Investment Process
From idea to investment decision.
One path, eight steps. Each one produces work that the next step can test.
Discover
Where ideas come from.
Screens, industry reading, filings, spin-offs, and everyday observation. Members learn to source ideas deliberately rather than react to headlines.
Research
Understand the business first.
Unit economics, competitive position, customers, incentives, and disclosure. Primary documents before opinions.
Value
Price is not value.
Comparable analysis, DCF, sum-of-the-parts, and scenario work — with explicit assumptions that can be challenged line by line.
Build the Thesis
State what you believe and why.
A variant view, the catalysts, what the market is missing, the risks, and the specific evidence that would prove the thesis wrong.
Pitch
Research only matters if it can withstand scrutiny.
A structured pitch to the group: thesis, valuation, risk, sizing, and the counterargument stated honestly.
Investment Committee
Research. Defend. Decide.
The committee interrogates the work, debates the variant view, and reaches a decision on the simulated portfolio.
Monitor
The work continues after the decision.
Tracking earnings, catalysts, and thesis drift. Positions are revisited on evidence, not on price movement alone.
Review
Judge the process, not just the outcome.
Post-mortems on closed positions: what was right, what was luck, and what should change in how we work.
Learn how investors think.
Members start with foundations and progress into original research, written theses, and live debate — each stage feeding the next step of the process.
Foundations
How hedge funds are structured, what long/short means, and how to read a filing.
Research
Coverage of a company or industry, built from primary sources.
Thesis
A written view with valuation, catalysts, risks, and disconfirming evidence.
Pitch & Debate
Present to the group and defend the work under direct questioning.
Committee & Portfolio
Contribute to decisions in the simulated portfolio and monitor them.
Industry Exposure
Speakers, alumni conversations, and mentorship across the investment industry.
“Research only matters if it can withstand scrutiny.”
The point of the process is not to be right in a meeting. It is to build a habit of evidence, explicit assumptions, and honest revision — the same habit that separates professional investors from commentators.
Get Involved
Learn how investors think.
Open to every Fairfield student, regardless of major or prior investing experience.