Mike Gandy (Sr. Mentor)
I’m pleased to be involved with Pro-Forma Futures to share my 25+ years background with those who can benefit from a diverse financial background.
I initially started my career working for a small CPA firm doing both tax and audit services, and became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in California. After leaving public accounting, I worked in the operations team for two large asset managers in California (Capital Group, parent company of the American Funds), and New York (Goldman Sachs Asset Management). I’ve worked for a small Registered Investment Advisors, and a boutique Asset Manager doing institutional sales. I’ve worked at BNY Mellon in San Francisco and London in the beta and transition management team providing services to institutional clients, foundations/endowments and sovereign wealth funds. I had a great experience working for the world’s largest index provider, MSCI, in their wealth advisory team in San Francisco, then spent time as an ETF Specialist at VanEck in a sales capacity across the Western United States focused on the wirehouse, regional and independent broker/dealer channel.
For my undergraduate studies, I attended the University of Southern California (USC) and earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in both Accountancy and Business Administration, and earned my MBA at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
In my career, I’ve always embraced ways to provide support to those who can benefit from my experience and background. I’ve had the good fortune of participating on the Board of Directors for the CFA Society of San Francisco, as well as for the Bay Area Financial Education Foundation. I’m a believer in ‘paying it forward’.
If I can provide assistance, please reach out to proformafutures@gmail.com and the team will coordinate a call.
Giovanni Petronelli
Hi, my name is Giovanni Petronelli and I am an Intermediary Sales Consultant at T. Rowe Price. Starting my tenure at T. Rowe as a summer intern in 2017, I returned to work full time after graduating from the University of Georgia with degrees in Finance, Risk Management, and International Business. Eager to return to my hometown of Baltimore and work for a global asset manager with a broad investment solution offering, T. Rowe Price was the perfect fit for me. Everyday I have the pleasure to work with Defined Contribution plan consultants to help them grow their businesses through partnerships ingrained beyond investments. I understand the competitive landscape of breaking into finance & I am happy to offer advice or my experience as I navigated the recruitment process.
William Schoenecker
My name is William Schoenecker and I am excited to talk to you and offer whatever guidance you may seek. My professional areas of passion are entrepreneurship, real estate, fintech, wealth management, cryptocurrency, and private equity. I’d love to help you decide which aspect of finance is right for you. I would be happy to give an in-depth guide on any of these topics and answer your questions about finance in general. Let me know how I can help you and I’ll give it my best!
Ben Smith
My name is Ben Smith and I am currently an Investment Associate at Access Industries, having previously worked as a Senior Investment Analyst at Spider Management Company. I graduated from the University of Richmond in 2020, with a BA in Business Administration and concentrations in Economics and Finance. While it might be difficult to access out of college, a career in Investment Management offers you the unique opportunity to jump right into a ‘Buy-Side’ role and take on significant responsibility investing large pools of capital to support meaningful causes. I’d be more than happy to talk to you about my work experiences, or even the CFA program if that is something you are considering. Don’t be a stranger!
Pjay Togunde
Hi there! I’m Pjay Togunde. I am a business strategist in the Athletes & Entertainers client segment at UBS Wealth Management, based in the New York City area. Prior this role, I was a wealth management rotational analyst. I am from Atlanta, GA and I graduated from the University of Richmond in 2019 with a Business Administration degree, with concentrations in economics and finance. I decided to pursue wealth management because I found it to be a perfect combination of two of my passions: financial management and helping people. For those who are thinking about wealth management but don’t know much about it and want to learn more, I would be more than happy to talk to you about the type of work, roles and career opportunities available, along with how to prepare for interviews. Additionally, as a woman and a minority, I understand the challenges underrepresented students can face with breaking into the finance industry, so I would love to be a resource and mentor for those who need support or guidance.