Smith School Wins Cornell MBA Stock Pitch Competition

A three-person team from the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business has captured the title and a $3,000 prize at the sixth annual MBA Stock Pitch Competition that took place at the Parker Center for Investment Research at the Johnson School at Cornell University on November 2, 2007.

(l to r) Siddharth Mathur, Alex Obaza and Eric Olesh

In what was one of the most competitive fields to date, 12 teams competed for top honors. The Maryland team included second-year MBA students Siddharth Mathur, Alex Obaza and Eric Olesh. The second place winner was Northwestern's Kellogg which placed first in each of the last two years. They took home a $1,500 prize. Newcomers Wisconsin-Madison placed third.

Larry Rakers, vice president and portfolio manager for Fidelity Investments, said, The Johnson Schools Stock Pitch Competition truly is a unique opportunity for MBA students to demonstrate their abilities to analyze and discuss stocks. All 12 schools did a great job. It was difficult to pick a winner.

The teams included Columbia Business School, Cornell University (Johnson), Duke University (Fuqua), New York University (Stern), Northwestern University (Kellogg), University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, University of Maryland (Smith), University of Michigan (Ross), University of North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler), University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), University of Virginia (Darden), and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business.

Fidelity Investments was the lead corporate sponsor. Other sponsors include Jack Ferraro (MBA '70) a private investor and Johnson School alumnus, State Street Global Advisors, Wellington Management, Barclays Global Investors, and CFA Institute.

For more information on the MBA Stock Pitch Competition, please visit www.mbastockpitch.com.