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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! agenda9:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Consulting Panel
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Break 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM: Investment Management Panel 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM: Break 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM: Investment Banking Panel 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Break 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM: Private Equity/Venture Capital |
investment banking panelists
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Karen Liang '13
Vice President, Sales & Trading, Morgan Stanley Karen Liang is a Vice President with the Morgan Stanley Institutional Securities division in New York City. She focuses on algorithmic trading models for the electronic trading business across Equities and Fixed Income globally. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley in 2016, Karen held roles at American Express and CBS Corporation. She graduated from UC San Diego in 2013 with a degree in Communication and is an alumna of Eleanor Roosevelt College. |
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Stephen Martin ‘02
Vice President, Cross Markets Consumer Retail, Goldman Sachs Stephen Martin is a Vice President in the Cross Markets Consumer Retail Group within the Investment Banking Division. He joined Goldman Sachs as a Vice President in the Southern Region Coverage Group, based in Dallas, in 2018 and moved into the Cross Markets Group when it was created in 2019. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Stephen was an Executive Director in the Consumer Retail Group at J.P. Morgan in New York. Stephen earned a BS in Management Science from the University of California San Diego and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. |
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Nader Rousta ‘12
Vice President, M&A, Lazard Nader Rousta is a Vice President within Lazard’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Nader has over 8 years of investment banking experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and debt and equity financings. Nader has successfully represented dozens of companies, completing transactions for and with leading public corporations, private equity funds, and entrepreneurs across a broad range of industries. Nader joined Lazard in 2018 from Jefferies Group in New York, where he worked in the investment bank’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group. Nader received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Harvard Business Law Review, and his B.A. in Economics, magna cum laude, from the University of California, San Diego. |
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Joo Lee
Analyst, Bank of America Joo Lee is a currently an Analyst at BofA Securities within the Investment Banking Group in Los Angeles. He has worked on initial public offerings, follow-on offerings, buy-side and sell-side M&A deals, and leveraged finance deals across the Technology, Media & Telecom, Consumer & Retail, and Financial Institutions sectors. Prior to joining BofA in 2019, Joo was an Analyst at Duff & Phelps, where he worked on middle-market M&A deals and transaction opinions. Joo graduated from the University of Southern California in 2017 with a B.A. in Economics. |
investment management panelists
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Bob Marren ‘86
Formerly with Allianz Global Investors Bob Marren retired in 2020 after a long career in investment management. Most recently, he spent thirteen years at Allianz Global Investors in San Diego where, as Managing Director and Portfolio Manager, Bob headed up the firm’s small-cap equity investment team. The prior fourteen years, Bob performed a similar role at Duncan-Hurst Capital Management in La Jolla as Portfolio Manager for small-cap and micro-cap equity portfolios as well as Director of Research. At both firms, the focus was on U.S. and international institutional clients. He is a member of the UC San Diego Foundation Board of Trustees and has served on the Board’s Investment Committee for over fifteen years, including nine years as Committee Chair. The Investment Committee is responsible for managing the University’s endowment and other financial matters. Bob has also been a member of the Investment Advisory Committee (Endowment) for the Bishop’s School in La Jolla since 2014. Bob earned a B.A. in Management Science from UC San Diego and an M.B.A. from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He resides in Rancho Santa Fe with his wife, and fellow UC San Diego alum, Amy. |
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Ben Meng
Former CIO, CalPERS, Guest Lecturer at Rady School of Management Yu (Ben) Meng is the former Chief Investment Officer of CalPERS, where he was responsible for investment policies, risk management, corporate governance standards, and environmental, social, and governance strategies for the CalPERS pension fund. This pension fund serves more than 2 million public agency members in the CalPERS retirement system and administers health benefits for more than 1.5 million members and their families. It is the largest defined-benefit public pension in the U.S. with a total fund market value at approximately $432 billion. Ben also served as the Deputy CIO at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the largest asset pool in the world with assets under management of over $3 trillion U.S. dollars. Prior to this, he served CalPERS as the investment director of Asset Allocation and portfolio manager in fixed income. Meng previously worked at Barclays Global Investors as a senior portfolio manager, Lehman Brothers as a risk officer, and at Morgan Stanley as a fixed income trader. Ben holds a master’s degree in financial engineering from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, and a doctorate in civil engineering from UC Davis. He currently serves as a guest lecturer at the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego |
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Randy Simpson ‘91
Formerly with Glenview Capital Management, Healthcare Group Randy Simpson is a graduate of UC San Diego, class of 1991 with a degree in Quantitative Economics and Decisions Sciences (QEDS). Most recently, Randy spent the last 15 years leading the Healthcare group at Glenview Capital Management, a long/short equity hedge fund based in New York with ~$8B of AUM, where he left in mid-2020. Prior to Glenview, Randy worked as an equity research analyst at Goldman Sachs and as an investment banking associate at Credit Suisse First Boston. Randy also received his MBA from the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center. He served on the board of Tenet Healthcare Corp (NYSE: THC) and currently serves on the Board of a non-profit charter school system, KIPP NYC. Randy is married with one son and three dogs. |
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Josh Davis ‘03
Global Head of Client Analytics, PIMCO Mr. Davis is a managing director and global head of client analytics in the Newport Beach office. He focuses on delivering innovative investment research and tailoring custom portfolio solutions for PIMCO’s key clients. He is also a member of the PIMCO quantitative investment committee. From 2009–2019, Mr. Davis managed asset allocation, risk mitigation, and risk premia portfolios. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2008, he developed option trading strategies for a boutique hedge fund in Chicago. He has 17 years of investment experience and holds a Ph.D. in economics with an emphasis on macroeconomics and finance from Northwestern University, where he also earned his master's degree. He holds undergraduate degrees in pure mathematics and management science from the University of California, San Diego. |
consulting panelists
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Ellen Chen ‘95
Co-founder, Mendocino Farms, Investor and Advisor Ellen Chen is the co-founder of Mendocino Farms, a fast, casual sandwich and salad concept with over 35 locations in California and Texas. Prior to starting Mendocino Farms, Chen was a Technology Consultant at Accenture. She sits on the Board of Directors of the California Restaurant Association, UC San Diego Alumni Board of Directors and Mendocino Farms. In 2017 she was appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti to be the Entrepreneur in Residence for the city of Los Angeles. Chen is also an investor and advisor to female and minority founded companies. |
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Jessica Lo ‘13
Strategy & Analytics Consultant, Deloitte Jessica Lo is a Strategy and Analytics Consultant at Deloitte out of the San Francisco office. Her background in economics from UCSD has allowed her to develop strong problem solving and analytical skills. She has worked primarily on technology strategy projects, leading teams to evaluate data and provide recommendations for CIO and CTO investments. Although she has worked across many industries, she is especially proud of her work in healthcare and life sciences, where she has helped develop capabilities that advance the pace of biomedical and clinical research discovery for health concerns including COVID-19. In March, Jessica will be leaving the consulting world for an exciting new position at a fintech startup, where she will be developing the company's strategy for growth through partnerships. |
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Brett Maurer ‘07
Corporate Strategy and M&A, Accenture Brett Maurer is a strategy consultant currently serving as an executive within Accenture Strategy’s Mergers & Acquisitions practice. In this role, he partners with Fortune 500 companies on mission-critical growth strategy and M&A initiatives, such as large mergers, strategic due diligence assessments, joint ventures, and corporate venture investments. His work is mostly focused within the energy and high-tech industries. Prior to his current role, Brett worked as a small business entrepreneur and as a management consultant at a boutique firm before earning his MBA at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business. Brett graduated UCSD in 2007 with a major in Economics and a minor in History. While at UCSD, Brett was a member of the men’s soccer team, studied abroad at the University of Hong Kong, and was an active member in the Undergraduate Investment Society. Brett currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Michelle, and daughter, Farah. |
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Elizabeth M. Van Denburgh '78
Van Denburgh Consulting Group Elizabeth Van Denburgh has over 38 years of consulting experience with service industries and a 20-year industry focus in utilities. The last fifteen years she was Managing Principal of Van Denburgh Consulting Group. She and her team assist utilities in a achieving a Smart Energy future working with customers and employees. She started her career at Arthur Young, who became Ernst & Young and then merged again to become E&Y CapGemini. She resides in Los Angeles and received her Economics degree at UCSD in 1978 and her MBA in Finance at UCLA in 1981. She is a California CPA (inactive) and a trained facilitator. |
private equity / venture capital panelists
Katie Evans
JMI Equity, Investor |
Keyona Meeks
Venture for America, Fellow |
Nihal Maunder
Toyota AI Ventures, Investor |
Kim Nguyen
MassMutual Ventures, Investor |
