Opening your portal on sophron.eu…

Sophron® Analyst Program · AIC division

Learn the job
by doing the job

Research a company, build a valuation, write a formal thesis, defend it in a live pitch, and get it signed off by Sophron® before the desk votes it into the book. No real money. Real reps.

Apply to the AIC division → Join the online desk on sophron.eu ↗

The AIC division meets in Amsterdam and is by selection, with two intakes a year, in September and January. The online desk is open to everyone and is run by Sophron® on sophron.eu.

7foundation modules
12sector desks incl. commodities
5roles you can hold
2intakes a year

Backed by two practitioners with 40+ years of combined experience at

Goldman Sachs J.P. Morgan Credit Suisse Julius Baer Lehman Brothers Zürcher Kantonalbank

One program, two tracks

The Sophron® Analyst Program

Two official tracks, one method: every report signed off by Sophron®, and the same Sophron® Certified Analyst credential. Pick the one that fits your week.

You are here In person · by selection The AIC division
  • 2intakes a year, September and January
  • 19:00live sessions in Amsterdam, Monday or Tuesday
  • Applyseats by selection, through the analyst vacancy
Run by the Amsterdam Investment Club
Sophron® Fully online · open to everyone The online desk
  • 5intakes a year, no application
  • 3deadlines, recorded modules, one team pitch video
  • €0with AIC Premium, or €18.15 for one year
Next intakes
  1. 26 Octintro 21 Oct
  2. 1 Febintro 27 Jan
  3. 29 Marintro 24 Mar
  4. 5 Julintro 30 Jun
  5. 30 Augintro 25 Aug
See the online program on sophron.eu ↗

What it is

A collaborative equity book,
built and managed by analysts

The desk runs a discretionary paper book. The unit of work is the company report: written in the portal each cycle, defended in a live pitch, signed off by Sophron®, and turned into a position by the desk vote. No capital is on the line, so an idea can be carried through its whole lifecycle, from sourcing to sizing to exit.

01

Real research, end to end

Take one company from a blank page to a defensible thesis: business model, valuation (DCF, comparables, multiples), catalysts, and the key risks that would break the call.

02

Defend the idea

Stand a thesis up in a live pitch of roughly seven minutes and field sharp questions from Portfolio Managers, Risk and Macro. The pitch is your one shot to make the case.

03

Manage a position

Own an approved name across cycles: set targets and stops, run 30, 60 and 90 day reviews, flag a broken thesis early, and write the post-mortem when you exit.

04

Think in a portfolio

See how single names add up to a book: sizing, sector concentration, factor exposure, and the risk-model framework the desk runs. Positions cap at 10 percent each; above that, a rebalancing vote decides.

How it works

From Junior to signed-off

Everyone starts as a Junior and clears a one-time track of roughly two weeks, then joins the rolling desk cycle as an Analyst. It is designed to sit alongside a degree or a job: a few hours a week, with the modules self-paced and the live sessions in the calendar well in advance. The Junior track runs once; returning analysts skip it and go straight into the cycle.

1JoinApply to the AIC division. If you are selected, go Premium (€15 a year) or buy one year of access (€18.15), then request to join the Sophron group on UMushroom.
2FoundationsSeven self-paced modules that build the shared vocabulary the live sessions assume.
3Live sessionsFinviz screening, economic moats, and the reporting instructions, claimed with a session code.
4AnalystThe portal flips you from Junior to Analyst the moment your qualification score reaches 100.
5The cycleDraft into a team, shortlist, write, pitch, get signed off, vote, then manage the position.

Step 2 · Foundations

The seven modules,
taught by UMushroom

The Financial Education Program inside the Sophron group on UMushroom, written and given by Dr. Luba Schoenig and Tonia Zimmermann. Self-paced, taken in order, and finished before your first cycle opens. All seven have to be complete before the live sessions and team selection unlock.

The Power of the Compounding Effect
Module 01
The Power of the Compounding Effect
Why time and reinvestment matter, and why we look at annualised returns rather than single-period gains.
The Notion of Risk: An Intuitive Approach
Module 02
The Notion of Risk: An Intuitive Approach
What risk actually feels like before any volatility maths, why it is asymmetric, and why drawdowns matter more than averages.
Asset Classes: Cash and Cash Equivalents
Module 03
Asset Classes: Cash & Cash Equivalents
The risk-free base of a portfolio: what counts as cash, the return it earns, and why it anchors everything else.
Asset Classes: Fixed Income
Module 04
Asset Classes: Fixed Income
Lending for a return: coupons, yields, duration and credit risk.
Asset Classes: Equities
Module 05
Asset Classes: Equities
Owning a share of a business: what drives equity returns and why they sit at the core of the book.
Asset Classes: Commodities
Module 06
Asset Classes: Commodities
Real assets and their role: inflation sensitivity, cyclicality and diversification.
Portfolio Theory
Module 07
Portfolio Theory
Diversification, correlation, the efficient frontier, and why we mix asset classes at all.

Given by the authors

Not a recording.
The people who wrote it.

The Foundations track is authored and given by the two co-founders of UMushroom. The same people who built the material take the cohort through it, so a question about why a module says what it says gets answered by the person who wrote that line.

Dr. Luba Schoenig
Dr. Luba SchoenigCo-Founder, UMushroom
Tonia Zimmermann
Tonia ZimmermannCo-Founder, UMushroom
A Foundations module being given to the AIC cohort
Dr. Luba Schoenig giving a Foundations module to the AIC cohort

Dr. Luba Schoenig taking the cohort through a Foundations module.

Supported and provided by

Two finance veterans,
not a course you buy off a shelf

The Foundations curriculum is written and delivered by the co-founders of UMushroom, who between them spent two decades structuring and selling investment solutions at Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Lehman Brothers before building an education business. They author the Foundations material and give it to the cohort themselves.

20+ years in global finance

Across banking, asset management and structured products, on both the structuring side and the client side.

Senior roles at the names that set the standard

Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Credit Suisse, Julius Baer and Lehman Brothers, in London and Zurich.

Academic and industry expertise combined

A doctorate in quantitative finance and years of university teaching, alongside two decades of markets and risk management in practice.

Dr. Luba Schoenig

Dr. Luba Schoenig

Co-Founder, UMushroom · Doctor of Quantitative Finance, University of Zurich

Twenty years across structured products, structured credit and UHNWI investment solutions in Zurich and London, from Lehman Brothers through Credit Suisse to Executive Director at Julius Baer, on top of four years of research and teaching at the University of Zurich's Institute for Banking and Finance. She still lectures on derivatives and asset management in Madrid.

  • Co-Founder
    UMushroom · Zurich
    2020 to now
  • Visiting Lecturer, Derivatives & Asset Management
    Advantere School of Management · Madrid
    2023 to now
  • Executive Director, UHNWI Solutions
    Julius Baer · responsible for investment solutions and structured credit
    2015 to 2020
  • Solution Partners: Investment Solutions, UHNWI Clients
    Credit Suisse · Central & Eastern Europe, Russia, Israel
    2010 to 2015
  • Structurer, Structured Products
    Credit Suisse · equities, fixed income, commodities and funds
    2006 to 2010
  • Sales / Structurer, Structured Products
    Lehman Brothers · Zurich
    2005 to 2006
  • Research & Teaching Assistant · Doctor of Quantitative Finance
    University of Zurich, Institute for Banking and Finance · corporate finance, capital markets, quantitative finance. Doctorate summa cum laude.
    2001 to 2005
LinkedIn
Tonia Zimmermann

Tonia Zimmermann

Co-Founder, UMushroom · MA Economics, University of St. Gallen

She started on the trading floor structuring investment solutions at J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs in London, then at Credit Suisse ran fund and ETF selection for the private bank before heading advisory and sales for Swiss UHNWI clients. That is the entire value chain of an investment, which is exactly what the program teaches. She also sits on boards in Zurich.

  • Co-Founder
    UMushroom · Zurich
    2020 to now
  • Member, Board of Directors
    ESG-AM · Zurich
    2021 to now
  • Member, Board of Directors
    LEND (Switzerlend AG) · Zurich
    2022 to 2023
  • Head, Premium Clients Advisory & Sales
    Credit Suisse · Premium Clients Management Committee; led the investment specialist, wealth consultant and sales management teams
    2016 to 2020
  • Head, Mutual Funds & ETF Selection and Advisory
    Credit Suisse · a substantial part of the fund and ETF offering, plus EMEA private-banking advisory
    2015
  • Structured Products Sales
    Zürcher Kantonalbank · private-banking advisory desks, family offices and asset managers
    2014 to 2015
  • Head, Structured Products Incubation
    Credit Suisse · the structured-products offering across asset classes, and the platform behind it
    2007 to 2012
  • Derivatives Marketer
    Goldman Sachs · London. Tailor-made derivatives across rates, inflation, credit, commodities and equities
    2004 to 2007
  • Derivatives Marketer
    J.P. Morgan · London. Pricing, analysis and execution of rates, credit, inflation and FX derivatives
    2003 to 2004
  • Master's Degree, Economics
    University of St. Gallen · with an exchange at Tecnológico de Monterrey
    1998 to 2003
LinkedIn

The gate

Clear the track, Junior to Analyst

Every analyst starts as a Junior. Progress is tracked live in the portal: every module you tick and every session you claim moves the ring forward. When the last one lands, the portal tells you on the spot and the desk roster re-badges you as an Analyst.

Junior

What you clear as a Junior, tracked automatically:

  • All 7 Foundations modules: self-marked as you finish them on UMushroom
  • Sector Intelligence with Finviz: claimed with the session code
  • Economic Moats: claimed with the session code
  • Reporting Instructions: claimed with the session code

Becoming an Analyst is a qualification score out of 100, kept separate from your club points. Your Foundations count for 40, attending the live Report & Pitch is worth 45 (or 20 if at least one of your teammates attends it while you cannot), and each other live session adds 15. The pitch is mandatory: you attend the Report & Pitch, or at least one of your team attends it in your place. No number of other sessions replaces it.

Analyst

The portal promotes you the moment your qualification score reaches 100, and from then on:

  • The Junior track collapses. Your journey becomes the desk cadence.
  • Team selection and the live cycle open up.
  • You carry the Analyst badge on the desk roster.
  • Your vote weight grows with experience, from 1x to 2x and then up to 3x.
  • You can request the Sophron® Certified Analyst credential. Sophron® signs it off; it is never issued automatically.

Step 5 · The cycle

One research cycle, nine stages

Every analyst runs the same nine stages, start to finish. The desk meets in Amsterdam, with preparation due before each session.

AIC division · AmsterdamOnline desk
Who can joinBy selection, through the vacancyPremium or a program year, no application
IntakesSeptember and JanuaryFive a year
SessionsIn Amsterdam, Mon or Tue 19:00Recorded modules, an introduction call and an optional review call
The workPrepared before each sessionThree deadlines, the same for everyone
Final stepReport & Pitch in the roomSigned-off report and a 10-minute team pitch video
Seats3 per sector desk, plus the Commodities desk of four3 per sector desk
  1. Stage 01
    Intro MeetingCycle opensLiveNo call
    Week 1 · Monday 19:00 · in the roomWeek 1 · Monday · every module and deadline open in the portal
    The session that opens the cycle: the funnel approach and sector mapping.
    Desks open. The teaching is in the modules, at your own pace; juniors and analysts work to the same deadlines.
  2. Stage 02
    Team Selection
    Opens the week before week 1, closes a week after
    Draft into a sector team on the live board. Teams lock for the cycle.
  3. Stage 03
    Sector IntelligenceLiveModule
    Week 3 · Monday 19:00 · in the room, recorded · prep due before itRecorded module · watch it by week 2 · teaches the sector work
    Screen the sector in Finviz and build the team's sector template and scorecard, so you start from a defensible universe instead of a blank page.
  4. Weeks 3 and 4
    No sessions
    Work weeks
    Midterms. The work window for the sector template, the scorecard and the shortlist.
  5. Stage 04
    Shortlist
    Weeks 4 and 5 · on your ownDue with the sector work · Sunday of week 4, 23:59
    Narrow the sector to the names worth a closer look: at least six, from your Sector Mapping Report.
  6. Deadline
    Sector work: template, scorecard, shortlistDue
    Sunday of week 4 · 23:59
    Filed as a team. The desk turns every sector's mapping into the published sector report.
  7. Stage 05
    Economic MoatsLiveModule
    Week 5 · Monday 19:00 · in the room, recordedRecorded module · watch it by week 5
    A working session on competitive advantage: the 7 Powers, and how to test a moat against the numbers before backing a name.
  8. Stage 06
    Portfolio ReviewLiveOptional
    Week 5 · Wednesday 20:00 · onlineWeek 5 · Wednesday 19:00 · online
    The desk reviews the current book together: what is working, what is at risk, where there is room to add. The book review vote follows it.
  9. Deadline
    Moat Scorecard and ticker lockDue
    Monday of week 6 · 23:59, a week after Moats
    Every name on your shortlist rated on the 7 Powers and checked against ROIC, and the one ticker you will write on. Tickers lock, so no two analysts cover the same name.
  10. Stage 07
    Reporting InstructionsDocument
    Week 6 · Monday 20:00 · document, the call is optionalA document, open from week 1 · read it by week 6
    How the report is written in the portal, the required exhibits, and how sign-off works. You leave knowing exactly what a sign-off-ready report contains.
  11. Stage 08
    Report & PitchRequired
    Week 7 · Wednesday 19:00 · in the room
    Report due the day before, written in the portal. Then you pitch live: thesis, valuation, key risks, the ask. Sophron® signs the report off with notes, or sends it back.
  12. Stage 08
    Report and team pitch videoQualifies
    Sunday of week 7 · 23:59 · report written and video uploaded in the portal
    Sophron® signs your report off with notes, or sends it back. Each sector team also uploads one 10-minute pitch video; any teammate can upload it, and it counts as one session for everyone on the team. Qualifying needs the Foundations, your signed-off report and the team video.
  13. Week 8
    A free week
    Nothing due
    The report and the video are already in, so this week stays free.
  14. Stage 09Stage 09
    Allocation & RevisionAllocationVote
    Week 9 · Allocation Monday 20:00, Revision Tuesday 20:00 · onlineFirst Monday of the next teaching period · opens 20:30 in the portal, for one week · no call
    Everyone votes on the new names in the portal: a weight from 0 to 10% per name (0% means sell) and a low and high price target. The desk vote sets the size, and the Portfolio Manager commits the result, which places the trades. Revision, the next evening, is a document session with no vote, and a short retrospective closes the cycle. Watch the team pitch videos before you vote.

Tracks

Pick the seat you want to sit in

Everyone starts as a Junior and picks a desk. Juniors and Analysts can self-claim Risk and Macro, which are capped per desk. Portfolio Manager is by request. Quant is a separate track, not a committee seat: the Quant Modules and four project calls, with a certificate signed off by Sophron®.

Equity Sector Analyst
11 sector desks · 4 seats each, incl. the desk head

The default seat. Take one GICS sector, screen it, pick a name, write the thesis your team pitches.

You produce: a sector Market Intelligence Report, then a company report and a live pitch each cycle. Desk heads also write a short desk head report, signed off by Sophron®.
Commodities Analyst
One desk of four · AIC division only

Join the Commodities desk: four analysts working in two pairs, one commodity per pair, chosen from gold, silver, uranium, copper, aluminium, crude and more. You write the physical market; the desk implements it through a tradeable proxy.

You produce: with your pair, a watchlist, a recap and outlook each session, and a final report on your commodity.
Risk Manager
Committee · 2 seats per desk · self-claim

The independent overlay. You review every idea for concentration, factor exposure and drawdown, and you can block a name that breaches a hard limit. Your vote counts twice.

You produce: a comment on every proposal, plus a half-year Risk Report.
Macro Analyst
Committee · 2 seats · self-claim

The regime lens. You give each idea its rates, credit and FX context, so a single name is read against the backdrop rather than in isolation. Your vote counts twice.

You produce: a macro overlay on the cycle, plus a half-year Macro Report.
Portfolio Manager
Senior seat · by request

The buy and sell call. You commit the desk's vote result, which places the trades, own the mandate, and review positions monthly. The desk vote sets the size; your vote counts three times.

You produce: notes on the record with every vote you commit, plus the half-year Portfolio Update Report.
Operations
Internal staff · not claimable

Held by the AIC team. Keeps the cadence running so deadlines do not slip.

Listed so you can see the whole table.

The deliverable

What a signed-off report looks like

The research behind a live position, on the desk template. This one is the Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) call by the Health Care team: written up, defended, and signed off before it entered the book.

Cover of the Vertex Pharmaceuticals research report
The cover: company, team and date.
Buy rating, $547 target, company profile and the investment thesis
The call: rating, target and the thesis.
Five years of financials, a revenue forecast and bull, base and bear scenarios
Financials, forecast and the bull, base and bear cases.
The Sophron® Certified Analyst credential, with the roles held and a credential ID

What you walk away with

A credential that says
what you actually did

You earn it at the Amsterdam Investment Club and Sophron® awards it: the Sophron® Certified Analyst. It names the work, not attendance: the research, the thesis, the live pitch, and the seats you held on the desk.

  • Earned, not given. Once your qualification score reaches 100 (your Foundations, plus the live Report and Pitch, attended by you or a teammate), you request it and Sophron® signs it off. It is never automatic.
  • Verifiable. Every credential carries its own ID and is listed in the public Sophron® certification register, so an employer can check it in seconds.
  • Built to share. Download it as a PDF or PNG, or add it to the Licenses & certifications section of your LinkedIn profile, with your name and credential ID on it.
  • Your roles are on it. Portfolio Manager, Risk Manager, Macro Analyst or Commodities Analyst: every seat you hold is added to the same credential as a role held once its half-year report is approved.
See the certification register →

In the room

Sessions, pitches and the desk at work

Photographs from the Amsterdam sessions. The curriculum runs online, so the whole program can be done remotely, but this is what the meetings look like when you are in town.

An analyst team pitching Apollo Global Management to the desk
The Financials team pitching Apollo Global Management: the thesis above, being defended live.
An analyst walking the desk through a gold research report
Walking the desk through a commodity report, driver by driver.
The AIC analyst cohort
The cohort at the end of a cycle.
Analysts following a report during a session
Reading along with the cost-structure section of a commodity report.

A look inside

The desk, from the inside

Real screenshots from the analyst portal: every holding traced to its analysts, and the desk arguing each one out.

Journey

Every stage, live session and deadline in one chain, with a progress ring and your points.

Research

Write your report in the portal; Sophron® reviews and signs it off, with every report filed under its proposal.

Portfolio & Risk

A live paper book on an Alpaca paper account. Once the Portfolio Manager commits the desk vote, equity trades arm at the next open, with the target as take-profit.

Team & calendar

The desk roster by sector, the meeting calendar with file submissions, and everything from the AIC team.

The year

Two intakes, a cycle every two months

Online: five cycles, one per teaching period

Exact dates are published in the portal at the start of every intake.

Intakes
September & January

Two a year, Autumn and Spring. Foundations open in week 1 and the teaching track runs alongside the cycle for that cohort.

The desk cycle
Every two months

Team selection, portfolio review and the book vote, shortlist, report and pitch, then the allocation vote and revision. It runs for the whole book, not just the new cohort.

Half-year reports
June & December

The committee files three desk-level reports: Portfolio Update, Risk and Macro.

Quiet months
May & August

No live sessions. Kept open for deep research.

Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Intake opens Desk cycle running Half-year reports Deep-research month
Intakes
Five a year

One per university teaching period: late October, February, end of March, a July summer cycle and end of August. No application: take the next seat.

The cycle
One teaching period

Seven teaching weeks of modules and three deadlines, with the report and a 10-minute team pitch video due at the end of week 7. The Allocation vote opens in the portal at the start of the next period.

Summer cycle
July & August

A full cycle outside term, ending as the autumn period starts.

Half-year reports
June & December

The online desk’s own committee files its own Portfolio Update, Risk and Macro reports.

Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Online cycle starts Cycle running Half-year reports

Next Week 1 dates: 26 October 2026 · 1 February 2027 · 29 March 2027 · 5 July 2027 · 30 August 2027.

The output

Three theses the desk actually shipped

Every idea in the book started as an analyst report, was pitched live, and carries the desk's notes on the record. Below are three of them, exactly as they sit in the portal: a commodity call, a company call, and one that went through the full committee.

DBB
Aluminium (LME)
Rishika Varma Konda · Commodities desk
BullishSigned off2% allocation
LME aluminium $3,675/t (+50% YoY, 6-12mo, Medium). Supply-shock-driven rally: European and African smelter outages, Gulf disruption from the Iran conflict, constrained Chinese offset, and a Guinea bauxite export curb due June 2026. EU deficit 5.6Mt, global 2.2Mt. Directional view, no numeric price target. Research only: no Alpaca equity, so no auto-order.
Portfolio ManagerVincent Brandsma

Allocation cut to 2% per Black-Litterman, the floor. The report is a directional bullish call with no numeric price target, so the model has no view return to act on and defaults it to the floor. A numeric price target would let the model size it on conviction rather than defaulting.

Execution note. Implemented via DBB (Invesco DB Base Metals). Take-profit $27.51 applies the report's move to DBB at $25.57. DBB is a base-metals basket (aluminium, zinc, copper), not pure aluminium, so this is directional.

APO
Apollo Global Management
Lorin Ertem, Vsevolod Zhadan, Gabriel Nunes · Financials team
BuySigned offTarget $134
Apollo's edge is Athene: $300B+ of captive, low-cost insurance capital generating $3.4B of recurring spread income, an advantage Ares and Carlyle cannot match. Trades roughly 22% below the team's $134 sum-of-parts despite a record FY25 ($8.38 ANI/share). Private-credit tailwind (record $309B originated, 80% investment grade), AUM +24.9% to $938B, a $10B FRE target by 2029, plus a new retail and wealth growth vector. DCF $116 (30%) / multiples $134 (70%).
Portfolio ManagerVincent Brandsma

Allocation cut to 2% per Black-Litterman. Despite the buy call, the $134 target implies almost no upside from the current price, so the model gives APO no edge and drops it to the floor. The target may simply be a little stale relative to where APO trades now, which would explain the near-zero view return.

VRTX
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Shreya Patil, Lisa Bernard-Chazal, Joseph Jin · Health Care team
BuySigned off10%, the cap
Target $547 (current $447.54, +22%, 12mo, Medium-High). Vertex is a patent-protected cystic-fibrosis cash machine ($11.8B in 2025) now de-risking a kidney franchise: povetacicept hit its IgA-nephropathy endpoint, FDA filing 1H26, US launch 2H26. JOURNAVX (non-opioid pain) and CASGEVY add more than $500M of 2026 non-CF revenue, with about $12.3B of cash. The market still prices it as one-product. Blended 60% DCF $544 / 40% multiples $550.
Risk ManagerŽans Barinovs

For the expected return, risks are medium. I'd go for it. Main risks: US drug-price negotiation on high-cost small molecules; the EU Pharma Package costing two years of monopoly or forcing supply across all member states; a copied product already selling locally in Russia, with India or Brazil as the real tail risk; over 90% of revenue still from one disease; the ToolGen suit over CRISPR ownership; and execution risk on launching three products at once.

Portfolio ManagerVincent Brandsma

Allocation set to 10% per Black-Litterman on an equal-weight prior. VRTX is the desk's strongest buy view, an implied annualised return to the $547 target of around +24% at 60% confidence, so the model tilts it far above the 10% prior, about 30% unconstrained. Held to the 10% per-position cap. Target $547 stays the take-profit.

That thread is the point of the program. An analyst writes it, Risk pulls it apart, the desk votes on the size, and the Portfolio Manager commits the vote and puts the reasoning on the record. Only then does it become a position.

Join the desk

Ready to write your first thesis?

A few hours a week, in Amsterdam. The AIC division is by selection: apply through the vacancy, and if you are selected, go Premium (€15 a year) or buy one year of access (€18.15), request to join the Sophron group on UMushroom, and your Foundations open as soon as we accept you. Not in Amsterdam? The online desk is open to everyone.

Apply to the AIC division → Join the online desk on sophron.eu ↗

Included in AIC Premium (€15 a year, cancel any time), or €18.15 once for one year of access without the Analyst card or Premium benefits. Already in? Request to join the Sophron group on UMushroom with the name on your Sophron® account; we accept you within a day and the portal opens. Questions? contact us.