The Student Investment Fund (SIF) comprises up to 12 students who manage over $3 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.
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.
Criteria used in the rigorous selection process include academic achievement and involvement, a demonstrated interest in investment management and proven ability to work effectively in a demanding team environment.
Ongoing monitoring of the portfolio is conducted on a day-to-day basis, with meetings held once a week to discuss market events and portfolio performance.
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:
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.
All members of the classes of 2017 to 2020 have full-time employment in either investment management or investment banking.
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
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
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
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
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
UCLA Anderson
110 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095
For more information, please contact us at esctr@anderson.ucla.edu.