Justin, an International Student of FISF EMF Program: Top Science Student from Oxford University Transferring to Finance, Devoted to the Trend of Financial Digitalization

Release time：2021-11-23    

Justin Wu, graduating with an honorary degree in Engineering Science from Oxford University, designed a head-mounted VR device based on his interest in “playing tennis and games”, which started his new journey of transferring to finance.

Today, let’s get to know Justin.

Top science student from Oxford University transferring to finance out of personal interest

In 2015, Justin graduated from a senior high school in the US and began attending Oxford University. Because of a childhood spent loving mechanics, he chose to major in engineering science. Compared to other schools, Oxford University has a wider scope of engineering science.  His first two years covered all the engineering-related fields including maths, civil engineering, information engineering and biological engineering, etc, and during the last two years he studied biomedicine, information and mechanics.

Although most time is spent on studying, Justin also plays tennis and games with friends in his spare time. As a hard-core science geek with such hobbies, he once cooperated with his friends and designed a head-mounted VR device specially used for the broadcast of sports events. The device applies the feature extraction and decision inference technology latest at that time, achieving a virtual reality effect by offering the feeling of personally being on the scene. In this program, Justin led his team to overcome technical challenges and analyzed its market potential by exploring its financial feasibility from various aspects like market size estimation, competitive product analysis and internal rate of return. It was also at this moment that Justin found better technologies and products allowing him to depend more on the driving force of finance. As a result, an inner interest in finance started to take root in his mind. However, what actually pushed him to make the final decision to develop in the financial field was an internship during his third year in college.

In his junior year, Justin took an internship at Capital Today (Shanghai). At that time, the company was considering an investment in an e-sports hardware brand, which led to their search for an employee with a good understanding of the e-sports market to conduct research and investigation. Thanks to his long interest in the e-sports industry as well as his experience of the previous VR program, Justin managed to take charge of the research and investigation program. With the support of a financial expert, he analyzed the market segments, competitors, product advantages and growth space and composed an investment proposal. Through this program, Justin acquired a deeper understanding of finance, “Finance is quite inclusive, and always focusing on the forefront. It can also integrate with science-related fields that I like, such as data analysis and physical modeling. This allows me to still do what I’m interested in.”

From then on, he set a new goal to transfer to finance. But how to plan out the path to was a key problem that Justin needed to solve first.

The Transferring plan of a High-Achieving Student: Step by Step and Continuous Learning

To realize his financial dream, Justin decided to go “step by step” in his transfer to finance, with the first step of conducting data analysis in the financial industry: taking data analysis positions successively in AMUNDI in Boston and Bloomberg in Princeton.

“How to evaluate investment risks systematically with data?”

“How to find optimizable data types among massive search information?”

“How to predict errors possibly existing in the data through statistical analysis? And how to correct them before being identified by customers?”

These are the problems Justin faced in his daily work. To deal with them faster and better, he looked for answers in his own way that his academic experience had taught him through systematic courses. What came to his mind was the online courses of first-rate universities: within one year he completed the “data and modeling” courses online at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

During his work in Bloomberg, the COVID-19 epidemic broke out globally and epidemic prevention and control had become a common phenomenon. Justin kept paying attention to China’s development. He once led and initiated a data service program related to the COVID-19 virus. In his lasting concern and digital interpretation about epidemic situations and medical care in different parts of the world, Justin spotted the stability of China and subsequent opportunities. “With the further reform and opening-up of its financial industry, China will embrace a largely changed financial environment. This will lead China to become a true global hotspot of international capital and promote further economic growth. Shanghai is the financial center in China. I wish I could seize the opportunity and return to Shanghai to achieve my financial dream.”

Consolidating the Foundation for Transferring by Choosing the FISF EMF Program

“In my previous internships and jobs, I realize that to make a comprehensive transfer to finance, I needed to build a complete financial knowledge framework and systematic theoretical basis. A good course program could help smooth the transition.” Justin started to look for a program that fit his needs. After some exploration, he finally chose FISF EMF Program.

“The first reason that I choose FISF EMF Program is the brand of Fudan University. With a good reputation and alumnus network, Fudan University is one of the most prestigious and respectable universities in China. I believe in the financial field these factors are as significant as solid financial knowledge. It can be of great help in finding a job in Shanghai. Besides, my mother is a graduate of Fudan University, resulting in my “Fudan complex” since childhood.”

“The second reason is that EMF courses have a rigorous curriculum system, reputable professors and excellent students. Knowledge in certain fields can be acquired through self-study and training at work. But I always hold that learning systematic courses will develop systematic thinking. Learning finance systematically can help me get an overall understanding of financial theories in various fields, and it also enables me to know more about domestic financial practices in China so that I can achieve my goal of finding a job in Shanghai.”

“The third reason is the professional development service of EMF Program and the responsible attitude of teachers towards students. I also got in touch with offers of other programs in the past. But the professional development service of EMF was the most impressive. Although all the programs claim to offer one-on-one consultancy and planning of professional development, only teachers at EMF have a firm grasp of the backgrounds of each student and their career development after graduation. This gives me a feeling that all the staff at the program are responsible for students, and makes me confident in transferring to finance in the future.”

Last words 

In September 2021, Justin became a member of 2021 FISF EMF. Together with other students, they have taken a big stride toward their financial dreams.

Apart from students from domestic (mainland) universities, 25% of the students in Justin’s class are from universities abroad or in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, including Oxford University, the National University of Singapore, the University of Hong Kong and other world-renowned universities. While studying together, they also share an international perspective and a Chinese perspective unique to EMF. Justin and all his 2021 EMF fellow students expect more excellent students to join them and become a member of FISF EMF.