Academics
Mathematics Alumni in Financial Services/Investment Banking Careers
Chris Higgins '06
I am working in the financial district of Boston as an Investment Associate at UBS Financial Services. I also have my Series 7 and Series 63 Licenses, and I'm currently pursuing the CFA program, a graduate level program for investment professionals. Some of my job responsibilities include: putting together asset allocation models for existing clients; entering and executing both fixed income and equity trades; putting together marketing pieces to present to existing/prospective clients; tracking all of our equity and mutual fund holdings.
I would say taking challenging math courses (almost all of them are challenging) really develops one’s problem solving skills and one’s ability to analyze very complicated problems. Finance is a very complex field that requires exactly the type of analytical skills I developed at Saint Michael’s in the math department. Any job in finance requires excellent quantitative skills, which is exactly what the math professors gave to me.
Eric Caputo '92
I am a Transfer Pricing Director for the accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. I completed a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Vermont, an MBA at Northeastern University, and I have worked in transfer pricing for more than 12 years. My projects include: establishing global cost sharing and intangible property migration strategies (for multi-billion dollar manufacturers of semiconductors and pharmaceutical and consumer products); performing economic analysis relating to intellectual property structuring and migration (for software developers and other manufacturers); and preparing transfer pricing support (for IRS audits, advance pricing agreements, and competent authority proceedings).
One thing I've learned is that having a strong quantitative background and education is immensely valuable for any career. Although I may not daily use my college and graduate mathematics directly in my job, the solid foundation and training that I received at Saint Michael's College has benefited me throughout my career.