The Hylander Financial Group (HFG) is a UCR club open to students of all disciplines and levels of financial expertise. “I have learned so much about valuation and asset management since I’ve joined HFG,” says finance student George Maalouf ’24, the club’s vice president.

Along with fellow HFG members, Maalouf has competed in various student finance competitions, including the Request for Proposal Challenge hosted by CFA Orange County, where he served as director of equity, and his team’s performance resulted in a $35,000 reward for the club to manage over the following year. He also was an analyst in the Institute Research Challenge, and his team presented an award-winning equity research report. “Engaging in these competitions gives me real-world experience on how an actual firm would value a company,” he says.

Maalouf is also managing director of the Hylander Student Investment Fund (HSIF), where students manage real funds thanks to a $200,000 donation from an alumnus in 2019. “With this experience,” he adds, “I was able to get my first summer internship in business valuation at Stout Investment Bank.”