You can’t build an effective investment strategy without first knowing your client… Meet Jack Abraham!
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CASE STUDY: You graduated college and now work at an up-and-coming asset management company, Knowledge@Wharton Asset Management (“KWAM”). KWAM specializes in managing investments for young adults. KWAM currently has a $100,000,000 portfolio that is invested across eleven sectors, representing various industries and companies. You are an analyst, but you hope to one day become a portfolio manager who makes the investment decisions for KWAM’s portfolio.
KWAM’s portfolio manager (i.e. the teacher) recently met with a potential client, Jack Abraham, who is a successful entrepreneur. Jack founded Milo.com, which was bought by eBay for a reported $75 million.
You can’t build an effective investment strategy without first knowing your client… Meet Sachin Rekhi!
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CASE STUDY: You just graduated college and now work at an up-and-coming asset management company, Knowledge@Wharton Asset Management (“KWAM”). KWAM specializes in managing investments for young adults. The firm currently manages a $100,000,000 portfolio that is invested across nine sectors, representing a broad range of industries and companies. You are an analyst, but you hope to one day become a portfolio manager who makes the final investment decisions for KWAM’s portfolio.
KWAM’s current portfolio manager (your teacher/advisor) recently met with a potential client Sachin Rekhi, a successful entrepreneur who sold his startup Connected to LinkedIn. He’s now founder & CEO of Notejoy, his third startup, and lives in Menlo Park, California with his wife, Ada Chen Rekhi, and their puppy, Dexter. Sachin prefers spending his time building new ventures as opposed to investing, so is looking for an investment partner to help him manage his wealth. He has been skeptical of asset management firms in the past, but is now open to the idea of hiring a team with the most compelling investment strategy to build and manage his wealth.
Although Sachin is primarily focused on long-term investing, he would also like to make some short-term investments to generate profits that he and Ada plan to donate annually to the ASPCA, an organization whose mission is close to their hearts. So, while your focus should be on building a portfolio with a clear goal of long-term wealth creation, it is recommended that a small portion of your portfolio should be allocated to short-term liquidity to support that annual contribution. Sachin told the portfolio manager that KWAM has 10 weeks to put together a detailed portfolio analysis proposal.
You can’t build an effective investment strategy without first knowing your client… Meet Reshma Sohoni!
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CASE STUDY: You just graduated college and now work at an up-and-coming asset management company, Wharton Global Asset Management (WGAM). The firm currently manages a $100,000,000 portfolio that is invested across several different sectors, representing a broad range of industries and companies. You are an analyst, but you hope to one day become a portfolio manager who makes the final investment decisions for WGAM’s portfolio.
WGAM’s current portfolio manager (your team’s teacher/advisor) recently met with a potential client Reshma Sohoni, a professional with a deep interest in technology and business that began when she was an undergrad studying both economics and engineering at the Wharton School and Penn Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Reshma says, “I have always worked at the intersection of business and technology, that being the thread across my career…I love numbers and people.”
In 2007, Reshma co-founded Seedcamp, a European seed fund, which is a type of equity-based fund in which investors invest money in a business to get it up and running, and in turn own part of the business. Seedcamp is one of the most active investors globally, making more than 35 investments every year with a portfolio of more than 300 companies to date.
You can’t build an effective investment strategy without first knowing your client…
Meet Nichole Jordan!
CASE STUDY: You are an analyst team of recent college graduates, working at an up-and-coming asset management company, Wharton Global Asset Management (WGAM). The firm currently manages a $100,000,000 portfolio that is invested across several different sectors, representing a broad range of industries and companies. The members of your team hope to one day become portfolio managers who make the final investment decisions for WGAM’s portfolio.
WGAM’s current portfolio manager (your team’s teacher/advisor) recently met with a potential client, Nichole Jordan, who lives in San Francisco. Nichole is the Senior Vice President, Global Partner Success at Via, a TransitTech company that provides the digital infrastructure for public mobility systems, optimizing networks of shuttles, buses, wheelchair-accessible vehicles, school buses, and autonomous vehicles to meet the needs of large cities and smaller communities around the world.
On March 8, 2021, Via acquired Remix Software, Nichole’s previous company, in a $100-million cash and equity deal. At Remix, she was the Chief Operating Officer. She was responsible for managing global sales, customer success, finance, and people operations, as well as maintaining executive account relationships and ensuring customer satisfaction.
Nichole has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from U.C. Davis and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. She was the first African-American female to matriculate in the Wharton West Executive MBA program.
“The Wharton Executive MBA program was invaluable to my career journey and equally beneficial for my personal and professional lives. My classmates were phenomenal and the professors were the best of the best. It challenged me in ways that I didn’t expect and I developed friendships that have lasted for more than 15 years.”
Nichole enjoys spending her free time with her family, traveling, wine tasting, and reading. She is a dedicated Peloton member and also loves doing yoga.
Nichole is an active volunteer, a leader for several non-profit entities, and is passionate about mentoring women of color. She is currently the International Technology Chairman for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first sorority founded by African-American women. She has also served as an executive mentor for Sequoia Capital’s Ascent Mentoring program, designed to support emerging women leaders in tech.
“What drives me is opening doors or creating opportunities for others like me. I had to figure a lot out in life on my own, but I also had strong mentors along the way that helped me become who I am. I want to serve as that person for others.”
You can’t build an effective investment strategy without first knowing your client… Meet Florian Hagenbuch!
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CASE STUDY: You just graduated college and now work at an up-and-coming asset management company, Wharton Global Asset Management (WGAM). The firm currently manages a $100,000,000 portfolio that is invested across several different sectors, representing a broad range of industries and companies. You are an analyst, but you hope to one day become a portfolio manager who makes the final investment decisions for WGAM’s portfolio.
WGAM’s current portfolio manager (your team’s teacher/advisor) recently met with a potential client Florian Hagenbuch. Born in Germany, raised in Brazil and educated in the United States at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Florian realized his passion for startups and entrepreneurship after spending two years working in the financial market in London. Florian says, “I love to invest my energy and money on startups and disruptive business.”
Florian is the founder and co-CEO of Loft, a startup that is reinventing the process of buying and selling real estate in Latin America by leveraging technology and data to simplify bureaucratic processes. Loft is backed by leading global financial technology and property technology investors, such as Andreessen Horowitz, QED, Thrive, Fifth Wall, and Monashees, and has raised more than $300 million in equity and debt capital.
The 2019 Investment Competition Global Finale Showcases Financial Literacy at Its Finest
by Diana Drake
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While the KWHS Investment Competition has been around since 2012, each year it delivers unexpected ideas and experiences. The 2019 Global Finale weekend on May 3 and 4 was no exception. A new first: the top nine teams traveling to Wharton from India, China, Brazil and the U.S. to compete in a stand-alone Global Finale of the best teams from around the world. A new first: a Chinese team from Region 1 placing in the Global top three. A new first: a Friday learning day equipped with spaghetti and marshmallow towers and entrepreneurial innovation. Oh, and a Yeti – it was the first time in seven years we’ve had the Abominable Snowman make it to the 8th floor of Wharton’s Jon M. Huntsman Hall as part of a Global Finale team presentation.
What wasn’t new, other than the players? More than 50 determined and financially savvy high school students, led by educators and advisors, showing up to give the 10-minute presentations of their lives. They had all contributed to 10 weeks of team trading, deliberating and strategizing in hopes of landing potential client Sachin Rekhi, resulting in the submission of nearly 550 final investment reports in December 2018. Then came three regional final rounds in India, China and the U.S., identifying the top nine teams from those countries (plus a tenth wildcard pick from the U.K.) They would go in front of a panel of five industry experts, two representing the day’s sponsors – Aberdeen Standard Investments and Vanguard — in hopes of winning the title as the competition’s most competent, reliable and creative asset-management team.
First-place team Filter Coffee Investments from India, joined by advisors Manvir Singh Rana and Alka Munjal (center) and Srinath Chigullapalli (left) from Vanguard, a competition sponsor.
The full lineup of Saturday’s competitors included:
Pegasus, YK Pao School, Shanghai – Region 1, China, First Place
Filter Coffee Investments, Amity International School, Noida – Region 2, India, First Place
EVA (Eagles Value Added), Graded American School, São Paulo – Region 3, Brazil, First Place
OG, RDFZ, Beijing – Region 1, China, Second Place (chose not to present in the Global Finale)
Scion Capital, Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur – Region 2, India, Second Place
Yeti Investors, Maclay School, Tallahassee – Region 3, U.S., Second Place
CFuture, WHBC of Wuhan Foreign Languages School, Wuhan – Region 1, China, Third Place
Olympians, Amity International School, Vasundhra Sector 6, Ghaziabad – Region 2, India, Third Place
Sage Hill, Sage Hill School, Newport Coast – Region 3, U.S., Third Place
DC Capital, Dulwich College London – Region 3, U.K., KWHS Wildcard Pick
Following nine impressive team presentations and in-depth Q&A sessions by the judging panel, four top teams (including a tie for third) received trophies and $5,000, $2,000 and $1,000 respectively for their schools from sponsor, Vanguard.
The 2019 KWHS Investment Competition Global Finale winners are:
First Place: Filter Coffee Investments
Second Place: Scion Capital
Third Place: Pegasus
Third Place: Yeti Investors
Taking a front-row seat for the festivities was this year’s Global Finale panel of judges. They included Srinath Chigullapalli, senior IT program manager at Vanguard; David Lawrence, founder of RANE (Risk Assistance Network+Exchange) and long-time managing director at Goldman Sachs; Charles Rejonis, senior IT director in the Wharton Research Data Services group at the University of Pennsylvania; Fionna Ross, senior ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) analyst on the North American Equity team at Aberdeen Standard Investments; and John Squires, a partner at Dilworth Paxson law firm and former chief IP counsel for Goldman Sachs. Special guest Chris Demetriou, CEO for the Americas, Aberdeen Standard Investments, returned for a second year representing the competition’s long-time sponsor, to welcome the teams and provide insight into trends in asset management.
Yeti Investors from Florida, U.S., which tied for third place in the competition, discusses teamwork, and gives us a glimpse of their mascot, Freddie the Yeti.
Underscored by words like “phenomenal” and “inspiring,” the judges honored the competing teams with their reflections on the day. “I was so excited to come judge again this year,” said Ross, who also judged the 2017 Global Finale. “You all show such professionalism and competence. It was a difficult decision to try to sort out the rankings. You should all be extremely proud of how you performed today.”
Lawrence, who also judged the competition in 2018, praised the teams’ energy and knowledge. “When I left Goldman Sachs, I told the then-head of [the company] that my compensation at Goldman was never reflected in my W-2 statement, it was in the relationships that I was able to form,” noted Lawrence. “I know this is an investment challenge, but your investment in friendships and associations is no less important.” Adding that every team showed “extraordinary teamwork,” he urged participants to value collaboration in all that they pursue.
Sumukh Srivastava of the Olympians highlights how his team got to know client Sachin Rekhi on Twitter.
Eli Lesser, KWHS’s new executive director of high school and summer programs, was amazed by his first KWHS Learning Day and Global Finale. “Our dean, Geoffrey Garrett, has a vision of Wharton as a place that ‘incubates ideas to transform business, to power Insights to reinvent decision-making, and create leaders who change the world.’ I am proud that in our Global Finale this past Saturday we saw high school students embody this vision,” noted Lesser, who began his career as a high school teacher. “Each team presented the ideas that they incubated during the current school year; used new powerful insights to build a team and make decisions; and ultimately become leaders that we know will someday transform the world! In my new position, I am looking forward to continuing to meet young people and their teachers through our programming.”
For more information on the KWHS Investment Competition, please visit the KWHS Competitions Page. Be sure to follow us on Instagram @KWHSLife, Twitter @WhartonHS and check out our KWHS Facebook page for many more photos and reflections from this year’s 2019 KWHS Investment Competition Finale. We will begin promoting the 2019-2020 competition soon, so make sure you are registered with KWHS to receive all the updates! #KWHSInvests
Eli Lesser, executive director of high school and summer programs (right), talks with Dr. Alka Munjal of Amity University and David Roberts, advisor to Yeti Investors, during Friday’s Learning Day.The 2019 Global Finale judges: Srinath Chigullapalli, Fionna Ross, Charles Rejonis, John Squires and David Lawrence.
