The goal of Distressed Value Investing is to provide students with broad-based exposure to what is one of the most complex and intellectually stimulating areas of the market.
The class will introduce distressed investing broadly, touching on many different styles of investing in distressed companies and securities. The class also emphasizes hands-on distressed analysis, teaching students to interpret and learn from dynamic real-life situations. To facilitate this learning process, the class includes the insights of many guest speakers.
Our Take:
Based on feedback from those students who took this course, this is one of the best investing courses in CBS and Michael Gatto is one of the best instructors (he is actually #1 among all professors in CBS at “CBS Course Review”).
The course however, is not an easy one: almost every session has a homework that will take at least 5-6 hours and also, during the class, Professor Gatto keeps students on their toes the whole time.
One of the best courses and professors in CBS…period!
Those who put the required time into the assignments will have a very rewarding experience: good understanding of accounting and familiarity with distressed investing and bankruptcy concepts is really helpful.
*****
Michael Gatto was one of the first employees at Silver Point Capital, a credit-focused hedge fund. After joining the Firm in April 2002, he became the first non-founding partner in January 2003. He has helped grow the business from $120MM of assets under management in 2002 to approximately $13.5 billion currently.
Today, he is the head of the Firm’s Private Side Businesses. Prior to joining Silver Point, Mr. Gatto worked at Goldman Sachs as a senior member within the Special Situations Investing Business.
Mr. Gatto has served on numerous boards, which have included specialty retailer Party City, New Cotai Holdings (a Macau gaming company), and he was Chairman of the Board of Quinn Industries, an Irish Industrial company.
Outside of Silver Point, Mr. Gatto is an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School and Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, where he teaches courses on credit analysis, and distressed value & special situation investing.
Mr. Gatto received an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.A. in Economics from Cornell University.