By Eileen Welch
Conference Overview
As a Co-Chair of Booth’s Investment Management Group, I had the pleasure of co-creating this year’s conference with two of my fellow Co-Chairs, Gigi Elashram and Evan Nguyen, with the support of our full Co-Chair group.
The conference brought together more than 120 students from top US business schools. The two-day event included both an investment pitch competition, panels on industry trends and career advice, and the opportunity for coffee chats with the competition judges and panelists who traveled from around the country to attend the conference.
A highlight for me was listening to the keynote speaker, alumna Natalie Brown, ’00, CEO of the financial services firm Mesirow, discuss her career, industry trends, and advice with Gigi.
Booth’s Support in Conference Planning
Planning and facilitating the conference was an absolute highlight during my time at Booth so far. Booth empowered me, Gigi, and Evan to develop a conference that we thought would be most impactful for the student attendees. We were proud to host industry leaders from Mesirow, Vanguard, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, and LSV Asset Management.
Being able to connect with industry leaders, including many Booth grads, as well as Booth and other MBA students interested in the field, led to the formation of new relationships and the opportunity to learn from both students and industry professionals. I felt that I came away from the conference with actionable advice regarding a career in the investment management world.
I was also incredibly impressed by fellow second years who moderated the panels with these industry leaders. Their knowledge regarding investing and the candid discussions that they facilitated with our panelists made the panels feel incredibly authentic.
Booth’s Investment Management Group & Network
The conference was a perfect example of the support that student-led groups can provide to current students, as well as the reach of the broader Booth network. Through the conference, students were able to connect directly with investment management firms before interviews formally started in December and January. The conference also provided students with real-time insights into the topics and trends that top asset managers are focused on, helping to prepare them for interviews and eventual roles in the investment management industry.
In addition, the conference demonstrated firsthand the wide array of different roles that Booth alumni sit in in the investing world – and how a Booth education prepares students for various leadership roles across the industry.
Booth’s Student-Led Groups & the “Pay It Forward” Culture
I was interested in becoming a Co-Chair, and helping to plan this conference, due to the impact that prior students had had on my personal recruiting experience. After landing an internship in Blackstone’s Institutional Client Solutions group, I decided that I wanted to help prepare the next group of Booth students for recruiting in the investment management industry. It has been such a pleasure to work alongside my fellow Co-Chairs to work to “pay it forward” in a way that I saw previous Booth classes do for us. I’m proud of all the work done to achieve a successful conference and to support our Booth classmates in their career exploration and recruiting efforts!
