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Thursday, April 28, 2022

A Lifetime Mentor in the Making

Established in 2003, the SAF Fellowship Program has proven to be a game-changer for all parties involved. The program invites SAF alumni and students to participate in a rewarding four-year relationship to develop future leaders. Selected AFM and SFM students are provided with opportunities for professional development, relevant work experience, and the added benefit of financial support.

A significant and increasing number of North American organizations use tangible rewards to motivate their employees. Despite the widespread use of tangible rewards, there is limited understanding as to what makes them effective.

When Pratik Shah (MAcc ’09) came across the CFO role for the neo-biotech company Cyclica on a MaRS job board, it took him right back to his undergrad at the University of Waterloo. As a Biotech/CPA student, his long-term career goal was to work for high-growth startups making a social impact. Better yet, Shah wanted to leverage his scientific background, which aligned well with Cyclica’s bold mission to build the biotech pipeline of the future.

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

The Student Venture Fund Journey

University of Waterloo students are known to be an ambitious bunch, always looking for ways to advance their experiences and knowledge to gain a step ahead in the real world. The same can be said for School of Accounting and Finance (SAF) students, who can meet their ambitious goals by getting involved with the Student Venture Fund (SVF).

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

The False Promise of ESG

Millions of investors and countless fund managers direct their investments to companies that are highly-rated on the basis of their environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) activities in an attempt to do good. The claim by ESG advocates, pundits, and many academics that highly-rated ESG companies and funds also deliver superior returns bolsters this move: Doing better by doing good. The best of all worlds.

But do ESG ratings really deliver on the promise? Are highly-ranked ESG businesses really more caring of the environment, more selective of the societies in which they operate, and more focused on countries with good corporate governance? In short, is ESG really good? The answer is no.

The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #BreakTheBias, calling people to imagine a gender-equal world free of stereotypes, bias and discrimination. This is also a day to recognize and celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

It doesn’t take long to realize that for alum, Jonathan Yu (MAcc ’07, CPA), people and talent are the most important assets for his work with RBC. The innovative nature and authentic work in equity, diversity and inclusion at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) have made the last 12 years for Yu exciting and fresh. Yu returned to the Waterloo campus to chat with SAF about his career path and passion for helping RBC further its diversity and inclusion goals.