On Feb. 9th, junior Jane Maleady left for the Philadelphia International Airport to fly to London and attend the LSE Alternative Investments Conference.
According to the LSE Alternative Investments Conference site, “The LSE Alternative Investments Conference is the world’s largest student conference on Private Equity, Hedge Funds and Venture Capital. Bringing together over 60 speakers and 40 participating firms over 2 days, we aim to educate and inspire the next generation of business leaders.”
Conference organizers received more than 5,000 applications, and the top 350 traveled to London to listen to panelists and meet other students going into the financial profession. The conference took place in London, however it hosted students from all over the world.
“I loved being able to make friends from around the world,” Maleady said. “It was so interesting learning all about the cultural differences between our nations and universities, as there were only about five of us from the United States at the conference.”
Maleady’s trip was fully-funded through John Casey, Head of Regulatory & Trading Compliance at Point72. Casey is a member of the Villanova University Financial Club, a group of Villanova alumni working on or around Wall Street. Once he received the approval from the club, Villanova offered attendance at the conference to students who had previously participated in a NY Finance TREK in the Fall Semester. Maleady is the second student to whom this opportunity has been offered.
The conference brings together world-class speakers, exclusive recruitment opportunities, interactive workshops, technical training and exclusive events. The LSE Alternative Investments Conference is a program that Villanova hopes more students can attend in upcoming years.
“Our goal is to offer every year going forward with the support of the Financial Club,” Associate Director of Communications for the Villanova School of Business Shannon Wilson said.
Maleady’s application process was not through the University, rather through the conference itself.
“Any student with an interest could apply to attend the conference through their website – we are not part of this process – the conference is run through the London School of Economics,” Wilson said. “Jane was offered an opportunity to participate in the conference through their conference committee.”
Prior to arriving at the conference, Maleady was able to select a variety of programs and panels to attend throughout the duration.
“There was a panel called Women in Private Equity, and it was very inspiring to see a group of high-ranked women in a male-dominated field and hear their stories,” Maleady said. “It was uplifting knowing that there will be change in the next generation of workers in the financial field.”
Other panels included, How To Build A Career in Private Market, How to be an Investor 101, Blackstone Real Estate Panel and more. The conference was sponsored by companies such as Goldman Sachs, Onex and PGIM, all of which sent representatives to speak to the students in attendance.
“It was such a unique experience [to be] able to sit in a room with CEOs and Senior Editors of worldwide companies, and for them to give us college students advice, to hear their stories and gain a deeper perspective of their roles and job positions,” Maleady said.
Upon returning to campus, Maleady is eager to take the skills she learned overseas and apply them to her future studies and career in the financial industry.
