Full-Time MBA Capital Markets & Investments Concentration

The concentration in Capital Markets and Investments (CMI) prepares students for positions on the buy and sell sides of the capital markets, including corporate treasury, securities analysis and portfolio management, sales and trading, and personal client services.

The curriculum includes a rigorous theoretical component and a demanding applied component. Courses are structured to provide students a nearly comprehensive preparation for the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program. Many CMI students apply to the Applied Investment Management (AIM) course, in which students manage a real portfolio of financial assets. Historically, UNC Kenan-Flagler has placed about 15 percent of the graduating class in capital markets and investment positions. The school has alumni in all global financial centers and major financial institutions.

For more information on the Capital Markets and Investments concentration:

Check out the Capital Markets and Investments Concentration at a Glance (PDF)
Visit the Center for Excellence in Investment Management website
Learn about the impact and future of the Center for Excellence in Investment Management (video)
Read how UNC Kenan-Flagler is leading success in investment management

Listen Now: Investment Management at Kenan-Flagler

"My MBA experience was truly revolutionary. I grew a ton as a person, a classmate, an investor and a leader. I attribute that to the support that I received from the Investment Management program at UNC Kenan-Flagler. Winning the Alpha Challenge was probably one of my greatest accomplishments, and I feel like that win belonged to me as much as to my mentors and peers. With their support, I'm really able to bet on myself and chase my dream."

Shannon Wulff, MBA '24

Career Paths

Select Course Offerings

Applied Investment Management
Applied Trading Strategies: Derivatives & Hedge Funds
Current Topics in Finance: Financial Technology Tools
Derivatives
Financial Risk Management
Fixed Income
Impact Investing
Investments I
Investments II
Private Equity
Private Wealth Management
Projects for Investment Management Experiential Learning – PRIME program
Real Estate and Capital Markets
Real Estate Finance

Who's Teaching

Select Employers

Key Resources

Finance Development Program (FDP)

Taught by experts from Training the StreetTM, the FDP supplements the academic curriculum with the requisite practical skills for successful careers in corporate finance, investment management or investment banking, including courses in financial modeling, corporate valuation, and many other topics.

Select Career clubs

Students pursuing studies in Capital Markets & Investments at UNC Kenan-Flagler can participate in a variety of career clubs, including Investment Banking, Investment Management, Corporate Finance and Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital. These clubs provide you practical insights into potential careers, and peer learning and collaboration.

Faculty and Investment Management Board

Our Capital Markets & Investment area is led by several faculty with years of investment industry experience, including CFA charter-holders. These faculty interact continuously with a board of investment professionals who have extensive experience with some of the world’s leading asset management firms. Students in the concentration also work with a career coach with extensive IM industry experience.

Capital Markets Lab

UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Capital Markets Lab provides a state-of-the-art learning environment to hone the skills financial services professionals need. The Capital Markets Lab, with 20 Bloomberg terminals and access to other resources such as Factset, provides a real-world setting for students to manage equity and fixed-income portfolios.

Center for Excellence in Investment Management

The Center 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.”

Experiential Learning

Projects for Investment Management Experiential Learning (PRIME)

This unique offering provides students with the opportunity to gain breadth and depth in the investments industry. The course works with ~16 investment firms supporting students in their spring projects and prepares them for summer investment management internships, which will help them secure full-time jobs.

Investment Management for All: Wealth & Women

The Investment Management industry can be intimidating from the outside, particularly for underrepresented minorities. 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.

Alpha Challenge

Hosted annually by The Center, this two-day competition is one of the world’s premier investment pitch competitions. Teams from top 20 MBA programs pitch investment recommendations to an acclaimed group of buy-side investment professionals. The event brings together over 70 top investment management firms, which offer interview and networking opportunities, and Kenan-Flagler teams regularly bring home top placings.

Student-Managed Funds

Students manage live portfolios in public securities through the Global Perspectives hedge fund, a private equity fund, and a real estate fund, developing tangible skills in global macroeconomic asset allocation, portfolio management, and investment communication.

National Investment Pitch Competitions

Student apply their knowledge and network with peers and professionals at company-sponsored competitions, which provide opportunities to apply industry and technical knowledge and to showcase strategic thinking and presentation skills to potential employers.

Select experiential learning opportunities

Alpha Challenge

The Alpha Challenge is one of the world’s premier stock pitch competitions. Hosted annually by UNC Kenan-Flagler, this competition attracts teams of business students from leading global business schools to pitch their investment recommendation to an acclaimed group of buy-side investment professionals. The two-day event brings together over 40 top investment management firms for interviewing, networking and the competition.

Student-managed funds

Students can manage live portfolios in public securities through the Global Perspectives hedge fund, the private equity or real estate fund to supplement a finance curriculum with cooperative, experiential learning that develops tangible skills in global macroeconomic asset allocation, portfolio management and investment communication. All totaled students manage nearly $14 million in assets.