Corporate Partnerships: RBC

As recent as 10 years ago, RBC only had space for one summer intern from the Warrington College of Business and spent most of its time recruiting other colleges. Today, RBC averages about 10 Warrington interns in their summer internship program.

The explosion in recruiting has come with the help of alumni champions at the company, but more than anything, the success of Warrington alumni at RBC has encouraged the company to recruit more.  

“The No. 1 thing that grows the number of Warrington alumni here is getting good people who do well,” Director of Industrials Investment Banking Dillon Knox (BSBA ’16, MSF ’17) said. “As we’ve recruited more, they’re successful and continue to advance. We have VPs here who started as analysts out of Warrington. It’s a great effort, and Warrington is doing its part by creating innovative programs and helping us come to campus to interview.”

This summer, 10 Warrington students earned RBC internships. Each one of them left with a full-time offer from the company because of their strong performance.

“Because the people we’ve hired have had success here, they’ve helped build a strong brand name for UF at RBC.”

As Warrington students see older classmates earn offers from RBC, it’s only increasing the interest in the financial services company.

“Warrington is a core school for us at RBC,” Vice Chairman Global Investment Banking Gary Antenberg (BSBA ’89) said. “There’s a history here and there are a lot of people who went to UF at RBC.”

Gary Antenberg (BSBA ‘89) | Vice Chairman Global Investment Banking

Despite more than 34 years in banking, Antenberg’s connection to RBC started in 2025.

Antenberg spent 26 years at Barclays, running the Insurance Investment Banking and North American Financial Institutions groups over time before ultimately being named Global Chairman of Investment Banking in 2023.

Antenberg never imagined himself leaving Barclays and wasn’t planning to – until RBC reached out about its Vice Chairman Global Investment Banking position.

“The truth is I wasn’t looking,” Antenberg said. “I had a very good and long career there, but the team I could partner with at RBC is what drew me in. I was drawn to the depth of talent inside and outside the financial institutions group at RBC.”

Antenberg was an important part of recruiting from Warrington during his time at Barclays and will continue to be involved at RBC. Antenberg will be back on campus on September 25 to speak with finance students about the industry before staying in Gainesville to attend the football game against Ole Miss the following day with his wife Melissa (BSAc ‘89).

When Antenberg graduated in 1989, a UF degree didn’t open many doors to Wall Street. He has watched that change over time, and while working to recruit UF students, he has been increasingly impressed by the graduates coming out of Warrington.

“I’ve always felt the top students at UF are as good as the top students at other core schools that firms focus on,” Antenberg said. “The quality of people graduating from Warrington is top-notch.”

That became especially clear at RBC this summer as 10 summer interns from Warrington each earned full-time offers. Antenberg noted that a summer internship isn’t a guarantee for a full-time offer, but despite being selective about who receives full-time offers, all 10 Warrington interns earned them.

“You can tell Gators have something to prove,” Antenberg said. “In our business, that chip on your shoulder is a good thing. We grind it out and work hard.”

Dillon Knox (BSBA ’16, MSF ’17) | Director in Industrials Investment Banking

Knox’s interest in working at RBC started after his sophomore year at Warrington. The Master of Science in Finance program took a trip to New York City to visit firms and meet alumni to learn about the background of potential employers. RBC was on the list, and Knox connected immediately with UF alumni at the company.

That connection led to an internship offer and, after he completed his internship, a full-time job offer. In nine years with the company, Knox has worked his way up from analyst to director, all within the industrials coverage group.

“The reason I’m still here today is that every day is different,” Knox said. “Things are always changing and there’s always opportunity to take on new things in your role. There’s always something new to learn or a new problem to solve.”

Knox’s time at Warrington played an integral part in his professional development that prepared him to stand out at RBC. Earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance, he learned the technical skills through his classwork and took advantage of the extra resources available to finance students at Warrington, including the Gator Student Investment Fund.

“When I got to the work setting, I had the hard skills already in place,” Knox said. “You combine that with skills like strategic thinking and relationship building, you can be effective in this role. Warrington provides a balance of tough coursework while also helping you develop personally – it makes it unique to hire from. That’s why we’ve had a lot of success recruiting there.”

Knox serves as RBC’s primary internal sponsor for UF recruiting, but that’s not the only way he stays connected to Gainesville. He’s surrounded every day with UF alumni in his role, rarely going a day without working with another one. 

That connection builds an immediate bond, and that connection builds an immediate bond and a sense of trust because they have undergone similar training.

“It’s very fun,” Knox said. “I always try to have someone with UF background working on a team when I can because I know they have similar training and experiences to mine and a strong technical skill set.”

Zara Dalvi (BSBA ’26, MSF ’27) | Incoming Investment Banking Analyst

RBC first caught Dalvi’s attention because of its advisory program. As a sophomore in the Master of Science in Finance program, she learned about the program and knew it would be a great way for her to become more familiar with RBC.

It immediately became her goal to work at RBC full time.

Dalvi built connections in the bank through the advisory program, including speaking with more than 20 employees and later flying to New York City twice to network and meet senior leaders at the company.

“It was a good fit from the start, and I knew RBC was the firm I wanted to go to,” Dalvi said.

To make that a reality, Dalvi interned with the company after her junior year at UF in the company’s communications, media and entertainment group in its New York City office.

Dalvi is a musician and found a music investment banking vertical at RBC. She worked closely with the director building the vertical and on major music companies while also focusing her summer project on a music company. She felt good about the work she did during the internship, but there were still some nerves heading into her exit interview.

Every summer intern leaves hoping for an offer to return as a full-time employee after graduation.

“Nerves were through the roof, but I felt like I built something in the group,” Dalvi said. “I was respected and valued, so I was somewhat confident I would get an offer, but it’s never set in stone until you do.”

The news got even more exciting as Dalvi learned about the other UF interns who also earned offers. She is close with multiple UF interns at the company, including three in the communications, media and entertainment group. The UF interns built close connections with RBC employees after years of seeing them on campus and networking.

“Every intern had a lot of history with everyone at the bank,” Dalvi said. “We knew them for so long at that point – they come to campus, make calls to us and help with interview prep. There’s a casual friendship at this point with analysts.”

Dalvi will return to the RBC Capital Markets New York City office after she graduates with her MSF degree in spring 2027.

“Warrington is a huge part of why I ended up at RBC,” Dalvi said. “The pipeline to RBC is strong. I was in the Gator Student Investment Fund for a year, and it prepared me technically and gave me a little taste of the rigor of an investment banking analyst. I built decks and models with GSIF, and a lot of schools don’t prepare you that way. I had a great base to help and teach people based on what I learned in GSIF and the MSF program.”

Dalvi is so thankful for her Warrington experience that she wanted to give back. Dalvi and a few friends recently started a Warrington cohort of Women on Wall Street. They wished they had older girls helping them through the recruiting process for high finance roles, and now that they’re the older students, they want to help younger girls find their place in a male-dominated industry.

“That’s our way to give back to the Warrington community,” Dalvi said.