Stifel CEO Ron Kruszewski Meets with Chaifetz School Finance Students
A select group of the Chaifetz School's top finance students grew their networks and gained valuable industry insights last week when they met with Ron Kruszewski, Chairman and CEO of Stifel Financial Corporation, one of the nation’s leading wealth management and investment banking firms. Kruszewski was on campus to deliver the keynote address at the first Edward Jones Dean’s Speaker Series event of 2022-2023.
Kruszewski’s remarks to the more than 200 students, alumni and local business leaders who gathered for the Dean's Speaker Series event focused on how organizations can build talented teams and seize opportunities in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. He stressed the importance of limiting bureaucracy in organizations and the need for leaders at all levels, including chief executives like himself, not to take themselves too seriously as key for building dynamic organizations in today’s fast-moving and competitive marketplace.
Following the address to a full auditorium, Kruszewski spoke to students in the School’s Applied Portfolio Management (APM) course, took questions and shared his advice for the young professionals as they start their careers. The Chaifetz School’s Applied Portfolio Management course provides upper-level finance students hands-on experience conducting equity research and directly managing a nearly $2 million portfolio of university endowment funds. Students in the course are also paired with current finance industry professionals from the St. Louis area who mentor students in their equity research and share insights into best practices currently being employed in the field.
Kruszewski encouraged students to be smart, ask questions and have fun and success would follow.
“We were delighted that the Edward Jones Dean’s Speaker Series allowed our students to connect with the CEO of one of St. Louis' and the country’s premier financial institutions,” said Naresh Bansal, Ph.D., professor and chair in the Chaifetz School’s Department of Finance. “These events are invaluable in ensuring our students learn the skills needed to be successful in the finance profession.”
Vrisha Jagdish, a senior studying finance from Wildwood, Mo. was one of the APM students who got to meet with the Stifel CEO as part of the event. She has already accepted an offer to intern with the firm as a Summer Investment Banking Analyst in 2023 at Stifel’s Baltimore office.
Along with the experiential learning from my coursework and internships, opportunities like this to connect with some of the biggest leaders in business have been a springboard for me as a young professional. It was great to hear advice from such an accomplished finance industry CEO.
Vrisha Jagdish, finance '23
“Along with the experiential learning from my coursework and internships, opportunities like this to connect with some of the biggest leaders in business have been a springboard for me as a young professional,” said Jagdish. “It was great to hear advice from such an accomplished finance industry CEO.”
Kruszewski joined Stifel as Chief Executive Officer in 1997 and was named Chairman in 2001. Under his leadership over the last 25 years, the firm has grown from $102 million to $4.7 billion in revenue, and from $35 million to, recently, approximately $7.3 billion in market capitalization.
The Edward Jones Dean's Speaker Series brings together more than 1,200 area business leaders, policymakers, academics and students annually to discuss leading issues facing business in the 21st century. The next event, “Bringing MLS to the Lou,” will be held Oct. 6 and will feature Carolyn Kindle, President and CEO of St. Louis CITY SC.
Founded in 1910, the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business at Saint Louis University has shaped the future of industry for more than a century. As one of the oldest business schools west of the Mississippi, the Chaifetz School has built a reputation as a leader in business education committed to innovation, inclusion and impact and recognized with eight undergraduate and graduate programs nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report.