C F E M A L U M N I

THEN AND NOW: LOOKING BACK TO

MOVE FORWARD

2 0 0 8 - 2 0 1 8

The History of CFEM at Cornell

ithaca

new york cityyork

P u t n a m I n v e s t m e n t s S I G S a u e r

C b o e G l o b a l M a r k e t s K G S - A l p h a C a p i t a l M a r k e t s W e s t e r n A s s e t M a n a g e m e n t

M o o d y ' s B N Y M e l l o n

A i r b n b

PROFESSIONAL MILESTONES CFEM Alumni have gone on to

successful careers on Wall Street and beyond. Here is a sampling of

the many companies, divisions, and current roles represented by

our former students.

CITI MORGAN STANLEY

JP MORGAN

GOLDMAN SACHS

BLACKROCK

BNP PARIBAS

BANK OF AMERICA

BARCLAYS

AMERICAN EXPRESS

NOMURA

UBS

INVESCO

AQR

P r u d e n t i a l F i n a n c i a l P o i n t 7 2 A s s e t M a n a g e m e n t

F I N R A M i l l e n i u m M a n a g e m e n t

I T G X T F

X R T r a d i n g O r i e n t S e c u r i t i e s

M a n N u m e r i c K P M G U S

K A U S T I n v e s t m e n t F o s u n C a p i t a l

D i m e n s i o n a l F u n d A d v i s o r s C I C C

C a p g e m i n i B a n k o f T o k y o - M i t s u b i s h i

B a n k o f C h i n a A n a l y t i c a l R e s e a r c h

A m a z o n B l u e f i n T r a d i n g A m a z o n L a b 1 2 6 T w o S i g m a

M i c r o s o f t G S A M W e l l i n g t o n C a p i t a l C h a r l e s R i v e r D e v e l o p m e n t

M a n a g e m e n t M S C I I n c .

E F u n d M a n a g e m e n t C o . G u g g e n h e i m P a r t n e r s

Z h o n g D a F u t u r e s A r g u s I n f o r m a t i o n &

A d v i s o r y S e r v i c e s , L L C X R T r a d i n g

A f l a c

new york city

ERNST & YOUNG O p t i v e r S t a t e S t r e e t C o r p . S c h o n f e l d S t r a t e g i c A d v i s o r s P N C B a n k ALLIANCE BERNSTEIN T h e R o y a l B a n k o f S c o t l a n d R e s i d e n t i a l C a p i t a l

T r a d i n g T e c h n o l o g i e s PWC T i t a n S o n g L L C M a n a g e m e n t

R e p u t a t i o n I n s t i t u t e R . G . N i e d e r h o f f e r

C a p i t a l M a n a g e m e n t Q u a n t i n e n t a l C a p i t a l

T I A ARBC CAPITAL MARKETS T F S C a p i t a l S y m b i o n t MIZUHO C a p i t a l P u l s e P o i n t

L i m i t e d P S I C a p i t a l A s i a P r e t i u m P a r t n e r s

A d v i s o r s P r e m i u m P o i n t L L P O z M a n a g e m e n t

S t e l l a r S S T A N D MERRILL LYNCH S m a r k e t s

S i m i n a C a p i t a l CAPITAL ONE S i l v e r l a k e

FANNIE MAE

CREDIT SUISSE

CITADEL

HAITONG SECURITIES

SOCIETE GENERALE

BLOOMBERG

DELOITTE

DEUTSCHE BANK

CITIC SECURITIES

GUARDIAN

BRIDGEWATER

MCKINSEY & CO.

S e a t t l e N o r t h w e s t A s s e t M a n a g e m e n t

I M C F i n a n c i a l M a r k e t s S c o t i a C a p i t a l

S a m s u n g F i n a n c e S a k e r I n v e s t

S a i n t K n i g h t s F u n d R o s s c o m m o n

I m a g i n e S o f t w a r e , I n c . R o c k e f e l l e r U n i v e r s i t y

O p e n h o u s e T u t o r a t o r K r u n g T h a i B a n k P u b l i c C o .

ithacaK r o l l B o n d R a t i n g A g e n c y

I n t e r c o n t i n e n t a l E x c h a n g e I n s t i n e t I n c o r p o r a t e d

H a r v e s t F u n d M a n a g e m e n t G e r a l d G r o u p

H a r t r e e P a r t n e r s , L P H a n s s e m

F i r s t P r i n c i p l e s C a p i t a l M a n a g e m e n t

E n s o F i n a n c i a l M a n a g e m e n t D u o l i n g o

D R W

O r g a n i c O r a c l e

O l d M i s s i o n C a p i t a l N Y S E

N o b l e A m e r i c a s N e w c a s t l e U n i v e r s i t y

N e w Y o r k L i f e I n s u r a n c e M o r g a n , E v a n & C o .

M o n d e l e z I n t e r n a t i o n a l U S A A

M E A G N e w Y o r k C o r p . M a n a s A r t C e n t e r

L i n k e d I n L i n c o l n I n t e r n a t i o n a l

L i b e r t y M u t u a l L e n d i n g C l u b F i t c h R a t i n g s T r e z C a p i t a l

D I A D a v i d s o n K e m p n e r

I n t e r a c t i v e D a t a B r e v a n H o w a r d U S

I n v e s t m e n t M a n a g e m e n t

What Our Alumni Do

staff

students

faculty

Career Changes "I am currently working in Marketing Analytics and Data Science. Corporate Derivative Sales was not the long-term occupation for me (particularly the sales portion of it). I decided to look outside finance where I could apply my knowledge of data analytics." -Wing-Ho Choi (Class of 2011)

"I'm still with the same employer for whom I interned while at Cornell." -Benjamin Pickett (Class of 2014)

"I'm working in the energy sector in commodity-structured transactions valuation and execution." -Sushant Nigam (Class of 2008)

"I am a Brand Manager for a consumer packaged foods company. I decided to pursue an MBA in Marketing after working in Sales & Trading post-Cornell." -Kyung Park (Class of 2008)

"I'm currently working at LinkedIn as a senior data scientist. My past quant research experience in the financial industry and the technical training I got from CFEM helped tremendously to get my foot in the door [of the tech industry]." -Luxin Kang (Class of 2012)

"I am using quant knowledge to govern different aspects in Model Risk, including restrictions and model anomalies." -Yudong Yang (Class of 2017)

Career Changes (cont.) "I am going back to school to get a PhD in Operations Research at UT Austin. It's something I have been meaning to do since CFEM, and I am looking forward to doing math and working on optimization problems again. -Remy Pasco (Class of 2012)

"I'm currently pursuing the data analytics field." -Zhunyou Hua (Class of 2014)

"I build large scale models at Amazon to make reviews more informative. I found limited opportunities to build models in growing a business in the financial domain, but there exists a lot of opportunity to do so in technology.

FE at Cornell was very helpful in developing a strong, conceptual foundation. CFEM is uniquely positioned in NYC to provide an industrial exposure to learning. It can further add value by identifying such interests at the beginning and connecting with relevant alumni who can mentor students." -Kunal Rajani (Class of 2012)

"I am thinking about switching to startup/venture capital/blockchain companies." -Xiaoyun Guo (Class of 2015)

Quant Finance: From Black Scholes to Big Data

"The Financial Data Science semester was great. The coursework was just the right amount, such that I learned useful techniques and models

in data science." Shaojie He (Class of 2016)

Career Changes (cont.) "I decided to set up a consulting business with some other co-founders, having

known a few people in the area of sustainability. To be able to come up with business strategies that are both profitable and socially responsible

is also the ultimate fulfillment of my career." -Ratchat Rangpholsamrit (Class of 2008)

"As a data engineer, I'm part of a small team that processes 200TB of data per day. My first job after CFEM was as a junior quant, and I felt that

programming was my favorite part." -Henry Zhang (Class of 2009)

"I transitioned to the Investment Banking side from Sales & Trading awhile ago. Very different environment, but my training at Cornell

has been helpful in many ways." -Sung Jun Choi (Class of 2012)

great great

P L A Y H A R D W I T H C F E M

Advice for My Younger Self Be more prepared for quantitative interview questions, especially the summer before the

first year in Ithaca

Enjoy the time and make good friends in Cornell

I wish I could have studied harder and played harder because today I find myself not finding

enough time to do either

Read the interview book, and take a summer programming course in Python or C++

Get a few years of experience in a technical role within finance

Do as much research as possible on career options / fields before you join

It's better to make mistakes upfront than later in your career decisions

Start trading with your own money as early and as seriously as

possible

Take as many internships as you can

Read nonfiction books about derivative products and backtest more strategies

Grades are important, but after a few years, they won't matter. Focus on learning

Advice for My Younger Self I would have spent my 1st and 2nd years with much clearer goals. Ithaca was a fantastic place to discuss cutting-edge problems in

both academia and industry with classmates and professors

Take more machine learning and coding I was afraid to network because I thought courses. Take as many CS and stats I wasn't ready, but the fact is that you'll

courses as possible! never be ready before you start

Change my rear-wheel-drive car to Don't get frightened by those so-called "big names"

four-wheel-drive [for Ithaca] Network,

Know your strengths and network,

interests to leverage the network!

CFEM program Connect with more alumni

Don't be afraid of failures. Hold onto notes/slides/textbooks! I Fail fast and learn from it! lost them all and regret it

Learn more coding. Stay Skip stochastic calculus / up-to-date on industry take the bond math

trends course

Take some other courses beyond the program requirements, making

the most of Cornell's resources

Skiing

Piano

Cooking

Pottery

Photography

CFEM HOBBIES What Our Alumni Do For Fun!

Basketball

Gardening Karaoke

C F E M H O B B I E S

Running, surfing, and poker. Now with a 2-year-old daughter, I can add Disneyland to this list. - MIchael Gately '15

Pianist in Residence and Advisory Board Member of the New

York Piano Society - Yiran Wang '11

Reading books! I finish at least one book every two weeks. -Shabai Chen '16

I serve on the Board of the nonprofit South Bronx United -Pranav Sawjiany '09

As I am getting older, my focus has been shifted towards

spending quality time with my loved ones. Hence, my hobbies

may not always be activities, but more about making sure that the purpose of life has always been sharpened, and

relationships with loved ones are optimized. - Ratchat Rangpholsamrit '08

Learning foreign languages

T e n n i s

LEGO Driving

Long D Craft beer

L Badm a i R enthusiast

s a S ti u t B Si F qu O n d n o o ng ng n p n o a h

x in c e a i in d s i e n t r n on ie a g g ce

i g ing s Yoga

Scuba Diving l n ar

and k ng a

up c k it r ve

n e Sto n Hi

ne T sti St rt

e ti g

ing gu ies n a a

Cryptocurrenc a T s l m l t i g e v y in M n la ca i

b ockcha S W e I P i

ass V

u l a l l c

Play PC

games Anime

Baking

Snowboarding

Billiards

Playing

with the

dog

Cycle polo

Camping

Fly fishing

Watching movies

K -P o p D a n c e

Video Games

ProgrammingBarbecuing

Golf

A C a p p e ll a projects

C F E M H O B B I E S

l ad

usic

W O M E N O F

C F E M

    From 55 Broad Street to CFEM's new home at Cornell Tech

Professional Development

The Resume Drop is one of my favorite parts of our career development. It provides us with lots of great opportunities with a

relatively high rate of getting an interview. Maria Tao, CFEM 2017 (Putnam Investments, Boston)

I am glad I chose Cornell MFE because people here actually care about you and your future career path.

Leo Bao, CFEM 2017 (Bank of America, NY)

The MFE degree at Cornell has an exceptionally strong curriculum that prepared me for a variety of career paths within finance. It has exposed me to professors, students, and industry professionals that have been crucial

to my success. Nicholas Wilk, CFEM 2017

(Dimensional Fund Advisors, Charlotte)

CFEM Graduation

CFEM's International Network NEW YORK CITY

BOSTON

SAN FRANCISCO/BAY AREA

VANCOUVER

MEXICO CITY

CONNECTICUT

NEW JERSEY

CHICAGO

PHILADELPHIA

PITTSBURGH

AUSTIN

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

ATLANTA

LONDON HONG KONG

SINGAPORE

BEIJING

SHENZHEN

BANGKOK

KUALA LUMPUR

SHANGHAI

WASHINGTON, D.C.

SEATTLE

ITHACA Where will you take us next?

M E N T O R S H I P

I N T E R V I E W O P P O R T U N I T I E S

F R I E N D S H I P S

W H A T M A K E S U S C F E M ?

T H E E X C E L L E N T C A R E E R S E R V I C E A N D A

R E A L L Y G R E A T D I R E C T O R . Y I Q I A O W A N G ' 1 ð

I M A D E F R I E N D S A N D G O T T O K N O W O T H E R

P E O P L E W I T H T H E S A M E B A C K G R O U N D A N D

C A R E E R I N T E R E S T S A S M E . M O S T

I M P O R T A N T L Y , I T I S I N C F E M T H A T I M E T

M Y W I F E , L U N A . K A I F E N G ' 1 ð

A L L T H R E E O F M Y P O S I T I O N S , I N C L U D I N G T H E

F I R S T F U L L - T I M E J O B , W E R E T H R O U G H

N E T W O R K I N G . R U O C H E N A I ' 1 4

I M A R R I E D Z O E W A N G , W H O M I M E T I N

T H E P R O G R A M ! J O S E P H L I ' 1 4

 

   

ò

ò

P R O J E C T E X P E R I E N C E

A C A D E M I C R I G O R

W O R K -L I F E B A L A N C E

W H A T M A K E S U S C F E M ?

T H E E X P E R I E N C E O F W O R K I N G O N R E A L - L I F E

P R O B L E M S I N C F E M P R O J E C T S . B R Y A N T A M ' 1

[ A T M Y C U R R E N T J O B ] T H E W O R K - L I F E

B A L A N C E I S F A R B E T T E R T H A N B A S I C A L L Y

E V E R Y B A N K I N G O R T R A D I N G J O B O N T H E

S T R E E T . W I L L I A M L E N T Z ' 1

I T ' S A N E X T R E M E L Y R I G O R O U S P R O G R A M T H A T

T A U G H T M E A V A R I E T Y O F P R A C T I C A L S K I L L S .

P R O F E S S O R S A V E R B U K H A N D C A G G I A N O G O

A B O V E A N D B E Y O N D I N T E R M S O F H O W M U C H

T H E Y C A R E A B O U T T H E S T U D E N T S , T H E I R

L E A R N I N G , A N D J O B P L A C E M E N T .

D E V A S H I S H K U M A R ' 1 0

   

ò

C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I L L S

S E N S E O F C O M M U N I T Y

C O R N E L L A L U M N I S T A T U S

W H A T M A K E S U S C F E M ?

A G O O D N E T W O R K A N D S T R O N G

R E L A T I O N S H I P S W I T H M Y C L A S S M A T E S .

T H E Y W I L L A L W A Y S O F F E R H E L P W H E N I ' M

I N N E E D . N A N Q I U ' 1

A S A F O R E I G N E R W I T H N O R E L A T I V E S H E R E ,

H A V I N G F R I E N D S W H O L I V E I N T H E S A M E C I T Y

A N D S H A R E S I M I L A R I N T E R E S T S W A S T H E B E S T

T H I N G F O R M E . X I A O C H E N G C H E N ' 1 4

B U S I N E S S C O M E S D O W N T O C O M M U N I C A T I N G

Y O U R I D E A S A N D W O R K I N G W I T H

C O L L E A G U E S F R O M D I F F E R E N T

B A C K G R O U N D S . S E O N G L E O L S I M ' 1 2

 

Thank you to all CFEM Alumni for staying in touch!

"CFEM's greatest strength lies in its people. "Dr. Shane Henderson, Director of ORIE

Director of CFEM

Professor of Practice Victoria Averbukh

Senior Research Associate

Dr. Sasha Stoikov

Associate Director of Career Development

Elizabeth Drummond

CFEM Assistant & Events Coordinator

Roselle Bajet