As president of the Hylander Financial Group, UCR's premier investment finance student organization, Brian Immethun has gained a wealth of hands-on experience in portfolio management, equity research, and investment.
But Immethun has invested more than dollars. By making the most of his time at UCR, he also has invested in his future.
It’s an approach he recommends for any new student who might be arriving on campus, as he did, unsure of the path to a rewarding career.
“My advice: Get involved as early as possible. Explore everything,” said Immethun, who graduates this spring with a degree in business administration, finance. “Getting involved with things will be like a giant snowball rolling down a hill. The earlier you do it, something tiny can turn into something huge.”
Case in point: After attending a UCR Career Center presentation by an alumnus from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Immethun landed an internship with the company — and he has a job waiting for him there when he graduates.
Repaying investments in his success
Forging alumni connections is important, Immethun said, and he plans to repay the mentorship and support he received as he becomes an alumnus himself. He already took a step in that direction last fall, when he served as a panelist on a webinar for alumni, covering the topics of financial literacy and investment strategies for beginners.
“I'm very proud to be a Highlander, and I’m grateful for the well-connected alumni who have given back to us, the impact it's had on me, other club leadership, and other students,” he said.
In some ways, his role on the webinar took him full circle to his initial exposure to finance: a high school course on financial literacy.
“Both of my parents worked in business, and I grew up with an awareness and interest in that world,” he said. “But as for what I really wanted to focus on, that didn't really come to light until high school when I had that class. Once I got to Riverside, I was able to see the different concentrations and explore my options.”
Discovering ‘this is something I enjoy’
One of the first courses Immethun had at UCR was calculus. On the last day of class, the professor announced, “Congratulations, this is your last math class — unless you like math and want more of it. If so, you should consider studying finance.”
The comment struck a chord with Immethun, as he recalled his high school introduction to finance.
“I decided that if I wanted to explore concentrating in finance, the best way to do that is to join the finance club on campus,” he said.
The goal of that club, the Hylander Financial Group (HFG), is to equip students with foundational knowledge in investment practices and portfolio management with two portfolios. General membership is open to all majors, although management of the larger portfolio, the Hylander Student Investment Fund, is restricted to finance majors.
The smaller portfolio is directed toward an annual competition hosted by the CFA Society of Orange County, where universities in Southern California build an investment plan to pitch to a board of professionals.
“I was able to be put on a stock pitch with a team right after I had joined the club, and that was a great experience,” Immethun said.
”Doing all the research on the company, the economics, the background valuation with the financials and putting that all together into a stock pitch — that was just a really fulfilling experience that showed me, ‘OK, this is something that I want to be a part of. This is something that I enjoy.’”
Helping students find ‘a better future’
Not only was the HFG experience fulfilling, but it provided another benefit: Connecting with professionals, including UCR alumni, in the field he will soon be joining.
“I can't speak enough to the avenues I've been able to pursue and the network I’ve built by being a part of HFG and getting involved with the CFA Society,” he said. “That's another thing I recommend for those newer students: networking.” he said.
“You need to start early. It's going to be daunting. But as soon as you do your first two or three calls, it’s going to get easier and it's only going to help you more.”
Looking back, Immethun said he could not have anticipated how the investments he made in his future would eventually pay off with a career that matches his aspirations.
“I did not expect that at all, but it’s all the more reason why getting involved was one of the best things I could have done at UCR and why it's been one of the most fulfilling things I've done to be able to share that with other people,” he said.
As he prepares to shift from college to career, Immethun said he may be leaving campus, but he is not leaving UCR behind.
“I'm always open to help people if they reach out after I'm gone,” he said. “I’m looking to give people the same experience that I had. It's my goal to try and equip them as early as possible, and be as prepared as possible, to really represent us as UC Riverside, and propel our students to a better future.”