Executive Summary id="executive-summary"
About the Master of Science in Finance program
The Master of Science in Finance (MSF) program started in 2001 and has evolved to primarily a combination degree program for students from various University of Florida undergraduate degree programs wanting to complete both their undergraduate degree and a Master of Science in Finance degree within four years.
UF undergraduate students apply during their second year on campus and begin MSF courses in their third year. Students take graduate-level finance courses alongside MBA and other finance students, in lieu of some undergraduate degree courses. Students intern the summer after their third year with the firm they plan to return to full time after graduation. Most MSF students come from undergraduate finance, accounting, economics and mathematics programs.
The MSF program also serves students who want access to Ph.D. courses or a joint degree from the UF Levin College of Law.
From the Director's Desk
It’s with great sadness that I report that Mr. Bill Hough passed away this year.
A few years after I first met him, he considered how to make a positive impact on the University of Florida. His goal was for the University of Florida to “have a finance program that the football team could be proud of.” His major donation, which created an endowment to support the Master of Science in Finance program, was the first step towards that goal.
In the almost two decades since, hundreds of students have taken advantage of what the program has to offer and gone on to great careers in finance.
From the very beginning of the program, he very much enjoyed the regular updates on the great placements the students enjoyed.
Kelly Herring and I are both grateful for the opportunity to build a program Mr. Hough gave us.
Sincerely,
David Brown
Director, Master of Science in Finance program
MSF Stands Out Among Peers
GSIF id="gif"
Investing in our future
The Gator Student Investment Fund is a student-managed investment fund that provides members with a realistic asset management experience. Roughly 40 students work together to deploy the fund’s $750,000+ assets under management in domestic equities while actively managing portfolio risk. This important experiential learning experience also distributed $16,850 to the Machen Florida Opportunities Scholars program in 2019-20.
Annual Board Meeting
A special thank you to our GSIF board members who came to campus for our annual meeting:
UF Advisor Network Exclusive Gator Gathering
GSIF students pitched to the UF Advisor Network in October 2019.
Academics id="academics"
Built for success
The MSF program has intentionally designed experiences for students from their first year on campus until their final semester before graduation. The Exploring Financial Economics (EFE) program gives students the baseline information they need early in their time on campus and prepares them to standout in the finance industry.
EFE students learn from global markets speaker
Exploring Financial Economics students heard from Heather Barone (BA ’05), Global Markets Electronic Trading at Bloomberg LP in October.
She walked through an overview of a day in the life of a trader, utilizing the terminal and its supported functions. Heather provided a holistic view of today’s trading landscape, electronic execution, trading workflows, and more.
Keeping momentum with campus closed
While most college students going into banking don’t touch Bloomberg Market Concepts until the end of their college careers, it was made available remotely for freshmen in the finance program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sophomore Summer Series
Sophomores in the program had access to an engaging speaker series to learn more about the industry.
- July 23: Equity Research: Joseph Hafling, Matthew Schwarz, Brent Penter, Avi Dahan
- July 30: Corporate Finance: Nick Alter, Jocelyn Richardson, Sonia Chen, Marlo Mulhall
- Aug 7: Investment Banking and Venture Capital: Tansel Ismail, Yasin Ismail
- Aug 13: Private Equity: Caroline Rawe, Tyler Prebor, Arley Ruskin, Jon Bennett
- Aug 20: Corporate Client Banking: Kendall Ruskin
Engagement id="engagement"
We are better together
MSF alumni forge an impactful network together. As Business Gators in the finance industry, our alumni events provide an opportunity to strengthen networks and form a lasting bond throughout the program.
Gator Finance Professionals Network Receptions
Gator Finance Professionals Network Receptions gave our alumni a chance to network with fellow Gators.
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Sam DarkatshManaging Director, Raymond James
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Jay R. Ritter, PhD
Joseph Cordell Eminent Scholar in the Department of Finance at the University of Florida
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Nicholas AlterSenior Analyst, Intuitive Surgical
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George S. Oldfield, PhDPrincipal Emeritus, The Brattle Group
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Brenden Vickers, CFAVice President Global Convertibles, Oaktree Capital Management
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Charles Uhrig
Vice Chairman Technology & Services Investment Banking, Raymond James
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Mike HandManaging Partner, Shoreline Equity Partners
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Eric Weinroth
Senior Finance Director, Medtronic
$100,000+
- Mary Fabrize
- Joseph K. & Jamibeth Todd
$50,000 - $99,999
- Saul D. Goodman & Nathalie Rubens
- M. Ann O’Brien
- Alan S. & Barbara A. Pareira
$25,000 - $49,999
- Robert J. & Deana M. Cousin
- M. Ann O’Brien Revocable Trust
$10,000 - $24,999
- Thomas A. III & Zandra P. Horkan
$5,000 - $9,999
- Daniel L. & Lindsay R. Beiley
- Russell W. & Jean Z. Carpenter
- Sean D. & Amy M. Casterline
- Steven B. & Kimberly M. DeRose*
- Laurence R. Smith & Margaret Saba-Smith
- Bradford W. & Laura B. Smithy
- Charles W. & Sylvia M. Uhrig
$2,000 - $4,999
- W. Bryan & Erin G. Adams*
- Nicholas C. Anderson*
- Ian P. Dawley*
- Roy R. & Gayle S. Dickson
- Desi A. DiPierro*
- Thomas H. & Emily K. Ganey*
- Michael S. McGowan
- Steven M. & Natalie E. Raney
$500 - $1,999
- Randy & Sheryl E. Appleyard
- Brennan A. & Emily E. Bubp*
- Andrew N. Cappello, Jr.*
- Luis A. & Lidia M. Carranza*
- Sonia M. Chen*
- Aindrea K. & Michael J. Davis-Mesa*
- Sydney M. Ellman*
- Carleena G. Fiorenza*
- Peter M. & Catherine T. Gylfe*
- Chris Hamm*
- Kwan Hong Kim*
- Marcus S. Leyva*
- Kevin A. Mesmer*
- James G. Moorman
- Aaron G. Oswald
- Michael H. & Sarah M. Peerson*
- Sean M. & Samantha M. Riley*
- Arley J. Ruskin*
- Mark J. Ruskin*
- Michael A. & Lara H. Smith
- Matthew J. Steffes
- James R. & Patricia S. Thames
- Brenden M. & Aleah Vickers*
- Haiyan & Zhiwen Wu*
$1 - $499
- Arif H. Ahmed
- Rashit M. & Mona El Alaoui
- Justin S. Alex*
- Joshua A. Berry*
- Ashley V. Baros-Kabler*
- James T. & Whitney M. Cook*
- Francisco J. Fornell*
- Tansel S. Ismail*
- Sam A. Kahn*
- Melanie Mark
- Jeffrey S. Masse*
- Christopher A. & Justine M. Noth*
- David A. Pinsky*
- Kendall S. Ruskin*
- Daniel S. & Laura G. Sanborn*
- Adam M. & Emily D. Schiff*
- Olivia J. Walton*
- Council Jr. & Patricia M. Wooten
- Mark A. Zebouni*
*MSF Alumni
Corporate Support
- America Foundation
- Barclays Capital
- Benevity
- Bloomberg L.P.
- Delta Capital Management LLC
- The Fabrize Foundation, Inc.
- FTI Consulting, Inc.
- Guggenheim Partners
- NextEra Energy Foundation, Inc.
- Parnassus Investments
- Raymond James Charitable Endowment Fund
- RBC Capital Markets LLC
- S&P Global Foundation
- S&P Global Inc.
- Southern Co. Services, Inc.
- YourCause LLC for NextEra Energy, Inc.
- UBS
Impact id="impact"
Standing out from the crowd
MSF graduates are prepared to stand out in finance. From real-world internship experiences to immersive coursework, our graduates leave the program ready to stand out from their first day on the job.
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Jack Altman
Stephens Inc., Atlanta, GA
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Graham Boone
RSM Management Consulting, McLean, VA
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Juliette Brito
JPMorgan, Atlanta, GA
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Keegan Brockman
Evercore Partners, New York, NY
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Pedro Celis
Wells Fargo Securities, New York, NY
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Avi Dahan
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, TBD
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Ajay Dayal
Deloitte Consulting, Washington D.C.
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Isabella Dohse
Deutsche Bank S&T, New York, NY
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Melissa Eliseo
BMO, New York, NY
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Crystal Gao
RBC Capital Markets, New York, NY
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Felipe Gatos
Citi, New York, NY
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Hanna Harwood
Citi Private Bank, New York, NY
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Jacob HenschelRBC Capital Markets, New York, NY
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Grant Husted
Jefferies, New York, NY
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K. Marianne Konfe
Pursuing additional education.
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Anne Lee
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Atlanta, GA
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Meijia Li
UBS, New York, NY
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Gaston Lulinski
Credit Agricole, New York, NY
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Andrew Ma
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Atlanta, GA
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Jacob Marlin
Macquarie, New York, NY
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Nicholas Namacher-Sarro
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Atlanta, GA
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Grant Owens
KPMG Management Consulting, Atlanta
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Brent Penter
Raymond James, St. Petersburg, FL
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Bradley Peterson
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, New York, NY
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Michael Puskar
Wells Fargo Securities, Charlotte, NC
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Kyle Rooker
Accepted offer, TBD
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Shivam Sanghani
Intuitive Surgical, Atlanta GA
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Matthew Schwarz
Raymond James, St. Petersburg, FL
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Walter Tomasino-Perez
Houlihan Lokey, New York, NY
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Gabriel Trank
RBC Capital Markets, New York, NY
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Melanie Ventura
JPMorgan Chase, Houston, TX
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Rylee Witherington
SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Atlanta, GA
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Sofia Zacarias
Citi Private Bank, New York, NY
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Mitchell Zitsbank
NISA Investment Advisors, St. Louis, MO
| Name | Placement | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Andrea Alderman | RBC Capital Markets | NYC |
| Zachary Blanket | Wells Fargo Securities | Charlotte |
| Austin Cavallo | UBS | Weehawken |
| Laura Dominguez | Citi Private Bank | NYC |
| Jacob Finn | Eastdil Secured | NYC |
| Thomas Frank | Wells Fargo Securities | Charlotte |
| Jared Friedman | UBS | Weehawken |
| Lauren Goldberg | Nomura Securities | NYC |
| Ashley Isom | Global Atlantic | NYC |
| Alex Karnegis | Wells Fargo Securities | Charlotte |
| Joseph Kersanac | RBC Capital Markets | NYC |
| Connor Lovely | BCG | Miami |
| Aaron Mago | Carbonex | Gainesville |
| James Maguire | Evercore | NYC |
| Alex Martin | Honeywell | Atlanta |
| Emma McClane | RBC Capital Markets | NYC |
| Matthew McGarry | Evercore | NYC |
| Matt Mousa | RBC Capital Markets | NYC |
| Kyler Muruve | Citi | NYC |
| Garrett Ort | JPMorgan | Palm Beach |
| Jonah Platovsky | RBC Capital Markets | NYC |
| Rachel Ramm | Citi Private Bank | NYC |
| Jamie Schemmel | Citi Private Bank | NYC |
| Katie Schramm | HBKS Wealth Advisors | Stuart, FL |
| Ronnie Smith | Houlihan Lokey | NYC |
| Giancarlo Tassi | BCG | Miami |
| Michael Weissman | Wells Fargo Securities | Charlotte |
| Emma Whitner | Wells Fargo Securities | Charlotte |
Thank you!
Thank you for joining the team of alumni that hired to their firms:
- Jose Fornell at BCG
- Sarrine and Alter at Intuitive Surgical
Scholarship Recipients
Congratulations to our outstanding students who received these scholarships last year.
Jeffery M. Levine Banking Scholarship:
Betty W. Penter Memorial Scholarship:
William R. Hough Scholarship:
MSF alumna named to 40 Gators under 40
Kristin (Laneri) Olson (BSBA ’04, MSF ’05) was named to UF’s prestigious 40 Gators under 40. Olson is Vice President at Wood Partners in Atlanta, Georgia. In her role at Wood Partners, one of the nation’s largest multifamily developers, Olson manages a portfolio of assets from development through disposition. Her broad real-estate background includes asset management, development, acquisitions, dispositions, valuation and strategy across most product types and major U.S. markets. Kristin says that her biggest accomplishment is her family, including her Gator husband and three precious girls.
