Security Traders Association - Panelist

Hilton Hotel, Chicago

In February 2025, I was invited to speak as a student panelist at the Security Traders Association of Chicago’s 99th Mid-Winter Meeting - one of the longest-running and most respected trading conferences in the country. It draws hundreds of professionals from firms across trading, asset management, and financial tech.

Our group was the first set of students ever invited to speak on stage in the event’s 99-year history. The invitation followed a visit by STAC leadership to the Portfolio Management Team (PMT) at UIC, where I served as Vice President. PMT is UIC’s primary student investment organization. We are known for bringing professionals to our meetings, running research-driven pitches, and helping students get real exposure to finance careers. I’d like to say that our level of prep, insight, and professionalism they saw led directly to our panel.

During the panel, I spoke about how AI and machine learning are making technical tools more accessible to early-career talent, and how that puts a premium on soft skills, judgment, and context. I described how AI is quickly becoming the new calculator - something you’ll be expected to use fluently - and pointed out that, ironically, a lot of professors are still trying to ban it in class. Which I suppose is due if a tool suddenly nullifies decades of practice and academic value.

I also shared what I’ve gained from STAC’s Young Professionals group, which has helped me connect across schools, really sharpen my networking skills, and figure out what actually fits me professionally (by finding out what doesn’t). I genuinely believe the new program from the association has an incredible amount of potential and value.

Before the panel, we talked a lot about how we actually wanted it to go. We knew we weren’t going to teach a bunch of professionals anything nuanced about trading, and trying to force it would’ve come off wrong. So instead, we focused on what we could offer - a real perspective on how students see the space, what we’re paying attention to, and what we think matters. In essence, if the Robinhood guy was in the room we wanted to make sure we had something relevant for him (and presumably for other senior professionals). We also didn’t want it to feel scripted. Most panels already sound too polished and just become background noise, and especially from lots of experience at PMT, I know the second people start checking their phones, it’s over, so the half hour panel was all extemporaneous.

This was also my first time speaking in front of a crowd of senior professionals, as opposed to a room full of students, it was a great opportunity to push a new boundary for me. The panel ended up being one of the most attended at the conference, and it made the rest of the event smoother. At afterparties there were few cold intros. Overall, I had a great time and this opportunity has most certainly been one of the more meaningful moments so far in my career.