Find the best and brightest MBAs with a passion for investing, deepen relationships with industry peers and amplify your brand through the Alpha Challenge, the pre-eminent investment pitch competition! Please join us for the 22nd annual event which includes the equity and credit pitch competition, Buyside for All, Director of Research Roundtable, Judges Dinner and Interview Day.
Held annually the week after Thanksgiving, the Alpha Challenge is UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Business School premier MBA event in the investment management industry. The Alpha Challenge pits three-person teams from top MBA programs against one another in a competition focused on long equity and credit investment strategies. An internal competition determines the equity and credit teams representing UNC Kenan-Flagler. Each team is required to have at least two first-year students and one female student.
UNC Kenan-Flagler has a great track record at the event, winning in 2017, taking second and third positions in 2020, and finishing second in both equities and credit in 2021. In 2022, UNC Kenan-Flagler students had their most successful year taking first place in both equities and credit. In 2023, UNC Kenan-Flagler placed second and third in credit. In 2024, our team placed first and third in the equity bracket. Last year in 2025, our UNC Kenan-Flagler equity team came in third place.
The Investment Management for All: Wealth & Women is our newest event, launched in 2024. The Investment Management Industry can be intimidating from the outside, particularly for underrepresented groups. Join us in breaking down those barriers to introduce the different career paths within the industry and the nuances of each. Together, let’s make Investment Management for ALL.
What to expect: this event will include speed networking, vertical specific workshops, networking lunch and reception, and small group pitch coaching and informational chats. All Investment Firms welcome such as public equity & credit, private equity & credit, sell research, asset owners, private wealth and capital allocators, quant firms and consultants. Investment Management for All Event Agenda.
The Center for Excellence in Investment Management at UNC Kenan-Flagler inspires a passion for investing within our students through real-world experiences, creating leaders uniquely empowered to take the industry into the future. Our primary goal includes creating a community of professionals engaged in lifelong learning and career development in all investment management disciplines: public and private equity and credit, capital allocation, private wealth management and quant.