Nicolle Ugarte, a senior at the GW School of Business (GWSB) and the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences (CCAS), double majoring in Finance and Political Science, writes this guest blog post. Thank you to the Strategic Investment Group for sponsoring our WIN Conference participation again this year.
Established in 2016, Cornell’s Undergraduate Women in Investing (WIN) Conference is designed to educate undergraduate students about the rewarding career opportunities available in investment management, where women are vastly underrepresented. Welcoming students from top universities and professionals from sponsoring firms, the WIN Conference provides a unique space for networking, gaining insights from industry experts, and refining stock-picking skills through pitches to investing firm judges.
Rhys Chambers, Elizabeth Ellis, Sandy Isabel Huang Yin, and I represented GW this year at the WIN Conference in Boston. Reflecting on this experience, it has been one of my best experiences at GW; not only did I learn more about the financial industry and the stock market, but I was also able to meet other outstanding women working in the financial sector.
On the first day of the conference, we started with a networking session, where we met the other participating teams. This was a great experience as we met women from other universities interested in pursuing a career in finance and business. We also discussed the different sectors and stocks we selected for our pitches. After the session, we headed to dinner, where we listened to two panelists who provided insightful views on the current role of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) in the investment business. They also shared about the structure and design of the conference. After a great dinner, we went to our rooms and practiced our stock pitch.
On the second day, we woke up early, headed to the main room for breakfast, and rehearsed our stock pitch with our advisor. After going through our pitch multiple times, we were confident and ready to pitch our stock to the judges. We went to the pitch room and took notes from the other presentations. Soon, it was our turn to pitch. We pitched our stock buy recommendation to the judges, delivering our best pitch yet. We communicated our main arguments and confidently answered the judges’ questions.
After our presentation, we received the judges’ feedback. It was a great experience as we got hands-on experience pitching stocks and analyzing a new sector, which in our case was consumer discretionary, focusing on shoes and sportswear apparel. Although we didn’t win, we did a great job pitching Deckers Outdoor Corp (DECK) and learned quite a bit from the judge’s feedback.
After the stock pitch, we joined the networking session with investment funds and other financial institutions. This session was incredible as we were invited to network with representatives of more than twelve financial companies in the U.S., including Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Dodge & Cox, and others. During this session, we also got to ask questions regarding job applications, the transition from college to corporate life, and tips for incoming interns. After the network event, we had dinner while listening to the final keynote speaker and the closing remarks of Lakshmi Bhojraj, the Cornell Parker Center Executive Director.
After the event, we checked out from our hotel and squeezed our exploration of Boston into 1.5 hours! Overall, Cornell’s WIN Conference was an outstanding experience as we learned more about the investment industry and networked with remarkable women working in finance. It was also an excellent opportunity for us to represent GW and the GW Investment Institute (GWII)!
Thank you to our mentor, Professor Song, our advisor Kathleen Hinman, and the whole GWII team, Professor Lake and Bojana Jankovic!
Nicolle Ugarte