Alumni Perspectives

Research plays out on the job

During my internship, I did a research project on aspects of the stock/bond relationship, working with some of my PIMCO managers. We drafted a paper using our research that will be published by the Journal of Portfolio Management. And it has been used in many discussions with clients over 2018. I am very proud of that accomplishment.

There are lots of Berkeley MFEs at PIMCO, both as interns and on staff. As PIMCO becomes more quantitative in its approach, our presence is evidence of the value we bring to the firm. It also points up the strong relationship the MFE program office has with PIMCO.

Business lens provides valuable insights

Knowing the Berkeley MFE was in the business school was very important to me. Because I already had the engineering background, in my MFE I really wanted the finance perspective and skills. You don’t get that from a department of mathematics or engineering.

While studying for my undergraduate degree in industrial engineering—really more of a business degree with an emphasis on the technical aspects—I took a couple of finance classes. I fell in love with finance, and realized that was where I wanted to work.

No one works alone in this business. Teamwork is essential, and you get a lot of practice in the Berkeley MFE. For one thing, you need a range of skills, and you benefit from the diverse perspectives that a team brings to any project.

Gifted faculty share insights

Among a fantastic faculty, Martin Lettau and Nicolae Gârleanu really stood out for me. They covered a lot of information in a short timeframe. Later, in my internship and on the job, I still return to some of the insights they shared.

In my internship, I remember reading a paper on volatility that was particularly dense and hard to penetrate. However, I felt I had encountered this concept before, so I went back to Professor Lettau's materials and realized he used that same paper—but he was able to summarize it brilliantly in two bullet points. That is mastery of your subject matter.

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