UVA Darden School’s New Center for Asset Management Aims to Impact the Industry on a Global Scale

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business today announced the official launch of the Darden Center for Asset Management (CAM), which will serve as a hub of thought leadership and professional development for faculty, students, alumni and business practitioners in the field of asset management.

“The business of managing assets on a global scale has become increasingly complicated and competitive,” said Darden’s Dean Robert F. Bruner, who is a professor of finance and an expert in mergers and acquisitions and financial crises. “The Darden Center for Asset Management will prepare future leaders for the industry and will deliver a steady stream of thought leadership and practical application in this important field. We are incredibly grateful to the donors who have made the center possible.”

More than a dozen individual donors have provided generous support for the launch phase of CAM. Darden will continue to seek funding for the center as it develops new programs and research.

Darden Finance Professor Kenneth Eades will serve as CAM’s interim director and academic advisor as a search begins for a new senior faculty director.

“Building on Darden’s strong foundation in finance, the Darden Center for Asset Management will explore the full spectrum of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, cash, currency, real estate, infrastructure, hedge funds and private equity,” said Eades. “By bringing together Darden’s finance professors with executives from top financial services companies, we will develop practical, new approaches that will make a big mark on this broad and global industry.”

The research center’s activities will include:

• Research: Publishing leading-edge research in top journals
• Conferences: Hosting highly regarded conferences such as the University of Virginia Investing Conference (UVIC). The 6th annual UVIC conference will take place 14–15 November 2013 at the Darden School and will explore the theme “Finding Opportunity in an Unpredictable World.”
• Best Practices: Identifying best practices in asset management through research and interaction with practicing managers
• Cases and Educational Materials: Developing asset management cases and other educational materials, to be published by Darden Business Publishing
• Student Programs: Enhancing Darden Capital Management (DCM), the student-run investment fund, and creating new educational programs in the field of finance at Darden

Darden Capital Management Club, the 120-student investment club, sets the Darden School apart from other business schools. Student club members run a real-time, real-money asset management group. The group oversees five funds held by the Darden School’s endowment. Each fund has a distinct investment objective — value, small cap, global, long/short and sustainable investment — and the portfolio’s total value exceeds $6.7 million. The objective is to prepare students for careers in investment management and research and other functions within the financial markets.

“No other school gives students such responsibility, accountability and opportunity in the field of asset management,” said Bruner. “Darden’s new Center for Asset Management will build on this powerful educational experience and will provide an array of new opportunities.”

“Our goal,” said Eades “is to develop responsible leaders and to provide thought leadership that informs and inspires the industry.”