The Capstone Student Investment Conference – was held on March 7, 2026 on The University of Alabama’s campus and Hedge Fund Alpha has in depth coverage of this great best ideas conference. Capstone Student Investment Conference (CSIC) 2026 is the preeminent investment conference in the U.S. for professionals and students.
UPDATE: The full coverage of the conference in PDF for those readers who prefer it can be found below at the bottom of the post.
A portfolio of all the stocks that speakers highlighted at last year’s event, using market closing prices on the day before the event, has increased 48.1% since then, vs. a 15.6% increase in the S&P 500! Leading the pack were Django Davidson’s recommended basket of platinum stocks, Arvind Sanger‘s Peabody Energy pick and three ideas (Brink’s, Altria, and Blue Bird) from Steve Schurr.
Editor’s note: See our coverage from this last year’s conference, which featured Stephen Schurr (who is so phenomenal he was recently poached by Millennium Management for $100 million) and many other top investors. This article Balasny’s Stephen Schurr at CSIC 2025: These Three Popular Shorts Are Better Longs was one of the most popular articles of 2025.
2026 Capstone Student Investment Conference Speakers
- Dale Boyles, Chief Financial Officer, Warrior Met Coal, Inc.
Dale Boyles, CFO of Warrior Met Coal with prior experience in senior finance roles and audit, focuses on the overlooked opportunity in cyclical businesses. He argues that investors who understand supply-demand dynamics can take advantage of volatility, particularly when entering near cycle lows. His discussion, anchored around a metallurgical coal producer tied to global steel demand, highlights how low-cost production, disciplined capital allocation, and execution, not commodity prices alone, can drive outsized equity returns even in flat pricing environments.
See: CSIC 2026 Panel: Dale Boyles On Low-Cost Production and Capital Discipline in Met Coal
- Will Brennan, Managing Partner, Long Path Partners
Will Brennan, founder of Long Path Partners and former portfolio manager at Brown Brothers Harriman, outlines a concentrated strategy focused on long-term ownership of high-quality businesses. He emphasizes deep research and selectivity, with case studies including a utility billing software provider and a real estate valuation data platform. In both cases, the investment thesis centers on mission-critical positioning and entrenched network effects that make displacement difficult despite evolving competitive threats.
See: CSIC 2026: Will Brennan Focuses on Mission-Critical Businesses with Durable Moats
- Joseph Cornell, Chief Investment Officer, Bluegrass Capital Partners
Joseph Cornell, CIO of Bluegrass Capital Partners with a background across hedge funds, private equity, and investment banking, emphasizes long-term compounding through concentrated ownership. His featured idea, a manufacturer of mission-critical aerospace components, is built on regulatory barriers, embedded relationships, and a recurring aftermarket revenue model. The pitch highlights how small, essential parts with pricing power can generate durable, high-margin growth over decades.
- Sean Fieler, President and Chief Investment Officer, Equinox Partners
Sean Fieler, President and CIO of Equinox Partners, has spent decades investing in emerging and frontier markets, particularly in natural resources. Rather than a single company pitch, he presents a broader allocation thesis, highlighting opportunities across the energy, materials, and financial sectors in markets such as Brazil and other underfollowed regions. His argument is driven by valuation gaps, under-allocation, and structural differences in sector composition compared to developed markets.
See: CSIC 2026: Equinox Partners’ Sean Fieler On Going Back In Time To Invest In Emerging Markets
Also see: Capstone Student Investment Conference 2025
- Matthew Fine, Portfolio Manager, Third Avenue Management
Matthew Fine, Portfolio Manager at Third Avenue Management, focuses on identifying companies trading below conservative estimates of intrinsic value. His discussion includes two distinct ideas: a U.S. building products manufacturer and distributor tied to housing cycles, and an Asia-focused container shipping company benefiting from regional trade shifts. Both reflect his approach of buying into cyclical dislocations where balance sheets remain strong but sentiment is weak.
See: CSIC 2026: Third Avenue’s Matthew Fine Sees Value in a Market Dominated by Expensive US Stocks
- C.T. Fitzpatrick, Chief Investment Officer, Vulcan Value Partners
C.T. Fitzpatrick, founder and CIO of Vulcan Value Partners, applies a long-term value framework centered on stable businesses. He highlights opportunities in a specialty insurance broker and a global reinsurance business, both of which have sold off due to perceived AI disruption risk. His pitch argues that these fears are misplaced given the complexity and bespoke nature of their underwriting, creating a disconnect between price and intrinsic value.
See: Vulcan Value’s CT Fitzpatrick At CSIC 2026: Why the AI Bubble Is Like the Great Financial Crisis
- David Iben, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Kopernik Global Investors
David Iben, founder and CIO of Kopernik Global Investors, focuses less on single-name ideas and more on broad misallocations created by passive investing. He points to opportunities in natural resources, precious metals, agriculture, and select emerging markets, where capital has been structurally underallocated. His framework emphasizes real assets and optionality over traditional growth narratives.
See: CSIC 2026: David Iben Makes The Case for Active Investing in a Passive-Dominated Market
- Robert Robotti, President and Chief Investment Officer, Robotti & Co.
Robert Robotti, founder and CIO of Robotti & Company, takes a contrarian approach focused on deeply undervalued businesses. His discussion includes a subsea engineering and offshore energy services company, reflecting his broader thesis around opportunity in the oil and gas and industrial services sectors. He emphasizes investing in out-of-favor companies with significant embedded earnings power that may take time to be recognized.
- Steve Schurr, Millennium Management
Stephen Schurr, a senior portfolio manager with a background in short selling and financial journalism, focuses on identifying excesses rather than pitching a single long idea. He highlights risks concentrated in high-growth technology, private markets, and heavily capitalized speculative segments, pointing to structural signs of overinvestment and potential unwind scenarios.
Also see: Millennium Hires Balyasny Vet Steve Schurr with $100M Compensation
- Will Thomson, Founder and Managing Partner, Massif Capital
Will Thomson, founder of Massif Capital with experience in insurance and geopolitical advisory roles, challenges how investors think about commodity exposure. His analysis includes a global integrated energy company as a case study, showing how equity performance can diverge from underlying commodity prices. His broader framework demonstrates that even within the energy and mining sectors, company-specific factors dominate returns.
Login required to continue reading.
Setup a free account to get access to this article (no credit card required).
View Full Article
