Working One Day A Week; Why No School-Run Fund?

I was chatting to a friend active in CIMA and I got a question answered that I used to wonder about during admissions. Schools like Cornell and Wharton have student run investment funds. Columbia which is the Value Investing school, doesn't. Apparently the reason why it doesn't happen, is that a fund like that requires a faculty sponsor. If they set up a fund it would be $10 million or so. At Columbia, the faculty who have the skills to sponsor it, don't consider something like that worth their time. Its New York! They are way more likely to take a paid role in a hedge fund of some kind if they wish to manage money.

Students have the same attitude in some ways. We are in New York and plenty of students headed to private equity, venture capital, buy side or hedge funds took jobs taking up 1-2 days per week.

This is something that you probably wouldn't put in an application essay because admissions thinks it detracts from the overall experience. However, it is a good move if you can find the right firm. I do have to say though, that everyone I know taking that route seems to be a little distracted from the academic experience.