Investment banking student clubs paving the way for Rutgers students to make it on Wall Street

June 15, 2011 - PRLog -- New Brunswick – Over 200 students, alumni and professors jammed into a standing-room only conference room at the elegant Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick to hear five senior directors from Wall Street icons Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Brookfield speak in a panel discussion about the financial services industry.

They were invited by the Rutgers Business School (RBS) student club Little Investment Bankers of Rutgers (LIBOR) to give their first-hand experience on what it takes to work on Wall Street.

The event was the 3rd Annual Finance Summit sponsored by LIBOR and organized by Joseph Gasparro, Founder & Chairman of the Rutgers Investment Banking Group, and Ceida Plasencia, Director of Alumni & Corporate Relations for LIBOR.

The panel consisted of Gary Chropuvka (RBS alum), Managing Director in the Investment Management Division at Goldman Sachs, Brian Neer (RBS alum), Global Head of Structured Credit Trading at Morgan Stanley, Joshua Pearl, Director of Leveraged Finance at UBS, Joshua Rosenbaum, Managing Director in the Global Industrial Group at UBS, and Scott White (RBS alum), Senior Vice President in the Private Equity Funds Group at Brookfield Asset Management.

Rosenbaum and Pearl are also co-authors of Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions, ranked on Amazon as the #1 book on Corporate Finance and Consolidation & Mergers.

The panelist session was moderated by John Longo, CFA, Clinical Associate Professor of Finance at Rutgers Business School and the Chief Investment Strategist for the MDE Group.

Landing on Wall Street
The main question every student in attendance wanted to know was how to land a job on Wall Street. The panelists, experienced Wall Street veterans, offered some advice.
“The resume process is very hit or miss, and very random,” said White, from Brookfield Asset Management and a RBS alumnus. “Wall Street professionals spend maybe 30 seconds per resume so something has to jump off the page on your resume for it to make a lasting impression.”


Rosenbaum, from UBS, added that bankers look at hundreds of resumes until they narrow it down to about 50 before the interview process. “During the interview, you need to distinguish yourself both on qualitative and technical questions,” he said. “And be able to defend everything that is on your resume.”  

Chropuvka, from Goldman Sachs, emphasized Rosenbaum’s point. “Whatever you put on your resume, know it cold, or do not put it on there,” he said. According to Chropuvka, excelling in academic classes like statistics is important, but it is essential to understand how practitioners actually use those disciplines on the job. “Try to tie academic fields to reality and adapt your message to the interviewer,” he advised.

In addition to knowing finance inside and out, UBS’s Pearl urged students to be well-rounded individuals. “Taking some non-finance courses will give you a leg up on your competition.” He also said that Rutgers graduates had a reputation for being “bright and hardworking.”

Event success boosts Rutgers reputation
The organizers of the event were thrilled with the energy in the packed room. “The Summit was an incredible event for everyone in attendance,” said Gasparro. “The panelists are extremely accomplished Wall Street professionals, and included prominent RBS alumni, as well as the authors of Investment Banking, which is the #1 selling finance book in the world.”
“Through student clubs like LIBOR, students gain an unparalleled chance to network with alumni and hear their perspectives on current issues pertinent to the financial markets,” said Rohan Jain, President of LIBOR.

Plasencia said the success of the event helps the reputation of Rutgers. “The great speakers and interest this event generated prove that people care about Rutgers and our reputation,” she said. “Since this Summit was created, organized and managed by students, it shows how motivated our student body is and how hard we work.”
Among the many students present was Nicole Taylor, a Rutgers University Senior, who is a Commodities Operations Analyst at Goldman Sachs. “I've been going back and forth between wanting to get my MBA or taking the CFA exam,” said Taylor. “It was amazing to not only have panelists that have done both, but also an auditorium of MBA students that can also explain their decision making process. Events like these are about meeting other students because they may have gone through the same things you are looking to do.”

- Daniel Rosario

About Rutgers Business School – Newark and New Brunswick
Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick (RBS) is an integral part of one of the nation’s oldest, largest, and most distinguished institutions of higher learning: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, founded in 1766. Rutgers Business School has been accredited since 1941 by AACSB International–the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business—a distinction that represents the hallmark of excellence in management education. Today, with a focus on Business, Science, and Technology, Rutgers Business School is educating more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students at two main campuses in New Jersey as well as more satellite locations in New Jersey and China. Steeped in academic excellence, with a distinguished faculty and a corps of over 33,000 successful alumni, Rutgers Business School is highly ranked by The Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week, and The Wall Street Journal. It is recognized as one of the top three business schools in the greater New York metropolitan area; and is part of the campus that is ranked #1 in diversity nationwide by U.S. News & World Report, since 1997. Full-time MBA and part-time MBA programs give excellent options for people looking to boost their careers.

About Little Investment Bankers of Rutgers – New Brunswick
Little Investment Bankers of Rutgers is Rutgers Business School – New Brunswick's most exclusive student-run organization.  Our goal is to prepare students for careers in the financial industry by focusing on opportunities in the "front office" of an investment bank:  Investment Banking, Sales & Trading, and Equity Research. This goal is attained through a host of educational and networking activities, as well as our training workshops that prepare our members for the interview process and the summer analyst internship program in bulge-bracket firms.  Last year, 16 out of the 18 students who received summer internship offers in front-office positions were active LIBOR members. In our weekly meetings we bring successful Rutgers alumni working in investment banking, hedge funds and private equity firms to speak about their work experiences, i.e. what it took to get there, what they have experienced so far, and where they would like to end up. In addition, students receive resume help, learn interviewing techniques and participate in mock interviews in order to prepare for the rigorous interview process. President- Rohan Jain.

About Rutgers Investment Banking Group
Rutgers Investment Banking Group is the largest graduate club at Rutgers University. The club caters to students who want to pursue careers on Wall Street. They engage in a range of activities including: valuation seminars by the authors of Investment Banking: Valuation, Leveraged Buyouts, and Mergers & Acquisitions, guest speakers, alumni panels, resume reviews, mock interviews, and career treks. Since their inception in 2009, they have hosted speakers from: UBS, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Brookfield Asset Management, The Blackstone Group, Millennium Management, Cerberus Capital Management, Deutsche Bank, BlackRock, Moelis & Company, Houlihan Lokey, and HSBC. Founder & Chairman- Joseph Gasparro.


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