Beach Fin Summary Spring 2024
The Spring 2024 Financial Symposium was a great success with a full house of students and 3 very engaged speakers.
The first speaker was Shakya Harish, CFA, who spoke to the students about his journey in the world of Investment Banking and Private Equity and what that type of career entails. It was an excellent description of all the different types of firms and the different careers that are available in that part of the financial world. Shakya Harish is currently a Principal at Napean Capital Group in Santa Monica.
Our second speaker was Heidi Benavidez, a CSULB Alumnae whose financial services career went more toward the investment management side of the field even though she also holds a CFA certificate. During Heidi’s career, she founded her firm and currently manages her clients’ investments under the Beacon Point Advisors where she is currently a Partner and Managing Director.
Our third speaker was Steve Keesal, who is a First Vice President – Financial Advisor with RBC Wealth Management. In his past life, Steve also served in Afghanistan and Iraq with the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, United States Army Special Operations Command. Steve talked about building his investment management portfolio of customers, and explained how the industry currently works and why it can be a very interesting and rewarding career.
Overall the day was a great success with a tremendous amount of positive feedback from the students and all the speakers stayed after to answer individual questions, of which there were many. Although the event was scheduled to end at 4 pm, because of the graciousness of our speakers and the interest of the students, the last questions were finally answered around 5 PM.
