Rhodes Scholar shares financial industry experiences

The Industry and Academia Connections Program (IACP) hosted a talk by alumni and Rhodes Scholar Ankur Luthra about investing in relation to sell-side and buy-side careers on Dec. 9 in the Learning Resource Center.

Luthra presented to an audience of 36 students and economics teacher Todd Dwyer, specifically detailing his personal experience and opinions on venture capital, growth equity, private equity careers and his current position as a public markets investor.

Junior Johnny Chang, who attended the talk to gain a greater insight into the field of economics, thought it was “a great learning experience.”

“It was exciting to see someone so knowledgeable speak about his mistakes, which made him significantly more relatable than he initially seemed as valedictorian of Saratoga High, a Rhodes scholar and winner of a [Berkeley] Medal,” Chang said.

One of these mistakes was a music company Luthra started as a senior at Saratoga High in 1999. His company, which used Artificial Intelligence, eventually flopped. According to Luthra, however, the entire experience was very rewarding.

“I thought it was an interesting idea because normally people don’t say that it is OK to make all the mistakes you want,” junior Sanjeev Suresh said.

Luthra shared similar stories about his field as a public markets investor that captivated his audience. According to Chang, students were keen to listen to his opinions in the subject.

“His talk was a great learning experience—incredibly insightful, inspiring and informative,” Chang said.

Suresh was also greatly inspired by Luthra’s strong suggestion to read a lot of books so as to learn about different opportunities that come by.

The fact that Luthra is an alumni greatly helped him connect with his audience, according to Chang.
“His knowledge of the environment within Saratoga High allowed him to speak to us on a deeper level, because he understood how the highly academic [environment] influences us,” Chang said.

With a similar foundation, Luthra was able to inspire students such as Chang to keep economics as a possible career choice.

“His talk inspired me to do more individual investing, to pursue my passions and broaden my scope of knowledge,” Chang said.

Luthra expressed his personal opinions and experiences on different aspects of economics, inspiring students in different ways.

“His talk really just convinced me that investment management is a hard, but fulfilling, career, and doing what you love is more important than working toward retirement in your early 30s,” Chang said.

Senior Arnav Dugar, founder of IACP, was thrilled when Luthra accepted his invitation to speak, as Luthra would be the first speaker in the program to talk about economics.

According to Dugar, the information presented in the talk expanded on many of the same topics discussed in economics classes.

“The talk connected very well with what we were learning this semester in economics,” Dugar said.
According to Dwyer, Lutrha’s talk provided a unique and essential view to students about economics.

“It was good that Ankur showed up at that time to give a fair and balanced presentation of investment banking,” Dwyer said. “It kind of put a human face on it.”