
If you ask me what is the most awesome activity in Boston in regards to academics, my answer is definitely networking events and professional conferences. Boston is home to many institutions of higher education like MIT, Harvard, and Boston College. Every year an increasing number of elite specialists in different industries from all over the world come to Boston for specific events.
Last Friday, as a finance major, it was an honor to attend the eighth annual MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference. The distinguished keynote speakers and expert panelists shared their views on key trends and future developments in their asset classes and investment processes. Not only did I learn from the keynotes speaker’s presentation, but I also had an opportunity to talk to the CEO co-founder of some finance service companies.
The conference started at 9 a.m. with a nice breakfast, during which I got to know other attendees. I had a great conversation with the woman sitting next to me whose name was Xiaoxiao Wang. I later found out she was the vice president of MSCI. I introduced myself then asked her a lot of questions about her work, her company, and things related to my future job. She was really nice and told me that MSCI is an international company that has an office in China. I was so happy to hear about that, and then I asked more details about the latest Chinese Financial market trends.
Last Friday, as a finance major, it was an honor to attend the eighth annual MIT Sloan Investment Management Conference. The distinguished keynote speakers and expert panelists shared their views on key trends and future developments in their asset classes and investment processes. Not only did I learn from the keynotes speaker’s presentation, but I also had an opportunity to talk to the CEO co-founder of some finance service companies.
The conference started at 9 a.m. with a nice breakfast, during which I got to know other attendees. I had a great conversation with the woman sitting next to me whose name was Xiaoxiao Wang. I later found out she was the vice president of MSCI. I introduced myself then asked her a lot of questions about her work, her company, and things related to my future job. She was really nice and told me that MSCI is an international company that has an office in China. I was so happy to hear about that, and then I asked more details about the latest Chinese Financial market trends.

One of the more exciting guest speakers was Andrew Lo. He is the Charles E. and Susan T. Harris Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. According to the host’s introduction, he was one of the most popular professors in the MIT Sloan School of Management. He was so good that MIT students would stand in the walkway, between seats, and even out the front door in order to listen to his lectures. The number of students in his classes usually totaled more than 200 students! It was so exciting to learn from his lecture that day. His topic was Using Financial Engineering to find a cure for one of the most deadliest and widespread disease - Cancer. Using a business plan combined with biotechnology, professor Lo believed that we could create a $30B “Cure For Cancer” mega fund and an advisory board of experts. If 10MM households invested $3000 each, involving pension funds, foundations, endowments, and insurance company investments, it would be possible to completely solve cancer in the next 10 to 20 years. There would be no more deaths due to cancer. After his presentation, I felt for the first time that I could use finance to do meaningful and life-changing things for our society.
I talked to Lo afterward and asked him some questions about wealth management in relation to my current internship. He not only explained it to me but also gave me his email in case I wanted to discuss further questions with him.
I talked to Lo afterward and asked him some questions about wealth management in relation to my current internship. He not only explained it to me but also gave me his email in case I wanted to discuss further questions with him.