The MFE Program at the Haas School of Business consistently brings industry projects to its students in addition to the built-in internship opportunity. In fact, MFE17 students Arsh Sood (above, right) and Aman Kesarwani (above, left) have paired up to tackle two of the Berkeley MFE program’s industry projects. These projects include Non G10 FX Trading Strategies with Citi and the Sportsbook Aggregator Project with Alternative Trading Partners in Las Vegas. The first project with Citi required them to work on the development and backtesting of FX trading strategies for emerging market currencies. Since both students already had prior experience in emerging markets, this project was an opportunity to leverage their skills and collaborate with a big firm. The second project is with Alternative Trading Partners, a Las Vegas-based boutique M&A firm specializing in the gaming industry, and which was founded by by MFE06 alumni Kyle Carlston and Thomas Brunet. In this project, Arsh and Aman are working to build a sportsbook aggregator first, and later use the data to develop novel strategies to exploit arbitrage opportunities in sportsbook market. “This project has been an exhilarating experience so far as it has given us an opportunity to work on a relatively new and less explored asset class,” said Arsh. “We couldn't be more pleased to work with very successful alumni in the M&A industry covering the gaming industry."
Prior to joining the MFE, Aman worked as a risk analyst in the fixed income division of emerging markets at Credit Suisse in Mumbai after graduating with a degree in Mathematics from IIT Guwahti. During his undergraduate years, he also worked on revising the book Principles of Financial Engineering by Salih Neftci at Imperial College London.
For his part, Arsh worked for over three years in developing equity, currency, ETFs and futures trading strategies as a quantitative researcher at WorldQuant Research India. Prior to that, he completed his Integrated M.Tech. in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Delhi. He was also granted two patents by USPTO for his research work in his undergraduate internship with Adobe Systems, India.
After gaining some experience in the field, both students began looking for a program that would provide a solid academic curriculum along with the practical knowledge of the industry to build on their strong interest in quantitative finance and technology. According to them, the MFE gives students an opportunity to gain practical insight into the financial world through working directly with industry professionals.
“This diverse learning environment has proven to be very unique and intellectually stimulating,” said Arsh, who is currently interning as a Quantitative Research Analyst at Citadel LLC in Chicago, while Aman works for the Capital Measurement and Analysis team at Goldman Sachs in New York. Arsh and Aman laud the dedication of the career services team in the MFE in regards to the placement of students in internships, a major point of attraction for applicants and the students. MFE students get the support to take their career to the next level, making the Berkeley MFE the pioneer choice for quantitative finance graduate aspirants.
Learn more about the Berkeley MFE Program and how we can help you launch your career by going to our website or by joining an information session.
