In the Long Run, a Weighing Machine

“In the short run, the market is a voting machine; in the long run, it is a weighing machine.” – Benjamin Graham

A student-run 501(c)(3) at UC Santa Cruz. Est. 2016.

What We Do

About Us

Slug Fund Investment Group was founded in 2016.

We embrace the value investment principles of Benjamin Graham, Warren Buffett, Charles Munger, and Phil Fisher, and today focus primarily on publicly traded companies in North America. We aim to achieve superior returns by being long-term owners of high quality businesses with a substantial economic moat, great growth potential, and trustworthy people running them.

Slug Fund Investment Group is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation, recognized as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3). Everything our portfolio earns funds scholarships and educational programming for students. No member profits from any of it.

Illustration of an old-growth coast redwood towering over the surrounding forest, a lone figure at its base for scale

Investment Philosophy

Our Approach

We are owners, not traders.

We take the view that a share is a claim on a business, not a ticker on a screen. That single commitment does most of the work: it tells you what to research, how long to hold, and when to say nothing at all.

So we teach members to read a business before they read a chart — the unit economics, the competitive position, the people running it, and the price the market is asking. Every thesis is written down before it is acted on, and every vote carries a documented written justification.

The investor’s chief problem — and even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself. Benjamin Graham, The Intelligent Investor

Our Core Values

  1. 01.

    Access

    Membership is open to anyone with a genuine interest in finance, regardless of major, year, or experience. No individual is denied participation because they cannot pay.

  2. 02.

    Transparency

    We publish our programs, our scholarship allocations, our use of investment proceeds, and our governance — deliberately contrary to the opaque nature of traditional financial institutions.

  3. 03.

    Rigor

    Every position is researched, written up, and defended out loud before it is taken. Every vote carries a documented written justification. Conviction without evidence is not conviction.

  4. 04.

    Stewardship

    We manage what has been entrusted to us prudently and exclusively in service of our charitable purpose. No part of what we build benefits any private individual.

  5. 05.

    Integrity

    We hold to a written Code of Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy. Nobody trades on information obtained through the organization, and anyone with a material interest recuses themselves.

  6. 06.

    Continuity

    Officers serve fixed terms and plan their succession. The Advisory Board mentors each incoming cohort. The organization is built to outlive every student in it.

Our Team

Slug Fund Investment Group is run entirely by undergraduates, supported by a non-voting Advisory Board of professionals and alumni.

Publications

Media

Press coverage, meetings, speakers, and socials — what the club actually looks like on a Wednesday night.

  • Sushane Atmakuri presenting the Lululemon pitch to a packed room of members Sushane Atmakuri at the projector beside the slide recording the club's decision

    Stock Pitch

    Lululemon Deep Dive

    Co-President and CFO Sushane Atmakuri led the meeting and presented the pitch: fat pitch or value trap? Members guessed a mystery company from four clues — an $11B, debt-free retailer down 80% from its peak — before the reveal: Lululemon. Sushane walked through what broke, how it stacks up against Alo, Vuori, and Deckers, its new CEO, and bear-to-bull scenarios, then the club voted on how much of the fund to put behind it.

    Read Sushane’s full deck in Publications.

  • Members around a table with cards and chips at SFIG's first Poker Night

    Social

    Inaugural Poker Night

    We traded DCF models for something just as valuable: decision-making under uncertainty. Every hand was a lesson in risk assessment, reading signals, capital allocation, and knowing when to walk away — a reminder that investing is judgment and discipline as much as spreadsheets. We intend to make it a tradition.

    Winners — Kannishk Naidu G and Chloe Kim.

  • Three UC Investments guests seated at the front of a classroom taking questions from students

    Speaker Series

    Ask Anything Night with UC Investments

    Patricia Kelly, Byron Ong, CFA, and Jeff Youngman answered every question put to them — breaking into the industry, navigating early career decisions, personal finance, and how investment teams think about markets and long-term strategy.

    With UC Investments.

  • Three students laughing at the front of a lecture room before the joint club meeting begins

    Collaboration

    Lihong Wang, Founder of Freeport Markets

    A joint meeting with the UCSC Startup Club and the UCSC Investment Banking Academy. Lihong Wang gave a clear account of where cryptocurrency is heading and how partnering with Y Combinator helps founders bring ambitious ideas to life. Freeport Markets closed the night with a crypto wallet giveaway.

    With UCSC Startup Club and UCSC Investment Banking Academy.

  • Michael Feng speaking to a seated audience beside a projected Hummingbot slide

    Speaker Series

    Michael Feng, Co-Founder of Hummingbot

    The first guest of our new speaker series walked members through the future of cryptocurrency markets — how decentralized finance is reshaping traditional market structure, and how tools like Hummingbot let individual investors take part in liquidity provision and algorithmic trading.

    First in the SFIG speaker series.

  • A full classroom of students seated at long tables at the first SFIG meeting of the year

    Kickoff Meeting

    To the Moon or To the Basement?

    We opened the year by welcoming new members and introducing the club, then ran our first activity. Teams analyzed mystery company profiles, argued Buy, Sell, or Hold, and presented their cases before the reveal.

    Winning teams — To the Moon Madrid: Nathan Margolis, Michael Yoho, Lucia Hernandez Fuentes, Alejandro Soro Rodriguez. Angel Investors: Oscar Gutierrez, Aradhya Kapoor, Mateo Velar, Hugo Lopez.

Partnerships

We work to secure the training, certifications, and industry contact that students at larger finance programs take for granted — and to make all of it free at the point of use.

Approved Partner

CFA Society

Slug Fund Investment Group is an approved partner of the CFA Society — a route to professional credentialing and the practitioner network around it, bringing charterholders, exam resources, and industry programming directly to members.

Partnership

UC Investments

A UC-wide initiative helping students explore careers in asset management, with training that mirrors the first year of an analyst’s career at an investment firm. Through SFIG, students access the program entirely free of charge.

Program details

Biweekly speaker series — founders and fund managers from

Y Combinator · UC Investments · HummingBot · alumni across banking, venture, and quantitative finance.

Contact Us

Discord

discord.gg/zcm5rgkrRS

Meeting announcements, team channels, and officer Q&A.

Instagram

@ucsc.sfig

Event documentation, member highlights, and announcements.

LinkedIn

Slug Fund Investment Group

Member and alumni professional networking.

Email

slugsfundig@gmail.com

Donations, sponsorships, speaking, and partnerships.

Start This Week

There is no application fee and no deadline. Join the Discord, come to the next meeting, and decide from there.

Open to every major · No prior experience required · No one turned away for inability to pay