PRIME-d for success

In less than a year, Wendy Zhu (BSBA ’25) went from sitting at her desk in an investment management class to sitting at the table of asset-management firm Broyhill.

Zhu began taking classes at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School her sophomore year. Her work was so impressive that her professors urged to apply for the new Projects for Investment Management Experiential-Learning Program (PRIME) offered by the Center for Excellence in Investment Management.

PRIME primarily matches Full-Time MBA Program and Undergraduate Business Program (UBP) students studying investment management with firms for three-month hands-on experiences. They are assigned to projects such as crafting financial models for public and private capital firms, early-stage investment screenings for private-capital firms and risk analysis for capital allocators. They attend weekly PRIME classes, where they discuss their work and hear from guest speakers discussing a range of topics, from how endowments approach investments to fintech opportunities.

At Broyhill, Zhu became a valued member of a small team during her junior year, leading real projects with real consequences. She built a dashboard to facilitate data analysis and monitor notable updates to stocks the company is tracking, providing essential insights into even the slightest movements in financial markets — and that was just one of her projects.

When she took on a sales and trading summer analyst internship at Citi, she felt more than just prepared. Thanks to PRIME, she felt even more confident about her future in investment management.

“I wanted to work closely with the financial professionals who are out there making big investment decisions,” says Zhu. “Through PRIME, I got such a comprehensive understanding of that on a higher level. It was problem-solving. It was practical. It was collaborative. It was exactly what I wanted.”

Professor Pramita Saha teaches the PRIME course.

Since launching in 2022, PRIME has provided the real-world, experiential-learning experiences that investment management students at UNC Kenan-Flagler thirst for. Students explore various fields on their own terms, prepare for internships and competitive recruiting seasons, and widen their network in an industry they have just dipped their toes in.

PRIME projects have led directly to internships and some students have parlayed them into full-time positions.

“PRIME is the kind of experience that goes a very long way,” says Zhu. “It gave me the confidence that I can make it to the next steps and excel.”

PRIME has become one of the fastest-growing and appreciated offerings for the Center for Excellence in Investment Management, where MBA and UBP students take advantage of a wealth of unique experiences out of the classroom, such as investment pitch competitions like the Alpha Challenge for MBAs, which attracts the top investments students from across the country. The center started offering a separate competition for undergraduates in 2023.

The program was born from a vision to offer even more. Initially open to just first-year MBA students — especially for career-switchers wanting to break into the capital markets and investments industry but lacking direct experience — PRIME has found a solid place within the tapestry of center-supported classes and initiatives with its broadened reach.

On Dec. 4, 2024, the investment management team will host the inaugural Investment Management for All: Wealth & Women event, which will include interactive content such as speed networking with investment firms, small group pitch coaching and private wealth management simulations.

About 10 students and five corporate partners were part of the first PRIME course in 2022. The following year, two times as many students and three times as many partners signed on. In 2024, it grew to 25 students and 16 partners.

Each fall, students apply to PRIME and their resumés are sent to firms for consideration. Students are interviewed by firms over the course of a month. Those accepted rank their preferences of firms they would like to work with, and learn about their matches in December. They begin their projects in the spring, working with the firm for about eight hours a week in person, remotely or a hybrid approach.

PRIME targets undergraduates in their junior year and first-year MBAs. It’s also open to undergraduates not majoring in businesss and business majors pursuing different areas of emphasis who have taken the new Gateway into Capital Markets & Investments course.

“PRIME is the kind of experience that goes a very long way. It gave me the confidence that I can make it to the next steps and excel.” — Wendy Zhu (BSBA ’25)

For spring 2025, Professor Pramita Saha, who teaches the PRIME course, hopes to increase the undergraduate enrollment in PRIME. The second and final round of applications are accepted through Nov. 3.

“You become a better investment professional when you can see the whole picture,” says Saha, Center for Excellence in Investment Management executive director. “Through PRIME, students dig deeply into an area they’re already interested in or want to learn more about. There’s so much variety in the investment management space. That’s why our mantra is investment management for all. PRIME is meant to showcase that.”

Ryan Durr (MBA ’25) was matched with Morgan Creek Capital Management, where he provided pivotal analysis of different investment opportunities and conducted detailed due diligence. He went on to do similar capital allocation work last summer through an internship at Cambridge Associates.

“You’re applying all the different things you’ve learned so far in a very safe space,” says Durr. “The companies know you’re there to learn, and they not only embrace teaching you but also genuinely value your input and ideas. Pramita does an excellent job of bringing in people from all walks of investments, some that you would never, ever think of learning about. It only enriches your knowledge base, it helps you make better career choices down the line.”

PRIME was an added bonus for Durr to attend UNC Kenan-Flagler. The Los Angeles native thought he’d stay in California to pursue an MBA, but when he learned about UNC Kenan-Flagler’s investment management curriculum and experiential-learning opportunities he was sold. UNC Kenan-Flagler was the only school he applied to for his MBA.

“I just fell in love with the investment management program, and the more I got involved with it, the more I was amazed and impressed by what we do here,” he says. “PRIME was a big part of that. It’s an incredible way to prepare for a career. I only wish I had done it earlier.”