The Gatton College of Business and Economics is proud to announce the results from the second annual stock pitch competition at the University of Kentucky. Sponsored by the Department of Finance and Quantitative Methods, the competition was open to all students enrolled full-time in undergraduate or master’s-level programs at the University of Kentucky. The Gatton College and the Finance Society coordinated in organizing the competition.

This year, more than 100 participants signed up for the competition and there was a 30% increase in the number of pitches submitted for the semi-final competition. On April 11, six selected semi-finalist teams presented in front of a panel of experts, Laura Boison (Market President, BB&T), Richard Hunt (Director of Finance, Koch Equity Development), and Michael Rudzik (Managing Director, PAAMCO Prisma). The event was viewed via Zoom by UK students, alumni, and members of the UK community.

Below are the four winning teams and their stock pitches:

First place prize ($1,500): Will Smith and Michael Zhu (Long – Dollar Tree)

Second place prize: ($1,000): Riley Grant, Ben Long, and Kassie Miller (Long – Spirit Airlines)

Third place prize ($800): Derek Doss, Chris Tan, and Cooper Winrich (Long - Xylem)

Fourth place prize ($600): Grant Deaton, Nick Harker, Bryce Kushner, and Jude Omodon (Short – Wayfair)

The organizers would like to thank the judges for traveling from out of town and taking time out of their busy schedules to offer insightful feedback during and after the competition.

The organizers are thankful for the advice, participation and support from finance faculty members, and especially the mentoring help to the students from the following alumni: Cam Adams (Community Trust), Austin Bach (Koch Equity Development), Camden Booker (Castellan Group), John Cheshire (Asio Capital), Tyler Harris (Raymond James), Eric Johnson (GE Appliances, Haier), and Eric Winkler (Neuberger Berman). Anne Bogges, a freshman officer of the Finance Society, who provided top-notch and tireless support in organizing the stock pitch competition over the past three months.

Special thanks to funding partner, Truist for their support.