The 2025-26 TCM academic year might have been our best yet, and I say that with enormous respect for all of the previous classes and years. Some of you might enjoy the recap of this year as I sent a similar letter to our Executive Board at TCM.
First, Professor Ko did a really nice job with a video that summarized the year. You can view it at this link:
Kelly noted the TCM Student Investment Conference in his video, which has become quite the event thanks to our Managing Director, Steven Wang, and Chrissy Vaughn, Senior Director of Development for the CBE for promoting it and getting sponsors for it. Please note this year’s date is October 23, 2026.
I will just add some brief color to Kelly’s vid. Getting to the Global Final two of the last four years is really quite an accomplishment (not to mention 7 straight CFALA titles). We were so close to winning it all this year. The team that won, University of Waterloo, was a team we had beaten in America’s regional. They are a graduate level program and have won several Global titles. Hats off to them. They are really good. Different judges, different environment, and other subjective factors that go into judging all come into play. It stung a bit for the team as they had such high expectations, but we did get the scoring feedback from the judges and we finished second. Second in the world out of 1100 starting universities, and we are an undergrad program with the occasional graduate student.
Within 5 years, we have become an elite university and program within dedicated investment management programs in higher ed. Professor Ko and mentor Derek Derman have had so much to do with this success. They are the best in the world at what they do, but what so impresses me as the program has grown is the community that has formed that supports the entire spectrum of TCM competitions and its curriculum. It is comprised, as you all know, of many different industry practicians as well as a student body that shows up to support their fellow students. We had over 20 people, mostly students, who traveled to Hong Kong.
This culture creates a truly virtuous circle of success as the TCM program attracts students across a broad spectrum of CSUF including accounting majors, some of which are dual accounting and finance majors, Business Honors, and President’s Scholars students. All of these students are highly motivated to perform at the highest level. TCM students figure it out quickly. Performing at a high level in the TCM program, competitions or not, can lead to a great starting job and compensation. The challenge that will never go away for us is how to keep this virtuous flywheel moving north. TCM is time-intensive for the professors given its growth. It used to be simple—15-20 students and a SMIF club on the side. Now, TCM may carry 20 students, but SMIF has morphed from a club to 3-4 classes, which means over 100 students cycle through TCM/SMIF in any given academic year. These interactions are time-intensive for our professors so we will continue to feel pressure. If you are interested in being on an advisory board, we can always use the help.
I can’t help but mention another success this year, as Steven and Chrissy also had much to do with. TCM finished first in the Day of Giving (DOG), not just in the CBE, but the entire university! We had over 100 donors, and TCM students made a video as well as contributing. We had a very productive day as we planned well in advance to prioritize the DOG as a key element of TCM’s fund-raising activities. Here are the results below:
| Rank | Prize | Cause | Raised |
| 1 | $5,000 | Titan Capital Management | $57,093.00 |
| 2 | $3,000 | Vets and Cadets | $52,598.00 |
| 3 | $2,000 | OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Inst.) | $46,073.57 |
| 4 | Track and Field | $30,253.40 | |
| 5 | Arboretum and Botanical Garden | $26,506.00 |
Last year, we did something like 10+ donors and maybe $15k +/-. With matching, we actually raised a total of almost $97,000! A big thanks to all for this fantastic philanthropic outcome! In addition, we are very blessed and thankful to have a new major donor to the program, the California Foundation for Stronger Communities (CFSC).
These successes are yet another reflection of TCM’s culture, “The Best Return is Giving Back.” A heartfelt thanks to all of you that have contributed to these successes. TCM has become more than just a high-performing academic program. It is a community of people that care about our students and alums and the life-changing impact the program has had on student outcomes.
I look forward to the 2026-27 academic year and hope to connect with as many of you that I can.
Warmly,
JVH