The Motivation to Study Finances at the University of Miami

My name is Keith Boone and I’m currently an 401k Pricing Analyst for Great-West Financial in Denver, CO. I have a degree in Finance from VCU with 4 years experience in Finance and Accounting and I’m looking to expand my knowledge base in Finance because my true ambition is to become a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Market Technician (CMT) and I believe by gaining my Masters degree from the University of Miami will prepare me on my quest to gain those designations. The aim for this supplemental essay is to reveal where is my academic passion and why I want to become a part of the University of Miami. I’m constantly trying to keep up to date with the various trends of different markets in order to formulate my own opinion of how they may change in the near future. My interests do not only lie in the stock market, they lie substantially in the business world itself; more specifically how problems are presented and overcome and the stages in which this is achieved. I thrive on being able to solve problems independently or within a group with minor guidance and wish to develop these skills throughout my studies in higher education.

I believe the University of Miami is an ideal fit for my ambitions because of the overall academic excellence, emphasis on Investment Analysis, and exposure to the Financial Industry through top professors will provide a great. I know I belong in this program as I bring along a strong background in a number of fields within Finance and Accounting and I’m very comfortable in Excel, as I’m in the process of developing my Microsoft VBA knowledge. The inventiveness and uniqueness of the program has impressed me. With this being an online program I was also drawn to Miami because of its emphasis on teamwork and the flexibility of the program which allows me to focus on 1 class at a time. After a long search I believe I’ve found the school for me and I know the program will provide the opportunities to gain the knowledge needed for my future growth. I like the large alumni network and how once you join the Cane family, even online, you’re a Can for life. Lastly, the quality of professor and the availability of the professor truly sold me on the program.

While completing my Undergraduate Degree at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) I was an Analyst on the Student Managed Portfolio at VCU which allowed students to learn about the markets and invest a small portion of VCU Endowment to generate a return. During my 2 years in the program I moved to a Senior Analyst role where I was responsible for 2 Junior Analyst as we covered Consumer Staples and Consumer Discretionary sectors. This was something that I felt would help me better understand investment in real markets and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Because of my love of the markets and being exposed to candle sticks charts by the Head Professor of the Portfolio group I taught myself technical analysis and how to read candlesticks, which overlays are best, and technical indicators to help determine short time pricing directions, etc. In my senior year I started trading options I learned how to value option contracts and I was able to generate some small returns by index trading using chart analysis. I’m also interested in possibility pursing the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation because of the importance I feel technical analysis give you when analyzing individual investments. Also, within this program I got exposed to the Wall Street Journal, and the Economist and to this day I still have subscriptions to both services. I also like to stay update by listening to Bloomberg Finance Podcast and TV shows. I love staying up to date on what is going on across all markets.

After graduating from VCU, I was recruited to Lowe’s Inc. Headquarters in Charlotte, NC to be a part of their 2015 Finance and Accounting Rotation. This probably allow recent graduates to get exposure to different departments within the organization over a two year period. Because of the Lowe’s Finance and Accounting Rotation Program, I got exposure to a lot of different areas of the business within the rotations and through this experience I was really able to learn the ins and outs of a Fortune 50 company at an very important time in my career. Seeing different roles and how they play a part in a company’s operations is something that I use to this day when looking at businesses to invest in. Through this program I was given the opportunity to work on a diverse range of projects and was able to constantly interaction with higher management doing my time in the program at Lowe’s.

Overall, it was my time at Children’s Hospital of Colorado working as an Financial Analyst in the Clinical Research Division, that I saw the importance of specialization and how if you have the required knowledge base you can define yourself as an Subject Matter Experience. Because I handle the business for the Cardiology Department and Determatolgy. This exposed me to some really smart people who decided to dedicate their lives to a particular part of the body and they were perfectly find with just knowing the what they concentrated in. This stood out to me because while at Lowe’s you would see that almost everyone one had a MBA, but at least in that world, nobody had a Masters in Finance or a CFA and that meant to me that I could be doing FP&A or some other type of Corporate Finance role and that in my heart didn’t interest me.

This bring me to my current position as a 401k Pricing Analyst and Great-West Financial, during my time at Children’s Hospital of Colorado, I really wanted to get back into the Financial and this role allows me to do that and I know that bring in this role will assist my learning curve as I complete my Master’s in Finance and will help my even more once I combo the day to day expensive with the excellent education I will be receiving at the University of Miami.

I have a strong passion for Finance and I enjoy the challenge of studying Finance. I love that I’m able to apply mathematical skills to solving real life problems and I know the University of Miami will allow me to research my first goal once I get complete the program or getting an Research Analyst position in Fixed Income, Currencies, or Equities as I work my way to becoming a Portfolio Manager as time progresses.