2026 Undergraduate Case Competition Registration

FIRM OVERVIEW

Founded in 1986, Farallon seeks investments across asset classes and around the world through a process of bottom-up fundamental research and analysis. Our investment strategies include Credit, Long/Short Equity, Merger Arbitrage, Healthcare, and Real Estate. The firm is headquartered in San Francisco and has offices in London, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo, São Paulo, and New York.

CASE COMPETITION OVERVIEW

Please note: This year’s competition features a new format — rather than selecting their own target, teams will be assigned one of three pre-selected companies to research.

The goal of Farallon’s undergraduate case competition is to advance the understanding and practice of investing through real-world examples. Students will form teams of 3-4, and teams will be assigned one of three pre-selected companies to research and on which to present their investment thesis, either as a long or a short.

Farallon investment professionals will serve as judges and provide feedback on case submissions to all participating teams. The team with the top pitch for each stock will have the opportunity to present their cases in person in San Francisco, where the winning team will be selected and announced. The firm will cover travel and hotel expenses.

FINALIST PRIZES

Finalists will receive a sponsorship gift to the teams’ affiliated student investment club:

$5,000 to the First Place team and $2,000 to the other finalist teams

2027 SUMMER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM & INTERVIEW PROCESS

The goal of Farallon’s investment internship program is to encourage the pursuit of investing as a career by providing interns with a broad introduction to the firm’s public and private investment strategies. All sophomore (Class of 2029) case competition participants will be automatically considered for Summer 2027 investing internships at Farallon. Students selected for the interview process will be contacted directly. We anticipate conducting interviews beginning in mid-November and offers will be extended subsequently.

ELIGIBILITY & REGISTRATION

All undergraduates are welcome to participate. Students must compete in teams of 3-4 under an anonymized team name (no identifying information, such as the team’s school or student organization), and please do not use “Farallon” in the name.

Each individual team member must submit a registration form. Registration requires each team member’s name, email address, school, team name, and resume. Teams with missing team member registration forms, or with team names that do not comply with the guidelines, will be disqualified and their case study materials will not be entered into the judging process.

The registration deadline is Friday, October 9. Following the registration date, each team will be assigned one of three companies on which to complete their case. Company assignments will be distributed to registered teams by email on October 12.

CASE SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Objective – Each registered team will be assigned to one of three companies to research and pitch their investment case.

Contents – Your investment case should cover the following:

• Investment thesis and recommendation
• Review of company, business model, key drivers
• Industry overview, including relevant competitors
• Valuation and risk return profile, including why the team’s view on valuation differs from the publicly traded value

Deliverables – Your investment case should be delivered via the following three components:

• Written Report: Up to 10 pages, submitted in PDF format.
• Excel Model: Cleanly formatted, easy-to-understand, and supportive of your thesis. If you use formulas that pull data from Bloomberg, CapIQ, FactSet, or any other third-party software, please hardcode those inputs in your Excel document and identify the source via comments.
• PowerPoint Presentation: Up to 15 slides, submitted in PDF format.

Additional notes:

• All sources used should be cited
• All work should be done using publicly available information
• At no point in your research should you identify yourselves as agents or representatives of Farallon
• We welcome the use of AI to support your research and work, but ultimately, your case will be judged on the depth and quality of the ideas and analysis presented in your pitch
• Teams are encouraged, but not obligated to include the use of alternative data in their pitches. Alternative data may include credit card data, geospatial imaging, clinical trial data, Google trends, etc. If the alternative data is inaccessible (i.e. requires payment, specialized technical skills, and/or a disproportionate amount of time to process the data), teams may instead point to the specific data source and describe how it would be used to explore a hypothesis or support the thesis.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not add any content in your slides, Excel model, or report that identifies team members, your school, or your student organization. Case study materials that include participant names, school logos, or student organization logos will be disqualified and will not be entered into the judging process. 

IMPORTANT DATES

October 1:                        Kick-Off Webinar & Team Registration Opens

October 9:                        Team Registration Deadline

October 12:                      Teams Assigned to a Case

November 1:                    Case Submission Deadline (11:59 pm PT)

November 13:                 Finalists Notified

November 19:                 Finalist Presentations - Teams will present their cases to Farallon Investment Professionals at our SF office

Sophomores and other selected finalists will be invited to interview in person for the Summer 2027 investment internship on November 20

CASE SUBMISSION

By 11:59 pm PT on November 1, 2026:

• One designated team member uploads required case study content via the ShareFile page accessed by clicking here or the “Upload Case Submission Here” link below. The Written Report and PowerPoint should be in PDF format, the Excel model in Excel format, and all titled with your team’s name followed by the specific submission piece (e.g., TeamName.PowerPoint.pdf, TeamName.WrittenReport.pdf, TeamName.ExcelModel.xlsx).

We will send an email confirmation on November 2, 2026, once all case study materials have been submitted.

We wish all participating teams good luck and look forward to receiving your case submissions! Please do not hesitate to reach out to [email protected] with any questions.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q:               Does an appendix count toward the page limit for the Written Report and PowerPoint?

A:               Teams should embed key exhibits they would cover during their presentation into the main body of their Written Report and PowerPoint slides. Teams may include additional helpful information in an appendix that does not count towards the page limit, but may only refer to them to assist with the Q&A portion of their finalist presentation (if selected).

Q:                  Do I need to be part of a team in order to participate?

A:                  Our competition is designed for students to compete in teams, so we ask that participants form case teams of 3-4 students.

Q:                  Can team members come from different schools?

A:                  We encourage participants to form teams of 3-4 students enrolled at the same school. However, if you prefer to form a team of students enrolled at different schools, you are welcome to do so. In this instance, if your team places as a finalist, the prize will be divided evenly between the clubs represented from each school.

Q:                  Do I have to be a current student in order to participate?

A:                  Eligible participants must be enrolled in a full-time undergraduate program.

Q:                  What should I put in the “Company Name” field when submitting case materials through ShareFile?

A:                  This field is not required and can be left blank.

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