Your first partner for the journey ahead

Education

Career Advancement

FIC prides itself on our North Star — career excellence and placement outcomes. To help members build the toolkit to exceed within the financial services industry, we leverage a variety of workshops, training programs, hands-on competitions, and more. Explore more how we can accelerate your technical skills development.

General Meetings

We hold weekly general meetings (GMs) to accelerate learning and professional development. No two are ever the same —they range from topic deep-dives, professional speakers, summer internship best practices, and so much more.

  • We teach complex financial topics such as hostile activism, leveraged buyouts, technology private equity buyouts and more. By exposing FICers to varied industries and topics, we create a diverse learning environment that helps build a well-rounded perspective on finance.

  • Members collaborate to come up with creative solutions to complex problems. From developing a turnaround strategy for Netflix to identifying acquisition targets for LVMH, our cases bridge live financial situations with the classroom.

  • We host industry professionals several times a quarter, providing FICers the chance to hear directly from on how they’ve navigated success in their careers. Past speakers include professionals from Bain & Company, Andreessen Horowitz, and Barclays, hailing from diverse careers within finance.

  • Board members lead workshops focused on topics such as interview best practices, effective networking, financial modeling, and deck building. We aim to help members build a robust technical toolkit to equip them for success.

  • FIC’s network does not stop at GM. We direct FICers toward experiential learning opportunities through our partnerships & programs: we host our own Analyst Training Program, partner with the the River City Bank’s Banking Academy, the UC Investments Academy, and external diversity organizations such as Girls Who Invest, SEO, and MLT.

Analyst Training Program

Our flagship Analyst Training Program (ATP) was started in 2018 in partnership with Wahdy Capital Management, a San Francisco-based investment management firm, to train FIC members for careers in the finance industry. Experienced members, with backgrounds across investment banking, equity research, and private equity serve as coaches, helping to instruct students within ATP.

  • Through the first quarter of ATP, students learn what differentiates a good business from a mediocre one, intrinsically value a company, and ultimately present their findings to instructors and classmates. Students experience writing an equity research report, building out a comparables analyses, and creating a DCF to derive the intrinsic value of a business.

  • Students who progress further continue their second quarter of earning with a deep-dive into the macroeconomic drivers of the economy, selecting an industry of interest to explore further. From analyzing commodities, economic policy, and geo-political tension, students explore the workings of the world and its effects on the markets.

  • At the end of the year-long program, students have the opportunity to intern with Wahdy Capital and direct their knowledge and education into a hands-on experience. From analyzing market data and equities, students get the chance to see behind the scenes of an investment manager and work on projects with real impact.

FIC Academy is our quarter-long bootcamp for new FICers. Academy helps new FICers accelerate their finance knowledge from 0 to 1 via weekly career exploration sessions, teach-ins, and networking / coffee-chat opportunities. Furthermore, Academy’s cohort style also allows new members to seamlessly integrate into the club via robust mentorship and personal development opportunities.

FIC Academy

  • Through a cohort model, new FICers bond as a group while exploring various industries and day-to-day work streams of each. From learning how a venture capitalist sources new investments, to diving into the synergies and financial complexities of a M&A transaction, to creatively identifying opportunities for a F500’s growth strategy, FICers in Academy receive hands-on opportunity to immerse themselves in various careers.

  • A hallmark of the FIC experience is mentorship and social activities—new FICers receive one-on-one career counseling, mentorship from senior FIC members, and opportunity to network and connect with Alumni. From grabbing lunch on weekends, Retreats, to hiking adventures, there are countless ways for new FICers to integrate themselves into the larger FIC community.

  • Academy finishes with a capstone project where new FICers have the opportunity to present to the club some of the skills they’ve gained along the way. Past capstone projects have included debating AI and copyright infringement, Trian’s activist attack on Disney, and corporate governance successes and failures.

Case Competitions

FIC has a long history of competing in local and national-level case competitions. From stock pitches, to consulting cases, these competitions provide a platform for FICers to put their skills to the test against students from leading institutions across the world.

Recently, our FICers were finalists (top 10 / 200 teams) at the 2024 Teach for America x Capital One Case Competition. Tasked with applying AI into Capital One’s business model, the team revamped the Venture X, a premium-travel rewards credit card, integrating AI across customer onboarding, spend management, and travel rewards.

Team FIC: Edison Ma, Ashley Zou, Natalie Kimm, Noor Nibber, Arlo Novicoff