Roman Burgess’11 has already achieved a great deal during his eight-year career in finance. After graduating from Saint Mary’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce, where he was awarded the Governor General’s Silver Medal (an award to an undergraduate student who graduates with the highest overall GPA across all disciplines), he took an Investment Banking Analyst position at BMO Capital Markets and then PSP Investments – one of Canada’s largest pension funds.
Grammar was where Roman gained discipline and genuine love for learning which gave him a clear head start. He credits Grammar for providing him with a balanced education which gave him a strong foundation to build upon in his undergrad. Grammar’s strong French program led to his decision to continue his French studies through his undergrad. “I didn’t plan on it at the onset, but that minor was critical to landing my investment banking role in Montreal. When you’re creating presentations for public-company CEOs or heads of multi-billion investment funds, the stakes go up and unequivocally knowing what’s correct or incorrect matters.”
Understanding what it means to give back, Roman launched Bridge to Capital Markets (BCM), which he describes as a non-profit organization to help top students from “non-target” undergraduate schools obtain careers in capital markets and asset management.
Roman is now pursuing an MBA at Wharton to further broaden his perspective and establish a more global network. “It’s still early days, but I feel like I’ve already got a better understanding of what it means to be a global citizen.”