BAM makes a bang teaching students about the finance sector
By: Namish Modi (he/him)
New York-based Balyasny Asset Management (BAM) engaged with University of Waterloo co-op students at a fireside chat recently.
On May 24, at the University of Waterloo’s William G Davis Computer Research Centre, BAM hosted a fireside chat with one of their leaders in technology followed by a “Bubble Tea with BAM” networking session. The event gave 50 students, most of whom identify as women, the opportunity to learn about the financial sector from BAM executives and tech academy associates.
Hannah Dinardo, head of campus recruiting at BAM, speaks to the attendees of the fireside chat on May 24, 2023 in the Davis Centre.
BAM is an institutional investment firm with 15 offices globally, including offices in New York, London and Chicago. The company, which has been hiring Waterloo co-op students since 2019, has a new office in Toronto opening soon and wanted to celebrate by connecting with Waterloo students. BAM is a strong proponent of supporting underrepresented groups, like women in the technology field, and recently donated to Waterloo’s Women in Computer Science (WiCS).
“BAM is another amazing Waterloo co-op employer that is looking to support our students through continued partnerships with the University,” says Ross Johnston, executive director of Co-operative Education at Waterloo. “BAM is complementing its co-op hiring by continuing to form strong bonds with Waterloo and its students.
“BAM is always about having different perspectives, lenses, and ideas to develop new ways of thinking and doing things,” says Hannah Dinardo (she/her), head of campus recruiting at BAM. “Having individuals from diverse backgrounds brings a more diverse way of thinking and solving problems and makes us even stronger as a team.”
Dinardo is impressed with the University of Waterloo campus and its focus on Co-operative and Experiential Education. The company hires several co-op students each term and a number of their full-time members are Waterloo alumni.
Waterloo students are differentiated by having strong intangible and tangible skills. On the tangible side, they are professional and polished. Waterloo is one of our strongest university partners, and the talent that comes in fits well with our collaborative, team-oriented culture.
According to Dinardo, BAM is growing and is on the look-out for emerging talent, like Waterloo co-op students, to contribute to the company’s growth.
Double love for BAM
Het Shah (he/him), a third-year Software Engineering co-op student, talked about his positive experience working at BAM’s New York office in winter 2023. Shah worked as a software engineer for the systematic macro team. After a great experience, he will return to work at BAM for the Fall 2023 work term.
Shah appreciated the unique opportunity BAM provided him to work as an engineer in the financial field. Utilizing his prior experience and education, Shah helped BAM build software systems that will help the organization make important financial decisions.
Shah’s previous roles at Tesla, Huawei, Geotab and the Ontario Ministry of Education, gave him experience in software development, testing and quality assurance. At BAM, his strong background makes him an asset in a financial role as part of an interdisciplinary team and the opportunity to work with programming languages like Python and C++.
“I think the biggest thing was just being able to experience this new industry,” says Shah. Working in finance as an engineer is something he’s always wanted to do and having the opportunity to work at BAM has helped pave the way for his future career after graduation.
BAM expands to Canada
With the opening of BAM’s office in Toronto, Dinardo hopes to attract more students like Shah to work with the organization. According to Dinardo, BAM is focusing on continuing to build a strong relationship with the University of Waterloo and sees this as a valuable partnership.
“We want people to know BAM is an incredible place to work. It has a strong culture that attracts a lot of people in the recruitment process and is the reason why individuals choose to stay and grow their careers here. And the Toronto office is no different from that,” says Dinardo.
“The team we have leading the Toronto office are inspiring, empowering and creating a great work environment. There are a lot of exciting initiatives within tech and data happening here in Toronto. We’re excited to be part of it and to have access to the next wave of innovators in the world of finance.”
The Toronto office will be a hub for BAM’s technology and data teams. This fall, BAM is in the process of hiring co-op students to help make their Toronto opening as successful as possible.
Executives from BAM visited CEE staff members at Waterloo's co-op hub, Tatham Centre, in November 2022.
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