The IU Kelley School of Business is home to many student-led organizations and clubs. But, the Sample Gates Management Incorporated is not like the rest. This organization is the largest undergraduate student-led real estate private equity fund in the nation.
The fund started as an idea 6 years ago, from a student by the name of Pat Engels. He pitched the idea as a freshman, hoping to turn it into a reality. By his senior year, the idea was up and running as a full time program.
The first students in the program dealt with the legal aspect of the organization. They needed approval from President Whitten, as well as the board of directors. Their main job was to comb through any weeds on the back end of the organization so that generations to come could hit the ground running.
This fall, the students started raising money so they could start the investments like the program was set out to do.
Jennie Reinking explains the process of raising $4.2 million.
Now that they have the money, the Sample Gates Management Incorporated is a fully functional business.
The students in the fund are getting real experiences in the world of real estate. Within the program, the students are split into two teams, one of which works on the sourcing/analyzing the deals, and one of which speaks with the investors to keep them updated on where their capital is going.
They work on finding deals that will create a high return on capital for their investors. Sample Gates Management Inc. takes a 1% management fee in order to continue to grow the program in the right direction.
Jennie Reinking explains what the work in the program is like.
To join the Sample Gates Management Incorporated, there are steps that students can take to make work their way up this level of expertise.
Freshman or Sophomore year, students can join the Kelley School Real Estate Club. Every Tuesday, companies come in to speak about what they do in real estate and explain their day to day life.
After this, students can apply to be in the Commercial Real Estate workshop. The workshop is eight weeks long, and consists of a real estate case study each week.
Once having completed the workshop, students may apply to be in the Private Equity Fund, 0r Sample Gates Management Incorporated.
President Will Huber says his biggest take away from being in the fund is all of the lifelong skills he has learned. He says if anyone is interested in real estate, they should start now and use the resources that the Kelley School of Business provides.
To learn more about these opportunities, you can visit Kelley School of Business Real Estate Website.
Will Huber speaks on what he has learned as the President of the program.
