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A passion for people drives this finance professional

November 1, 2017

Julie HeIt’ s 5 pm on a typical Wednesday and Julie He (MFin ’18) is in a hurry.

It’s been a long day for He, who is a Director of Global Structured Products at BMO Capital Markets. Since arriving at the office at 7:30 am, she’s been on the go: meeting with clients, pitching new product ideas and helping her boss develop a new investment strategy.

Her day isn’t over just yet. In a few minutes, she’ll jump into a cab to make it to her evening class on financial securities, a requirement for the Master of Finance program that she is currently pursuing at Rotman.


“I was looking for the best education in finance and that’s exactly what I’m getting.”

—Julie He (MFin ’18), Director with BMO Capital Markets


It’s nothing out of the ordinary for He. For 20 months, she and her fellow classmates are committed to spending almost every Wednesday evening and most of their Saturdays at the Rotman School. Each week, these students tackle complex topics in finance, including portfolio management, advanced accounting and risk management, with guidance from top-ranked faculty.

“It’s a lot of work,” says He. “The program is much more intensive and rigorous than I expected, but that’s good. I didn’t necessarily want an easy experience. I was looking for the best education in finance and that’s exactly what I’m getting.”

Taking finance to the next level

In a lot of ways, working in finance is a natural fit for He.

Since her days as an undergraduate student at U of T, she was naturally drawn to extracurricular activities and part-time work that involved relationship-building and fundraising.

“I’ve always loved getting to know people, understanding what they needed and finding innovative ways to help. Naturally, my current role in sales and trading is perfect for me,” she explains.

“Every day, I bring it all together for my clients: I use my technical knowledge to create custom investments that they otherwise would not have access to.”


“The experiences and perspectives that people bring to the table are what makes the classes so interesting.”

—Julie He (MFin ’18), Director with BMO Capital Markets


It was He’s strong people skills and passion for problem-solving that helped her land her first job in finance — a sales position where she was responsible for marketing equity, fixed-income, currency and commodity solutions to portfolio managers and high net-worth investors.

After years in this role and after successfully attaining her CFA charter, she was still looking for a more comprehensive foundation in finance.

“The CFA curriculum gave me a strong grasp of how the financial markets operate, but I wanted to learn more about analytical tools and risk management so that I could engage in better discussions with clients,” she says. “This learning will be a value-add to my career at the bank.”

Joining the Rotman network

Not surprisingly, for He, connecting to new people has been a major perk of the MFin program. Given the fast pace of the program, the class is constantly sending out reminders or answering questions through group chats and emails.

“Everyone has been extremely hardworking, dedicated and brilliant,” says He. “We’ve really started relying on each other to get through the material and understand the concepts.”

Because many of her classmates come from all areas of finance — from day-trading to credit and risk analysis to buy-side services — and have professional experience working in other industries and countries, she is learning a lot about different approaches to tackling finance issues.

“It’s not just about finance. The experiences and perspectives that people bring to the table are what makes the classes so interesting.”


Written by Rebecca Cheung | More Student Stories »


About
Julie He

Class year

MFin ’18


Hometown

Born in Hunan Province, China;
raised in Toronto.


Industry

Finance


Current job title

Director
Global Structured Products
BMO Capital Markets
Toronto, ON


Previous employment

Vice President
Financial Products
BMO Capital Markets
Toronto, ON

Associate
BMO Capital Markets
BMO Capital Markets
Toronto, ON


Previous education

Honours Bachelor of Science
University of Toronto


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