Skip to content Skip to Programs Navigation

AIM Course and Fund

The Applied Investment Management (AIM) course has long been a cornerstone of the Capital Markets and Investment Management curriculum and a key to student success. Founded by Professor Mustafa Gültekin in 1999, the course is one of the more popular offerings in the School and enrolls both graduate and undergraduate students through an application process. Students consistently rate the course as the most important educational experience of their time at UNC Kenan-Flagler.

The AIM course develops your skills in all areas of investment management and provides a unique experience for entering related fields. It combines classroom coverage of MBA-level material in finance with hands-on applications, skill development and an opportunity to learn from, and interact with, program alumni and other successful financial analysts. You learn advanced concepts in finance, gain exposure to new analytical tools, acquire knowledge about the workings of financial markets, and develop intuition about value-creation through stimulating and challenging coursework. AIM Board members, guest speakers and mentors from industry will enhance your understanding of the real-world application of financial analysis and portfolio management.

The AIM class actively manages the Global Perspectives Fund. The fund has about $2 million in Assets Under Management invested in equities, and it has flexibility to invest in other asset classes, if economical. The AIM class greatly expands your skills in investment management and provides invaluable experience for you to enter a wide range of investment-related fields.

AIM is an applied 6-credit course over two semesters, where you apply what you have learned in other finance courses. You may take the course for one semester or both and receive proportional credit. The course cannot be taken for part of a semester e.g. one Mod. It is open to qualified final-year MBA and undergraduate students. The next AIM class will begin in Mod I of fall 2025 and run through Mod IV of 2026.  Admitted students are strongly encouraged to attend the class during Mod IV (starting in March 2025) to familiarize themselves with portfolio positions and the investment process, ahead of the transition to next year’s team.

For undergraduate students, the pre-requisite courses are 407 (Financial Accounting) and 408 (Corp Finance), with 190 (Gateway into Capital Markets & Investments), 580 (Investments), 581/584 (Financial Modeling) and PRIME (590) recommended. For MBA students, the pre-requisite courses are Investments 1 and 2 and PRIME is recommended. You should have the ability to pull up a company’s 10K filing, locate the income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement and know what most of the terms mean. Since this is an applied course, there is minimal formal instruction; instead, you are expected to apply what you know, with feedback provided.

The AIM class meets on Wednesdays, from 3:30 p.m. to 6:20 p.m. in the PNC Capital Markets Lab. Please review the course syllabus for details and answers to any questions you may have before applying.

Applications are due by Feb. 28, 2025.
Decisions and notifications will be sent out no later than March 14, 2025.

Applications will be accepted between February 7 – February 28, 2025:

Click here for the 2025-2026 MBA Student Application
Click here for the 2025-2026 Undergraduate Application

Capital Markets Lab

The PNC Capital Markets Lab is the central financial resource at UNC Kenan-Flagler. It provides students with hands-on experience using the most sophisticated and ubiquitous tools in the investment management industry. It includes 20 Bloomberg terminals as well as research tools like FactSet, CapIQ and Morningstar, and representatives of Bloomberg and FactSet visit the School to provide instruction on using their tools.

Each year more than 500 undergraduate and MBA students achieve Bloomberg certification, an important credential in the financial services industry. The PNC Capital Markets Lab provides a real-world setting for students to manage portfolios with exposure to equities, fixed income assets and derivatives. It enables world-class research for the Global Perspectives Fund, a student-run portfolio managed from the lab.

The lab was founded in 2008 and named the PNC Capital Markets Lab in 2025. It is designed to provide an applied learning experience for students concentrating in Capital Markets and Investments. The skills developed help UNC Kenan-Flagler students launch successful careers in risk management, asset management and trading positions in banks, commodity firms and hedge funds.

Current AIM Student Leadership Team

(Select photo to view full profile.)

Parmeet Sangha

Portfolio Manager

Parmeet Sangha

Ryan Durr

Ryan Durr

Portfolio Manager

Ryan Durr

Sophia Mao

Risk & Performance Manager

Sophia Mao

Mason Kumiega

Market Strategist/Economist

Mason Kumiega

Justin Borja

Trader

Justin Borja

Tyler Xia

Trader

Tyler Xia

Shreyansh Singhal

Investor Relations

Shreyansh Singhal