“In a tight job market, smart students take advantage of every opportunity to network with professionals,” said Chun-Hao Chang, chair of the Finance and Real Estate Department at Florida International University (FIU). “That’s why the recent South Florida ACG Cup Competition was quite beneficial.”
For the second year, graduate students in FIU’s College of Business Administration participated in the ACG Cup Competition conducted by the South Florida chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.
During round one—an intramural competition to determine the team to advance to the finals—three teams of students competed by making a 20-minute presentation on a case study involving finance, investment banking and private equity.
In addition to Chang, the judges were Kevin Gordon, managing member, Berenfeld Capital Markets, LLC; Helen Simon, director of FIU’s Capital Markets Lab; and Hector Tundidor Jr. (BACC ’92), partner, Transaction Advisory Services group, Ernst & Young LLP.
“We decided that our representatives advancing to the finals should be an ‘all star’ team drawn from each of the intramural competitors,” Chang said.
Master of Science in Finance student Sofia Bitela; Ramon De Los Santos (BBA ’05) who just completed the Downtown MBA; Evening MBA student Alejandra Jaramillo (BBA ’02); and Master of International Business student Michele Ricchiuti represented FIU at the finals held March 25, 2010.
The FIU students competed against teams from four other universities. Each group presented to a panel of investment bankers, among other judges. The University of Miami won the competition.
Experience delivers networking and more.
“This competition helped me better understand a private company transaction,” said Bitela, in the competition for the second time. “Most of my experience is in equity research in the public market, so this was very valuable to me. Plus it’s a way to get my name ‘out there.’”
“I appreciate being able to tackle real life issues and receive meaningful feedback from individuals with extensive knowledge in the industry,” Jaramillo said.
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