FinPolicy Trek 2023

On Monday, the cohort kicked-off the FinPolicy Trek by departing campus and heading to the U.S. Department of Treasury. After clearing security, the group visited one of the media rooms. During their two-hour visit to the Treasury, the students heard from and spoke with senior leadership in the Office of Economic Policy, the Office of Legislative Affairs, and the Office of Domestic Finance. Students were able to discuss the debt limit, the price cap on Russian oil, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), the banking sector and recent bank failures, interest rates, the bond market, and government service.

After leaving the U.S. Treasury Department, the group kept with the theme of the first Treasury Secretary and went to The Hamilton restaurant for lunch.

In the afternoon, the group visited the U.S. Commerce Department to hear from senior leaders, including the International Trade Administration. Topics discussed included the broad role of the business sector that the U.S. Commerce Department oversees, the implementation of the CHIPS and Science Act, international trade, as well as career advice for the students.

Finishing off the jam-packed first day of the FinPolicy Trek, the group had dinner at the historic Bombay Club, where they were able to meet with Washington office representatives of major financial firms such as Morgan Stanley, the London Stock Exchange Group, and JP Morgan Chase. This dinner allowed students to gain a deeper understanding of how policy and markets meet, as well as receive more insightful career advice.

The second day of the D.C. portion of the FinPolicy Trek began at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). At the CFTC, students met with the top leadership and they received a deeper understanding of the CFTC and insights into the work they do.

At the CFTC, the Psaros FinPolicy Trek Scholars were able to discuss regulation of derivatives markets and its importance to the financial system as a mechanism to manage risk. Additionally, the cohort was able to learn how the CFTC’s scope has evolved primarily from agriculture markets to modern assets such as digital currencies.

Following a lunch break at Union Station, students arrived at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) where they were able to continue to learn about financial services regulation.

At the SEC, the cohort again met with senior leaders of this regulatory agency. These leaders provided students an understanding of the creation and background of the SEC and explained how the SEC operates today. They were able to discuss a wide variety of topics and students asked questions surrounding the SEC’s role in the regulatory system.

To wrap-up the public policy portion of the Trek, the group traveled to the U.S. Capitol to hear directly from lawmakers. Minority Leader (and Hoya) Hakeem Jeffries (MPP’94) hosted the group with a room in the Capitol building. U.S. Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) came by and had a great discussion with the students. Rep. Sessions has served in Congress since 1997 and has been Chair of the powerful House Rules Committee, as well as served as a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Sessions and his staff gave the students an insightful overview of recent and current policy issues, and stayed to answer a number of questions from the Psaros FinPolicy Trek Scholars.

U.S. Representative Jim Himes (D-CT) came by and met with the group, which included some of his constituents. Rep. Himes, a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee as well as the House Financial Services Committee, was able to also give a broad and insightful perspective of current issues of the day, especially relating to the economy and financial markets.

A fellow Hoya, U.S. Representative Steny Hoyer (L’66), also stopped in to meet with the students. Rep. Hoyer spoke about his experiences at Georgetown, as well as the current policy issues of the day. As you can imagine, the debt limit and the economy were top items of conversation.

All three Members of Congress who spoke with the students were gracious with their time and answered a great number of questions from the group.

By midday on Wednesday, the public policy portion of the Trek was complete and the group departed Capitol Hill for Union Station to catch their Amtrak train bound for New York City. In New York, the group took the subway down to the Financial District where they checked into the Club Quarters Hotel near the World Trade Center.

After having some time to catch up on rest, the cohort prepared to explore the private sector, departing for Morgan Stanley after breakfast. Upon arrival at Morgan Stanley, the cohort was able to have a sit-down conversation that covered numerous topics including the impacts of a potential failure to raise the debt ceiling, ESG investing, and potential future alternatives to the dollar.

Following a lunch break, the cohort next headed over to Neuberger Berman for talks with top leadership. Students received a great overview of how Neuberger Berman operates and how they rely on their research and data science teams. Additionally, they discussed ESG-related issues and the markets.

Following the discussion at Neuberger Berman, the cohort departed for an event with Nuveen Churchill Asset Management. The students were able to listen to a moderated discussion and ask questions about the rise of private credit, the job market in private credit, and the skills required to succeed in the industry. Following the reception, the cohort returned to the hotel, which concluded the first day of the New York City portion of the trip.

The final day of the Trek started with early morning meetings at JP Morgan Chase. The Psaros FinPolicy Trek Scholars were welcomed as special guests to watch and listen-in on the daily morning call of the Asset and Wealth Management team. This behind-the-scenes experience was a great educational experience for the group to watch the operations in action.

After the morning call, the students were given a tour of JP Morgan’s offices in New York City and met with top investment strategists to discuss the markets and investment management. The group then heard from a panel of young professionals currently working at JP Morgan who gave the students a great perspective on the variety of possible careers in the financial services industry.

After nearly three hours of meetings at JP Morgan, the students headed back downtown to the Financial District of New York City to go to Goldman Sachs. At Goldman Sachs, the students were able to meet with a wide variety of senior leaders where they had multiple sessions on a broad range of topics. Some of the discussions included: an engaging discussion about digital currencies, the evolving role of AI in the financial services industry, a discussion on the derivatives market, and recruiting.

With their last official event concluded, the group went to their hotel to grab their luggage and either head home from New York or take the train back to the Georgetown University campus. After a whirlwind five-day program, the impressive group of students had multiple first-hand experiences with senior leaders in policy making and market participants. This allowed them to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between government and the financial services industry and how each approaches the markets. With these lessons and experiences, they will be able to apply them throughout their time at Georgetown, as well as in their professional futures.