Mathematics Alumni in Financial Services/Investment Banking Careers

Chris Higgins '06

Chris HigginsI 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

Eric CaputoI 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.