There are countless career paths for Finance grads: Here are two of them

Nov. 24, 2020

Puneet Bhatti (MFin ’17) and Kodie Lee (MFin/MBA ’20) recently returned to the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University to share their career-path stories with current and future students of the Lazaridis Master of Finance (MFin) program in a virtual event.

“Events such as our Alumni Speaker Series are a great way for current and aspiring MFin candidates to connect with successful graduates of our program to hear how their careers progressed once they joined the workforce,” says Tony Tang, director of the program.

“We can tell our students about the kinds of enriching careers waiting for them after graduation, but nothing beats hearing the step-by-step approach taken by our recent alumni as they transitioned from learners to professionals.”

Puneet and Kodie took different but equally rewarding career paths.

Puneet Bhatti’s Career Path

“While in the Lazaridis MFin program, I made sure I took advantage of our extensive alumni network to meet people positioned throughout the financial industry to get a sense of workplace cultures, job descriptions, and what kind of opportunities are out there.

“I knew I wanted to work in one of the Big Six Canadian banks, so after I graduated I joined the Treasury and Balance Sheet Management program at TD to get more first-hand experience in a variety of jobs related to treasury function.

“This exposed me to many key elements of working in treasury where we work closely with credit markets, manage interest rate, foreign exchange and liquidity risk, and develop strategies to meet the Bank’s funding and capital needs.

“While in the rotational program, I secured a position on the TD Funding Team where we are responsible for managing and executing the funding transactions and programs, including issuance of Senior Unsecured debt, Covered Bonds, Asset Backed Securities (ABS) and various capital instruments. My role requires good relationship-management skills as we deal with various external and internal stakeholders.

“The MFin program is great for the knowledge and skills you gain, but it’s important not to neglect the ‘soft skills’ that are required in business, like communications and relationship building. Once you move beyond the associate level in an organization, those skills become just as important as reading both sides of a balance sheet. They definitely helped me to move up in the organization and help me in my current role as Manager, Investments Portfolio – Credit Strategy.”

The benefits of the Big Six

“I am now a Manager, Investments Portfolio – Credit Strategy with TD Bank and I can say there are distinct benefits to being part of a large company. There are so many areas and functions to explore and people are very willing to discuss different opportunities with you. You also have access to many professional development opportunities to help you advance within the bank.

“The beauty of the MFin program is that it can help people from all kinds of backgrounds launch completely different careers, which is a testament to the degree’s flexibility and adaptability.”

Kodie Lee’s Career Path

“I took a rather unconventional pathway into the finance industry, which goes to show that there isn’t one way to make it here.

“After I graduated from the University of Waterloo with BSc, I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew I had an interest in accounting, so I came to the Lazaridis School to pursue the CPA stream of the MBA program. Once I started, I realized I enjoyed finance a lot more than accounting so switched to the double degree MBA + MFin option.

“Once in the MFin program, I made sure to become involved in the Laurier Graduate Student Investment Fund (LGSIF) as an equity analyst. I highly recommend the LGSIF for anyone who wants to apply their knowledge immediately to real funds in the real market while still in school.

“My goal was always to learn as much as I could and move toward my goal of working in corporate finance. I wrote my CFA Level 1 exam and moved into real estate valuation, eventually landing a job evaluating property deals for Walmart Canada. From there, I used what I learned in the Advanced Investment Management course to help prepare development deals as a finance liaison.

“Everything you learn in the program can be useful. Taking economics and quantitative methods helped me understand what statistical tools were needed to crunch all the data and led me to my current role as Vice-President at Yorkdale Partners.”

The difference between large and boutique firms

“Having experience in both large companies and now working at a boutique firm, I can see the value in both environments. Smaller companies expose you to a variety of work experience across a large breadth of areas. For example, an analyst might be asked to create a pitch book, do valuations and execute on deals because you’re working on a leaner team. You don’t have the resources of a big firm so you need to find ways to get creative.

“Laurier and the Lazaridis School have a strong reputation on Bay Street and our alumni community can definitely help you penetrate the finance world, especially in Toronto – that’s a clear value add to the MFin program.”

The Lazaridis Master of Finance (MFin) program offers programming in Waterloo and downtown Toronto in a variety of formats including full-time, part-time, co-op, and a double degree option with the Lazaridis MBA. Our Alumni Speaker Series runs several times every term and anyone is welcome to attend.