During TMIA’s semi-annual advisory meeting last fall, program fund managers helped celebrate the fund’s 30th year. Texas McCombs photo
What’s it like to manage $25 million before even finishing your MBA?
At the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, a select group of students does just that. Through the Texas McCombs Investment Advisers program, one of the largest and longest-running student-managed funds in the country, MBA candidates research, pitch, and invest real capital in public markets, under real scrutiny — and with real consequences.
“This isn’t a simulation,” says Joshua Kocher, McCombs finance lecturer and CEO of TMIA. “Our students are managing real money, and they’re held to the same standard as any professional analyst.”
UT Austin McCombs’ Joshua Kocher: “We want students to walk away knowing how to analyze companies, build a portfolio — and sell their ideas”
It’s a model that has helped power TMIA to a standout position in business education. With $25 million in assets under management and a legacy stretching back to 1994, the program is now celebrating 30 years of hands-on training and the launch of more than 500 careers in finance.
The TMIA story began when finance professors Keith Brown and George Gau launched the MBA Investment Fund LLC. It was the first legally constituted private investment company managed by students, seeded with $1.6 million from 37 outside investors.
Over time, McCombs added the Growth Fund (1994), the Value Fund (1999), and the Endowment Fund (2001), giving students deeper exposure to varied investment strategies. In 2020, outside investors were bought out, and the program was restructured as Texas McCombs Investment Advisers, LLC — an internal adviser backed by institutional partners.
UTIMCO (the University of Texas Investment Management Company) committed $7.5 million, and the McCombs School Foundation provided additional capital. Today, TMIA oversees two main portfolios: the Longhorn Fund, a U.S. equity fund benchmarked to the S&P 500; and the Endowment Fund, a globally diversified, ETF-based portfolio tracking a 60/40 stock-bond mix.
TMIA is structured as a yearlong course, with students responsible for both an individual pitch and a group pitch each semester. They present to investment counselors — seasoned alumni and industry professionals — and eventually to a formal advisory committee of finance practitioners.
“They get beat up,” Kocher says. “But that’s the point. It prepares them for the scrutiny they’ll face on the job.”
Students rotate across sectors like tech, energy, and consumer, and receive weekly instruction from Kocher plus guest lectures from professionals ranging from hedge fund managers to short sellers.
For Srinath Narayanan, MBA Class of 2025, the process transformed his career trajectory. “I was an engineer with no finance background. TMIA gave me the tools and the confidence to pivot. I’m joining Eli Lilly’s finance leadership program because of this experience.”
McCombs Class of 2025 MBA Srinath Narayanan: ““If you’re serious about finance, this is the best place to learn before you have to do it for real”
Narayanan recalls his first pitch as “a disaster” — but also a learning milestone. Kocher recorded every student pitch, solicited peer feedback, and shared both. “It was like watching game film,” Narayanan says. “Harsh but incredibly effective.”
By the end of the program, he and his team were presenting investment ideas to real stakeholders — and outperforming the S&P 500.
“That was our proudest moment,” he says. “We stayed patient, trusted our analysis, and beat the benchmark — and our friendly rivals at Texas A&M.”
Matt Jacobs, also Class of 2025, came to McCombs from the music industry with a sociology degree — and a personal interest in stocks.
“I had no quantitative background, but I wanted something that felt serious,” he says. “TMIA gave me the outlet to explore that, and the structure to back it up.”
Jacobs’s pitches included Ross Stores, The Sphere in Las Vegas, and Nike. Some made it into the fund; others didn’t. But what mattered, he says, was learning how to frame a compelling argument.
“You’re pitching to hedge fund managers. The stakes are high,” he says. “This wasn’t a class project — it felt real.”
TMIA, he adds, became his go-to credential in recruiting. “Every outreach email started with: I managed $25 million in a student-led fund. That gets attention.”
McCombs Class of 2025 MBA Matt Jacobs: “You’re pitching to hedge fund managers. The stakes are high. This wasn’t a class project — it felt real”
More than 540 McCombs students have completed the program since its founding. Many now work in investment management, banking, private equity, or corporate finance.
Kocher says TMIA’s mission has always had two tracks: serve the investors and educate the students. “We want students to walk away knowing how to analyze companies, build a portfolio — and sell their ideas. Most MBA programs do the first two. We focus hard on the third.”
Narayanan agrees. “It completed my McCombs experience,” he says. “I made lifelong friends, built real skills, and gained the confidence to speak finance fluently.”
Jacobs’s advice to future McCombs MBAs interested in finance, but unsure whether to apply to the TMIA? “Join the fund. Show up. Drink an energy drink. Bring your A-game.”
Narayanan adds: “If you’re serious about finance, this is the best place to learn before you have to do it for real. I’ll never forget it.”
And he offers one final note: “As long as Josh is running the fund,” Narayanan adds, “the program — and the students — are in very good hands.”
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The post Managing Millions: Inside Texas McCombs’ Student Investment Powerhouse appeared first on Poets&Quants.
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