The Polaris Investment Competition is a high-level competition open only to Merage MBA
students. Teams work together choosing investments and creating a portfolio – using real money for real-world accountability. Each team must select companies worthy of their investment based upon an exhaustive qualitative and quantitative analysis.
The investment funds, totaling $1.5 million a year, are generously provided by venture capitalist Chuck Martin, Chairman and CEO of Mont Pelerin Capital, who supervises the process. The experience gives students a pragmatic experience in evaluating companies and business models, using the stock market as a tool. This is the only investment competition offered by any MBA program that allows an open forum for every single student across all MBA sections to participate – and receive real cash rewards.
A total of 88 Scholarships totalling $582,000 in cash awards has been distributed to Merage students since 2005.
The Polaris Investment Competition:
- Selects five teams every year, made of four to six Merage MBA students per team
- Spans 52 weeks
- Provides teams with up to $210,000 each
- Shares profits – up to $8,000 per team member – with students to offset tuition costs
- Posts team results on a public scoreboard
- Awards cash prizes depending on performance and placement in the competition
- Gain experience in the valuation, risk analysis, forecasting, pricing and financial analysis of publicly traded companies
- Build teamwork skills making high-powered decisions in a small group
- Learn to perform research, background and due diligence to evaluate companies
- Receive continuous feedback and interaction with seasoned investor Chuck Martin, a rare opportunity for MBA students
No matter what your career plans, participating in the Polaris Investment Competition can help prepare you for your future by being able to understand and analyze companies strategically, operationally and financially. These skills will serve you well in choosing a place to work as well as managing your own wealth portfolio.
 “Polaris can benefit any FEMBA student, because it gives you insights you won’t necessarily get in the classroom or even in your own business segment. Students get a deeper understanding of some of the true business drivers—pricing power, gross margin, operating margin. They learn to analyze performance, and interpret profit and loss statements. On another level, they learn about managing their own wealth portfolio, which is going to be critical over the next 20 years.”
Steve Chang
Worldwide MVC Program Manager, Hewlett Packard, San Diego
Class of 2006
 “Polaris goes far beyond learning the stock market. It’s about working in a team environment. You have to consider what is best for the portfolio, without being dominated by one team member’s passionate drive. The winning teams have full participation. Everyone needs to be able get their ideas on the table and be heard.”
Roger Shih
Polaris Investment Competition Participant
FEMBA Class of 2006
Mr. Martin is the Chairman, and CEO of Mont Pelerin Capital, an investment management firm that he founded in 2005. The firm manages long/short hedge funds in the public equities market.
He has over 40 years of investment experience actively managing strategies across most asset classes, including public equities, international & domestic bonds, venture capital, leveraged buyouts, real estate and marketable alternatives (hedge funds). For about 15 years he has served on, or led, investment committees for university endowments, including the University of California Regents, UC Irvine and Chapman University. He also now serves as a Senior Advisor to the private equity firm of ClearLight Partners, which is focused on the acquisition and development of middle market companies.
Earlier in his career he founded the venture capital firm, Enterprise Partners, and served as its Managing Partner until his retirement in 1999. Enterprise Partners grew to become the largest venture capital firm based in Southern California. During his term as the firm’s Managing Partner, Enterprise Partners consistently ranked as one of the top performing venture capital firms in America. Mr. Martin is also the cofounder, with George Argyros (formerly the U.S. ambassador to Spain), of Westar Capital, a private leveraged buyout/recap investment firm, and served as a general partner of that firm from its formation until 2000 when he retired as its partner emeritus.
For 25 years, until its sale in 2000, Mr. Martin was a co-owner and served on the Board of Vedax Sciences Corporation, the parent company of TEC International (now known as Vistage), the largest proprietary membership organization in the world for the management development of company Presidents and CEOs. Approximately 12,000 CEOs are members worldwide.
Mr. Martin is a Trustee of University of California, Irvine and Chapman University. For the five-year period from 2000 to 2005 he served as Chairman of the Board for the Graduate School of Management, University of California, Irvine (now known as the Merage School of Business) and was designated its first Chairman Emeritus. He served as the founding Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Orange County Museum of Art from 1996 to 2000 and continues as its Chairman Emeritus.
He graduated from Ohio State University in 1960 with a degree in Engineering Physics and five majors (physics, mathematics, chemistry, electrical engineering and business). In 2007 he was awarded the alumni-of-the-year, Lamme Medal.
Michael A. Cancelleri is the Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Mont Pelerin Capital. Mr. Cancelleri has worked as the principal research analyst and portfolio manager for Polaris, assisting in the development, testing and refinement of the Polaris model and investment system as well as its implementation. His d uties also include financial modeling, performing detailed securities research and quantitative analysis for all candidate investments, as well as performing ongoing due diligence and maintenance of all portfolio companies.
Mr. Cancelleri earned his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Finance from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine in 2005. He earned his undergraduate degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from the George L. Argyros School of Business and Economics at Chapman University.
“As a FEMBA alum, I am proud to see that the fully employed MBA students have done extremely well in the Polaris Investment Competition. In past years, the majority of teams are FEMBA students, and they killied the index. This unique program provides students with experiences that would take years to obtain in the workplace,” Mr. Cancelleri says.
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