Students interested in the world of finance got an ear-full mid February, when the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) and the Accounting and Finance Student’s Associations (AFSA) held its Finance Focus Launch Event.

The evening was designed to give individuals a broader vision of their future within the financial sector as well as provide an opportunity to network with SAF Finance alumni.
 
Ashish Kapoor, Sr. President at Macquarie Capital Markets, Canada, Mohsin Bashir, Sr. Research Analyst and Chief Compliance Officer at Highwater Capital Management, and Bryan Lee, Analyst with BMO Capital Markets were on hand to talk with students about personal experiences, challenges, and ways of overcoming hurdles.

“The speakers who attended the event were phenomenal and provided great insight into the industry and left some strong advice with the students,” explains Donna Heng (AFM) VP Education with AFSA.  “The messages that resonated the most with me were: A) Do something that you are passionate about. B) There is more than one way to get to your destination. The beaten path may not be the "typical" path, but it may be the right path for you.”

Students also had the opportunity to learn about AFSA’s finance initiatives. The student association currently has a lengthy list of projects that include the SAF/Sun Life Lecture Series, Financial Management Workshop, Investment and Portfolio Management, Capital Markets Roundtable, Bloomberg Lab Training, FM night, and the Investment Banking Workshop.

Perhaps the most highly anticipated event though is the upcoming hEDGE Finance Conference. The event has been described as an exciting one-day Capital Markets and Corporate Finance conference to be held in downtown Toronto on September 2, 2011 for a selected group of 75 upper-year SAF students.

AFSA is currently “putting their money where their mouths are” explains Jonah Hu (CFM), VP External with AFSA, saying the association is working with Toronto firms in order to set-up a full-day of valuable workshops for students.

“This is going to be our legacy project” says Hu. “I think this is the first Waterloo undergraduate conference that is not going to be held in Waterloo.”