Brass Rat Investments

What Brass Rat Investments does

Brass Rat Investments is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, student-run investment fund affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, though explicitly independent of MIT. Founded in 2023, the organization manages a $100,000 educational portfolio across technology, industrial, consumer, and healthcare sectors using a multi-sector long-short equity strategy. Fund members meet weekly to pitch investment ideas and vote on portfolio allocations, with supplementary activities including stock pitch contests, industry guest speakers, and on-site/virtual visits to investment management firms. The organization does not charge for any service and operates without external customers.

The fund is organized into three sector teams — Technology, Industrials, and Healthcare — each led by a Head of Sector and supported by student analysts. The companion BRI Education Program provides foundational training in equity analysis, financial modeling, stock research methodology, and valuation techniques to MIT undergraduate and graduate students, using industry-standard tools such as Refinitiv, S&P Capital IQ, and Microsoft Excel. Top-performing education program members are eligible to interview for analyst positions on fund sector teams, creating an internal pipeline from training to portfolio management.

The executive board combines student leadership with industry professionals, including co-founders of Axiomada (Telis Bertsekas, Nina Hughes) and an Operating Officer from Point72 Academy (Jean Horenstein). As a nonprofit educational entity, Brass Rat Investments has no revenue model and no external customers; the $100,000 figure represents portfolio assets under management, not company revenue. The organization is promoted through its LinkedIn page and direct email contact, with recruitment sourced exclusively from the MIT student body.

Name

Brass Rat Investments

Legal name

Brass Rat Investments Student Fund

Website

https://brassratinvestments.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Brass Rat Investments is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit student-run investment fund at MIT that manages a $100,000 educational equity portfolio across technology, industrials, consumer, and healthcare sectors, while training MIT students in investment analysis through a structured education program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Brass Rat Investments is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit student-run investment fund that manages a $100,000 multi-sector long-short equity portfolio across technology, industrial, consumer, and healthcare sectors. The organization provides MIT undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on investment experience through weekly idea pitching and allocation voting, alongside a structured education program covering financial analysis, modeling, and stock research methodology using professional tools like Refinitiv and S&P Capital IQ.

Product overview

Brass Rat Investments is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit student-run investment group that operates two interconnected offerings: the BRI Student Fund (a $100,000 multi-sector long-short equity portfolio) and the BRI Education Program. The fund is organized into three sector teams (Technology, Industrials, Healthcare) where MIT students gain hands-on experience analyzing equities and pitching investment ideas. Fund members meet weekly to vote on portfolio allocations. The Education Program provides foundational training in investment analysis, financial modeling, and stock research methodology using industry tools like Microsoft Excel, Refinitiv, and S&P Capital IQ.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Brass Rat Investments Student Fund

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Others

• CFA Institute: Global professional standards body for investment practitioners that runs the Research Challenge, in which many student investment funds compete. Not a direct peer, but frames the broader investment-education ecosystem Brass Rat operates in.
• Axiomada: Investment firm co-founded by two members of Brass Rat's executive board (Telis Bertsekas and Nina Hughes). Not a peer in business model, but a representative destination employer and source of board-level mentorship for the fund.

Direct peers

• Columbia Investment Management Association: Columbia University's undergraduate investment club that manages capital across multiple sectors with a pitch-and-vote process. Comparable to Brass Rat on structure, undergraduate-student management, and sector-team organization.
• Cornell Investment Banking & Investment Group: Cornell's largest student-run investment and finance organization, covering sector equity research and portfolio management. Comparable student-led model with multi-sector research output.
• Berkeley Investment Group: Student-run investing organization at UC Berkeley that operates a sector-based equity portfolio and education program for undergraduate students. Closely mirrors Brass Rat's sector-team structure and career-prep mission.
• Wharton Investment League: Premier undergraduate student-run investment fund at the Wharton School that manages real capital across multiple sectors. Closest comparable structural peer in terms of student-managed multi-sector portfolio at a top-tier university.
• Princeton Investment Club: Student-run investment organization at Princeton University that runs a multi-sector equity portfolio. Comparable to Brass Rat in fund structure, equity focus, and undergraduate-led research process.
• Stanford Investment Fund: Student-run long-short equity fund at Stanford University. Directly comparable to Brass Rat on multi-sector equity strategy, real-capital deployment, and weekly pitch-and-vote governance model.
• MIT Sloan Investment Management Association: Student-led investment club at MIT Sloan that manages a portfolio and trains MBA students in equity research. Most direct comparison to Brass Rat's student-run investment model, although operates at the graduate-only level.

Broad incumbents

• Point72 Academy: Point72's talent-development program that trains early-career investors, with an executive-board member of Brass Rat (Jean Horenstein) serving as Operating Officer of Investment Professional Development. Differs in scale and employment pipeline, but operates in the same talent-development niche.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/brass-rat-investments

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Brass Rat Investments