Posted on May 10, 2017 by Joanna Carver
When Roberto Talamas graduates this week with a bachelor’s degree in statistics, he leaves knowing he has done all he could to prepare himself for a career in quantitative finance.
“After a course with Joseph Campbell, I chose to major in statistics,” he said. “It focuses on applied learning and provided me with tools and techniques that were critical in finance.”
Born in El Paso, Talamas lived 17 years in Mexico before returning to the United States to complete high school.
With a passion for investments and the stock market, a friend invited him to join the Investment Society, a student organization that educates members about the financial industry, financial analysis and the economy.
“The Investment Society gave me the exposure I needed in finance,” said Talamas. “It was a platform for learning outside of finance classes.”
He rose through the ranks in various positions and served this year as the society’s president. During his tenure, he worked to develop educational classes for the newer members and increase the marketing for the student organization.
“The society can be intimidating for new members,” said Talamas. “So we began offering classes for students in Excel, Bloomberg and wealth management to provide the students with a strong background and enhance their learning experience.”
Following the path of past society members, Talamas secured an internship in New York City with BlackRock last summer. Based on his performance, he was offered a position as a risk and quantitative analyst with BlackRock in San Francisco.
“We are the watchdogs who monitor the portfolios and perform the risk analysis,” said Talamas. “We look at patterns and develop strategies that the portfolio managers follow.”
Given a choice to work on Wall Street or California, Talamas chose San Francisco to be a part of Silicon Valley. “Most of the conversations now revolve around data science and machine learning,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working in an environment that is technologically focused.
“I’ve had great opportunities at UTSA,” said Talamas. “The university has provided me with the resources to go anywhere.”
Wendy Frost—
Please send your comments to: wendy.frost@utsa.edu
— Joanna Carver
