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The Financial Horizons Conference is a free event designed to give students the opportunity to learn from and network with accomplished professionals, UCSD alumni and leading minds in finance, consulting, entrepreneurship, and business.
The Conference is UCSD's premier educational and networking event for students looking to broaden their financial knowledge and employers looking to recruit fresh talent. If you are interested in exploring career possibilities in business or you are trying to build connections with leading professionals, this conference will be the perfect chance to bridge the gap between your dream and your future! agenda8:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Sign In
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM: Keynote Address 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM: Consulting Panel 11:15 AM - 12:15 PM: Investment Banking Panel 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM: Investment Management Panel 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM: Private Equity/Venture Capital Panel |
CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
LOCATION DETAILS
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
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Mark Hoffman '87
Mark Hoffman is a senior executive with expertise leading and advising public, private, family-owned, and PE-backed companies during periods of significant growth, turnaround, and transition. Since 2001, Mark has been the CEO of Larson Packaging Company, a designer and manufacturer of custom industrial packaging for high tech, medical device, and industrial companies. Concurrent to his role as CEO, Mark has led several consulting engagements for strategic business and marketing consulting firm Amphora Consulting. In addition, he serves “on faculty” for their Strategic Marketing for Growth Executive Education Programs. Mark began consulting in 1991, and he spent nine years at Booz Allen & Hamilton (now Strategy&), where he was a Partner, and General Manager in their Lima, Peru office leading global multimillion-dollar client engagements across numerous industry verticals. Mark earned his MBA from the University of Chicago’s Booth Graduate School of Business and his BA in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. He has worked in North and South America (lived in Colombia and Peru), Europe and Asia, and is fluent in Spanish. Mark has a track record of success introducing creative solutions to positively segment customers and grow revenue, impact EBITDA, operating margins, and productivity through business development and process optimization initiatives. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hoffmanmark/ |
this Year's Panelists
investment banking panelists
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Kevin Gu '14
Vice President, Tech Coverage Investment Banking, Wells Fargo Kevin is currently a Vice President at Wells Fargo Securities' San Francisco Office Technology Group. He has worked there since 2018. Previously, Kevin was an analyst and associate working various roles in Leveraged Finance and Corporate Banking at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and US Capital Partners. He graduated with a BS in Applied Mathematics from UC San Diego while minoring in Finance. Kevin was also a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity while attending UC San Diego. |
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Sean Lawson ‘11
Associate, Tech Investment Banking, Morgan Stanley Sean is an associate in the Menlo Park Technology Group at Morgan Stanley. Previously, he was an investment banking associate at Credit Suisse, and served in various roles at Silicon Valley Bank and Illuminante Ventures. Sean is passionate about building relationships at the intersection of technology and capital markets. He earned his BS in Management Science from UC San Diego and MBA from Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business. |
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Robin Kim
Director, M&A, Kroll Robin Kim is a Director in the Consumer M&A Advisory practice at Kroll Securities. He is based in the Los Angeles office and helps lead the firm’s apparel and retail practice. Robin has over 15 years of M&A, capital markets, and corporate development experience, including buy-side, sell-side, take-private, public equities and corporate carveout transactions across small to large cap public and private companies, totaling over $10 billion in transaction value. Prior to joining Kroll Securities, Robin served as Vice President of M&A at Rothschild & Co. His professional experience also includes investment banking at Robert W. Baird & Co., internal M&A at a platform roll-up sponsored by Summit Partners, and business development at SEAL Capital, a global macro strategy hedge fund. Robin received his B.A. with distinction in Economics from the University of California, San Diego and his M.B.A. from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He resides in Orange County with his wife and two kids. |
investment management panelists
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Wendell Birkhofer
Senior Vice President, Dodge & Cox Wendell worked at Dodge & Cox for 32 years in San Francisco, serving as Senior VP Portfolio Manager. Before that, he was an equity research analyst intern in Hewlett-Packard and WHV Investments. He is passionate about ocean conservation and marine science, while being dedicated to philanthropy serving disadvantaged youth, environmental protection, and mental health. He has studied in UC San Diego before transferring to Stanford and has a BA in English from Stanford. He also holds an MBA in Finance from Stanford Graduate School of Business. |
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Bob Samuels '95
Director, Money Manager Relations, Charles Schwab Bob Samuels joined Charles Schwab & Co. in 2016 and is a Director in the Managed Account, Alternative Investment, and Structured Products group. Bob leads the Money Manager Relations team. His team is responsible for supporting Schwab Advisor Services as platform experts educating both advisor clients and prospects on Schwab's capabilities across all three investment platforms.In addition, his team works proactively with money managers to both add SMA products as well as advise money managers on the opportunities to grow their SMA business at Schwab. Prior to Bob’s current role at Schwab, he held various sales, distribution, and investment consulting roles at Victory Capital, ALPs Funds, UBS, and Morgan Stanley. Bob earned a BS in Management Science from the University of California, San Diego. |
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Leo Mao
Vice President, Portfolio Risk Management, PIMCO Leo Mao is a VP Portfolio Risk Manager at PIMCO in the Newport Beach office. He has 5 years of investment and financial services experience and holds a master's degree in Financial Engineering from UCLA Anderson School of Management and an undergraduate degree in Mathematics and Economics from New York University. He studied at UCSD Revelle College from 2012 to 2013. |
consulting panelists
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Kenzie Haygood ‘12
Senior Manager, Private Equity Consulting, Bain and Co Kenzie Haygood [she/her] is a Senior Manager in Bain’s San Francisco office. She currently works in Bain’s private equity practice conducting due diligence work across industries including industrials, financial services, retail, and healthcare. She has also worked extensively in go-to-market strategies for tech firms. Kenzie helps co-run BGLAD, Bain's LGBTQ group, and broader DEI efforts in the San Francisco office. Outside of work, you can usually find her on a mountain bike. Kenzie holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA from UC San Diego. |
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Anwesh Kamireddy ‘20
Consultant, BCG Anwesh Kamireddy joined BCG in April 2020 as a Consultant in the Los Angeles office. He holds a PhD in Biology from University of California, San Diego, where he discovered novel substrates of an evolutionarily conserved tumor suppressor family that is mutated in lung cancer. After completing his Bachelor of Engineering in Biotechnology from India, he went on to achieve his Master of Science in Biotechnology from the University of California, Irvine, where he studied the role of chemokines in Multiple Sclerosis. He then joined Novartis in San Diego, where he spent over 4 years on drug discovery to develop first-in-class anti-type 1 diabetic drugs. |
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Aren Megerdichian ‘10
Executive Vice President, Compass Lexecon Aren Megerdichian is an Executive Vice President at Compass Lexecon. He conducts economic analyses on behalf of clients on a wide range of matters involving litigation and regulatory investigations. Dr. Megerdichian has applied his expertise in econometrics and forecasting, demand estimation, oligopoly pricing models, and competition policy to numerous cases involving mergers, regulatory proceedings, price fixing, and damages. Dr. Megerdichian has submitted white papers and declarations to the FCC and DOJ, as well as presented to the FTC and DOJ on the potential competitive effects of mergers, and has submitted expert reports and testified in U.S. District Court. Prior to joining Compass Lexecon, Dr. Megerdichian was an Associate Lecturer with the College of Business at San Diego State University and Teaching Associate and Lecturer with the Department of Economics at the University of California, San Diego. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. |
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Navid Zahoury ’10
Booz Allen Hamilton Navid is a Senior Consultant with 10 years of professional experience. He is the CFO of a non-profit science company. Previously, he has doing analysis about cyber security, naval aviation, finance, and healthcare companies in Booz Allen and worked as a benchtop scientist in an autoimmune diagnostics company. On a daily basis, Navid works in Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, and Microsoft Power Automate. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Navid co-founded a group which donated over 8,000 masks, 1,000 gloves, and 2,000 3D printed face-shield during the first 3 months of the pandemic. Navid holds a BS in Melocular Biology from UC San Diego and a Finance Certificate from UC San Diego Extension. |
private equity / venture capital panelists
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Grace Chui-Miller ’93
CFO, Correlation Ventures Grace is a Finance Executive in Venture Capital and Public Accounting with more than twenty years of experience. She believed in a better model for supporting entrepreneurs, lead VCs and LPs. Previously, Grace served as CFO of Venture Capital firm DCM, and spent seven years as an auditor at KPMG, where she audited several VC firms. Grace holds an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BSin Quantitative Economics and Decision Sciences from UC San Diego. She was raised in the Bay Area and is currently based in San Diego. In her free time, she enjoys running and hiking, and has even dabbled in age-group triathlons (including successfully completing an Ironman). Grace is also a proud mother to her daughter currently in middle school. |
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Doug Williams ’20
Investment Associate, Prosus Group Doug is an Investment Associate at Prosus Group since February 2022. Prior to Prosus Group, he spent just under 2 years as an Investment Banking Analyst with Bank of America in the M&A group. Doug received a BS in Management Science from UC San Diego in 2020. During his time at UC San Diego, he worked at the University Growth Fund where he invested in the software sector and served as President of the Undergraduate Investment Society. |
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Dylan Weening ’20
Senior Vice President, VC and PE, Talipot Holdings Dylan is a Senior Vice President at Talipot Holdings where he works with venture capital and private equity companies for a family office. Prior to Talipot Holdings, Dylan was a Senior Associate at Sway Ventures where he assisted the investment committee with thesis development, deal sourcing, and underwriting. He supports the management of the firm's investor relations and strategic capital raising for portfolio companies. Before that, Dylan was a Business Development Manager for a global consulting firm focused on early to mid-stage software and hardware technologies. He co-developed the firm's business development arm, leading to triple digit revenue growth during his tenure. Additionally, Dylan worked directly with startups conducting market research and developing go-to-market strategies. Dylan's background in business and technology stems from his college education at UC San Diego, where he majored in Interdisciplinary Computing in the Arts while studying business at the Rady School of Management. He was a member of the UCSD Men's Soccer team and a scholarship recipient for the business program through UC Extension. |
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Francis Donohue
Vice President, Blueprint Equity Francis joined Blueprint in 2018 and is responsible for sourcing and executing new investments. Prior to Blueprint, Francis was the Head of Partnerships at TrackMaven where he created internal revenue strategies, working with over seventy-five clients to develop and report on their respective marketing strategies. Before that, he was a Management Consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton where he provided analytics, communications, and marketing support to executives in the public and private sector. Francis received a BS in Business Administration with a minor in Economics from the University of Mary Washington. Outside of work, Francis is an avid traveler and likes to surf. |
