Elon finance students have an opportunity to participate in a variety of student organizations and experiences and are encouraged to get involved.

  • Apply for one of Elon’s CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) scholarships. The CFA charter is the designation of excellence in the investment community.
  • Compete on Elon’s team in the annual CFA Institute Research Challenge, a global competition focused on financial analysis.
  • Prepare for the CFP (Certified Financial Planner) Certification exam™. Elon University is an education partner with the Certified Financial Planner™ board. Learn more about the requirements.
  • Gain in-depth training through Envestnet, an eLearning program with content from leaders in the financial services industry. Envestnet provides a certification opportunity for students with an interest in the wealth management industry and is funded 100% through an Envestnet scholarship. Completing the certification will help you gain foundational knowledge for getting started in the industry and enhance opportunities for future employment.
  • Volunteer to provide financial literacy lessons to local elementary students through a partnership with Elon’s Center for Financial Literacy and Junior Achievement.
  • Visit the William Garrard Reed Finance Center, a state-of-the-art finance research lab with 12 Bloomberg terminals. The center also sponsors professional development events, such as Wall Street Prep and mock superdays.
  • Learn how to manage property information, model leases, perform valuations and scenario analyses, create financing structures to forecast investment returns, and prepare and analyze property and portfolio reports while preparing for the ARGUS Enterprise Certification Exam. ARGUS Enterprise software is the leading lease modeling and property valuation software in the real estate industry. The ARGUS Enterprise certification will help distinguish you in the job market and is highly valued by real estate industry professionals. To participate in Elon’s ARGUS Enterprise Training, students are required to purchase the certification package for a discounted price, which includes a six-month ARGUS license, certification exam and training materials. Please contact Dr. Kaprielyan for more information. The training is supported by a CATL Teaching and Learning grant.

Student Organizations

Financial Management Association (FMA)

Join Elon’s chapter of the Financial Management Association International, a world-wide organization of finance academics and professionals, to learn more about the opportunities available in the finance industry. Our student-led chapter hosts career panels, software training, and a portfolio management simulation (Phoenix Capital). Students of all years and backgrounds are encouraged to join.

Real Estate Club

Elon Real Estate Club is a professional student organization that meets to discuss real estate investments, development, construction, sustainability and industry trends. In an interactive environment, you’ll have an opportunity to network with successful real estate professionals from around the country. You will also have an opportunity to learn about ARGUS Enterprise Certification.

Past speakers include: Paul Williams, director of development of GEMCAP Development and president of the Triad chapter for NAIOP; Joseph Scherer, SVP and Eastern Massachusetts Region Manager for Peoples United Bank; Elon alumni Colin Hartley with Cushman & Wakefield and Rush Blaine with Cousins Properties; Russell Parmele, Jr., VP of Brown Investment Properties; Clay Stober, EVP and Partner of Tri Properties Inc.; Stephen Dahlem, VP of The Lundy Group; Kelsey Matson, manager at Dilweg Companies; Peter Bishop, Burlington economic development director; Gerald Whittington, former Elon SVP for Business, Finance and Technology.

Learn more          Real Estate Club Instagram

Women in Finance

Elon’s student-led Women in Finance will help you network with alumni and other prominent women in the financial industry. The organization focuses on how to make finance more inclusive for all individuals, with a particular focus on issues facing women. Recruiters and other professionals utilize this group to connect with women majoring in finance. The group provides mentorship opportunities among members and alumni to prepare students for careers in the male-driven industry of finance.

Learn more          Women in Finance Instagram

Elon Blockchain

The Elon Blockchain is a group of passionate students and professors primarily focused on education and research related to blockchain and the cryptocurrency world. The club offers a collaborative space for students and professionals to share their diverse interests and aspirations as we seek to foster the next group of Elon leaders. Attend guest speaker events and alumni panels featuring industry professionals discussing their specific industry experience. The club is a proud affiliate member of both Blockchain Education Network (BEN) and MouseBelt University, two of the largest blockchain-centric education cohorts for students, professors and alumni worldwide.

Learn more.

Business Fellows Portfolio Management

Elon students selected to join the Business Fellows program have the opportunity to manage a roughly $300,000 equity portfolio during their senior year. Students take a modern approach to equity management and work as a team in order to manage a portion of Elon’s endowment. We work to understand the decision-making process at an actively-managed, long-only mutual fund. As part of this hands-on experience, we cover topics such as industry and market analysis, free cash flow and relative valuation, quantitative equity strategies and factor investing, performance analysis, and risk management. All investment decisions are discussed as a group and made by the student portfolio managers.

Our core philosophy is to invest in high quality, undervalued companies with strong competitive advantages. The investment horizon of our investments is longer-term (five years and above), but we target stocks that should provide short-term upside in a one-year timeframe. We diversify our holdings among 25 to 40 stocks across various industries. Similar to a traditional equity mutual fund, we do not short-sell, we do not use leverage, and we do not invest in derivative or fixed-income securities. To reduce transactions costs, we only consider liquid securities that trade on U.S. exchanges.

The portfolio class makes extensive use of the technology provided by the William Garrard Reed Finance Center, such as our Bloomberg terminals and FactSet.