Continuing its tradition of working with industry to test students in real-world business situations, The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business is partnering with J.P. Morgan and 50 judges from top real estate firms to test MBA candidates from across the country Nov. 9-10 in the 2011 National Real Estate Challenge.
This is the 10th year of the contest, the longest running and most visible real estate case competition for graduate students.
“This contest is a rite of passage for MBAs who want to become leaders in real estate,” said Jay Hartzell, executive director of the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center, sponsor of the competition.
“J.P. Morgan’s involvement takes the competition to a whole new level,” said Hartzell. “Their expertise lends even more credibility to a program that is already considered one of the most challenging and prestigious team challenges in real estate education.”
Graduate student teams from 20 top business schools come to The University of Texas at Austin to compete for highest honors and cash awards in a case competition judged by real estate industry executives from firms across the country.
Teams evaluate an investment opportunity, focusing on possible issues surrounding the acquisition, financing and tenanting of the property. Representatives of J.P. Morgan Asset Management-Global Real Assets will then present a retrospective on the actual investment and its performance.
The 2010 winning team was from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. The 2011 participating teams are from Wharton, the McCombs School and business schools at 18 other universities including the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Chicago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with The University of Texas at Austin to support this prestigious competition,” said Kevin Faxon, Head of Real Estate Americas, J.P. Morgan Asset Management-Global Real Assets. “We are challenging student teams to draw on a myriad of skills to assess real estate investment opportunities. Developing these skills is instrumental in growing the next generation of real estate industry leaders.”
Additional challenge sponsors include Lionstone Group, Real Estate Financial Modeling, Rothschild Realty Managers, ING Clarion, Parmenter Realty Partners, Stream Realty Partners and Trail Creek Capital.
