Illinois Tech Team Reaches Semifinals of Global Finance Competition
A team of Illinois Tech finance students competed recently in the semifinals of the annual (MIPC), a prestigious buy-side finance competition that draws teams from universities across six continents and awards a total of $50,000 (Canadian) in cash prizes to winners in the semifinal and final rounds.
The MIPC addresses societal issues in which large, institutional investors, such as pension plans, play a critical role. In response to the contest’s case study challenge, teams develop innovative strategies for portfolio design and asset management
The Illinois Tech team members, who are all graduate students in finance at Stuart School of Business, are Nicole Kadziola (CHEM, M.S. FIN 5th Year), My Thao Doan Pham (M.S. FIN 2nd Year), Elton Thomas (M.S. FIN 2nd Year), and Siyuan Wang (Ph.D. FIN 3rd Year). Clinical Associate Professor of Finance Michael Rybak serves as the team’s faculty adviser.
The 2025 MIPC challenge called on the student teams to develop creative ways to mobilize capital to restore nature and unlock long-term value creation at a time when global biodiversity loss is accelerating and threatening the ecosystems that humans depend on.
Each team prepared a written investment proposal addressing issues laid out in the challenge. Prominent industry professionals in institutional investing judged the proposals and selected 25 teams to advance to the semifinal round. In the semifinal and final rounds, each team gave a live presentation of its proposal to a panel of judges and then responded to the judges’ questions.
Students in the competition have a variety of opportunities to interact with asset managers and industry experts at MIPC-sponsored events, such as a symposium, guest speakers, and recruiting and networking events.
Illinois Tech teams have made their mark in the MIPC competition over the past nine years, advancing to the finals in 2017 and 2019 and more recently earning team and individual awards for exceptional quantitative analysis and presenting.
Image: (From left to right) My Thao Doan Pham, Siyuan Wang, Nicole Kadziola, and Elton Thomas standing outside of Stuart School of Business at the Conviser Law Center.
