Warrington students place second in hedge fund stock pitch competition

Marcos Ortega (BSBA Finance ’28), Sebastian DiBenedetto (BSBA Finance ’28) and Marco Pizarro (BSBA Finance ’28) placed second in the prestigious Balyasny Asset Management (BAM) Fall Stock Pitch Competition.

Balyasny is a multi-strategy asset management firm that manages over $28 billion in assets. This success marks the first time a Warrington team has placed in a hedge fund stock pitch competition.

The competition took place in the General Motors Building Savoy Club in New York, where University of Florida Warrington College of Business students competed as the only public school to reach the finals.

The top two teams, including UF and Yale, tied on points, though Yale was ultimately selected as the winner.

Both teams were offered an exclusive opportunity to interview for internships with Balyasny that are only made available to Balyasny pitch competition winners. This competition now serves as a part of the hedge fund’s recruiting pipeline.

A minute into the presentation, the team experienced a technical malfunction and were left without a slide deck for roughly six minutes.

“Regardless of this, we kept presenting confidently with a steady tone and pacing, highlighting our ability to perform under pressure,” said Pizarro.

“We weren’t reliant on our [presentation] and didn’t have to look back once,” Ortega said. “We had prepared delivering the pitch with no PowerPoint.” 

The team worked 6-12 hours a day in preparation for the competition and worked for 30 hours straight leading into the competition.   

Ortega, DiBenedetto and Pizarro are all members of the Caimanes Student Managed Equity Hedge Fund, UF’s first and only student-managed equity hedge fund, and one of the only collegiate hedge funds nationwide, designed to prepare students to compete for the most selective finance roles in the world.

Eddie Sanchez, clinical assistant professor at the Warrington College of Business and fund leader, served as the faculty advisor, coach and mentor to the team.

“The Caimanes Student Managed Equity Hedge Fund prepares students for these competitions through a rigorous training program that integrates coursework, hands-on experience, and real-world application,” Sanchez explained. “[The team] approached every stage with discipline and intellectual curiosity, reflecting the core values of the Warrington College of Business and the Caimanes Fund. Their performance was a testament to their analytical discipline and teamwork, as well as to the exceptional investment training and mentorship environment fostered at Warrington.”

All three students expressed gratitude to Sanchez for his guidance throughout the competition and research process.

“I would like to thank Dr. Sanchez for his guidance throughout the process and for continually helping us refine our research process in the Caimanes fund,” DiBenedetto said.

“His financial teaching expertise and ambitious culture he cultivates through Caimanes were essential to our success,” Pizarro said.

Before the competition, students had the opportunity to network with other university teams, experienced BAM investment professionals and portfolio managers.

“Beyond gaining insights into the rigorous process required to succeed at a hedge fund like BAM, I really valued learning how much creativity, collaboration and collegiality are emphasized in their analyst roles,” said Pizarro. “It was also rewarding to see how closely [the investment professionals’] approach mirrors the process and structure we use in Caimanes, reinforcing how applicable our fund’s work is to real-world investment research.”