF’s bylaws include a 3% minimum allocation (for both educational and diversification purposes) of the following asset classes:
- Equities: Domestic
- Equities: Long-Term
- Fixed Income (with no less than 2% of the fund’s market value allocated to each of the following fixed-income categories: corporate bonds, government securities, high-yield bonds, municipal bonds and structured products)
- International
- Emerging Markets
- Alternatives
- MLPs
- REITs
- Cash
Restricted securities include fixed-income securities having lower than a BBB rating, securities with insufficient liquidity and unmarketable securities.
The SIF Fellows meet weekly with Professor Cockrum and four practicing investment management professionals — Dave Carpenter, Shelby Notkin, Shawn Patt and Keith Webster — to discuss current market events and trends, portfolio performance and prospective trades.
The group produces a year-end report and presents it to faculty, SIF alumni and members of the investment community at the annual meeting.
Student Placements
Class of 2023 and Summer Placements
Jamie Arena Pan De Soraluce (’23)
TCW
Olivia Ben-David (’23)
Citi
Mariana De Vicenzo (’23)
Credit Suisse
Fernando Errazuriz (’23)
Citi
Sofia Jimenez (’23)
Post Advisory Group
Gavin Krogius (’23)
Credit Suisse
Christopher Potter (’23)
LightBay Capital
Stephen Shin (’23)
Invesco
Joaquin Trucco Vera (’23)
Accel-KKR
Elizabeth Williams (’23)
Closed Loop Partners
Amy Wu (’23)
Bank of America
Class of 2022 and Summer Placements
David Su (’22)
Invesco Ltd.
Ryan O’Rourke (’22)
Credit Suisse
Jamaal Powell (’22)
Neuberger Berman
Ankit Hatalkar (’22)
Goldman Sachs
Bruno Picinane (’22)
LACERA
Mix Pearson (’22)
Goldman Sachs
Shuzhe Liang (’22)
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Shawn Bhatiani (’22)
Broadcom Inc.
Andy Dirks (’22)
The K Funds
Chris Lum (’22)
Western Asset Management
Joel Jones (’22)
Flow Finance
Tyler Harvey (’22)
Wells Fargo
Class of 2021 and Summer Placements
Paul Ahn (’21)
Columbia Threadneedle
Tyler Cantarano (’21)
ClearBridge Investments
Matthew Coleman (’21)
Evercore
Daniel Fotinich (’21)
Citi
Yuan Gao (’21)
TCW
Douglas Hanly (’21)
Emerald Necklace Investments
Jonathan Rieck (’21)
Piper Sandler
Krishna Phanindra Vege (’21)
Welltower
Caroline Ward (’21)
Artisan Partners
Thomas Weber (’22)
BlackRock
Robert Whirty (’21)
Bank of America
James Wolf (’21)
Invesco US
Class of 2020 Internship/Full-Time Placements
Noah Damsky (’20)
LACERA
James Huebner (’20)
Citadel Global Equities
Zachary Lynch (’20)
First Pacific Advisors
Harold Packer (’20)
PIMCO Europe
Joon Park (’20)
Korea Investment Corporation
Evan Scott (’20)
Moelis & Company
Victoria Sikes (’20)
Capital Group
Lynn Wu (’20)
Intuit
Duanting Zhai (’20)
Fidelity International
Class of 2019 and Full-Time Placements
Richard Chiang (’19)
NWQ
Brian Crider (’19)
Thornburg
Addison DeVone (’19)
Lazard
Michael Duffy (’19)
Palm Tree
Hannah Greene (’19)
Capital Group
Raymond Mak (’19)
Payden & Rygel
Joshua Oynick (’19)
Califia Farms
Jay Sun (’19)
Eystra Capital
Yian Yu (’19)
Eystra Capital
Mark Zerlang (’19)
Moelis & Company
Class of 2018 and Full-Time Placements
Steve Bivona (’18)
Mission Capital Advisors
Joseph Chiu (’18)
TCW
Jarrid Johnston (’18)
Capital Group
Alexander Kua (’18)
Oaktree Capital
David Levine (’18)
MidOcean Partners
Spenser May (’18)
Causeway Capital
Phil Meng, CFA (’18)
BioVega Capital
Bahman Mirzaee (’18)
Vanguard
Justin Phillips (’18)
Capital Group
Francisco Valdivia (’18)
Jones Lang LaSalle
Timothy Van Harmelen (’18)
FBB Capital Partners
Class of 2017 and Full-Time Placements
John Bay (’17)
UBS
Nicholas Bender (’17)
TCW
Gloria Fan (’17)
Qualcomm
John Heidenreich (’17)
Rothschild
Sam Kendrick (’17)
Whittier
Paige Kolesar (’17)
Dimensional Fund Advisors
Charlie McMahon (’17)
Oaktree Capital
Samuel Silverson (’17)
Oppenheimer Funds
Darius Wilsey (’17)
Green Street Advisors
Contact Us
110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095
For more information, please contact us at esctr@anderson.ucla.edu.