The path to success in finance isn’t always linear, according to investment professional Levi Pettit, who has navigated multiple roles across the financial sector since graduating from college. His journey from traditional banking to family office management offers insights for professionals considering their career trajectories in finance.
“My first boss said to me, ‘I know that you just graduated, and you think that you have a college degree and you know everything now; but that’s not the case,'” Pettit recalls from his early days in enterprise risk management. This humbling advice set the tone for a career marked by continuous learning and strategic transitions.
How Levi Pettit Found His Niche in Family Office Management
After graduating magna cum laude from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2018 with dual degrees in finance and economics, Pettit began his career at Independent Financial as an enterprise risk management analyst. He later moved to Veritex Bank as a credit analyst, but it was a chance lunch meeting with a former internship boss that would redirect his career path.
“We were just catching up,” Pettit explains. “I told him I was studying for the CFA, and he mentioned wanting to diversify away from oil and gas. He needed someone to manage the deal flow coming to his desk and the investments he was making.” This conversation led to Pettit’s role as an investment associate at a first-generation, single-family office, where he would spend the next four years evaluating investment options and conducting due diligence on transactions.
The Value of Diverse Financial Experience
Pettit’s early banking experience proved invaluable in his family office role. “It taught me how businesses and individuals use debt, what banks look for when businesses come to get lending,” he reflects. “Having that credit background from a commercial bank was really helpful in navigating conversations with commercial lenders and senior bankers.”
Currently pursuing an MBA at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, Pettit emphasizes the importance of workplace culture in professional development. He particularly values environments that foster direct communication and mentorship opportunities. “In the family office, it never felt like I had to talk to a boss, who had to talk to their boss, who had to talk to somebody else’s boss,” he says. “I could be completely open and honest to even the managing partner about what was going on.”
Despite the growing trend toward remote work in finance, Pettit advocates for in-person experience, especially for those early in their careers. “If I was graduating today, I would try to find something that required me to be in a seat five days a week, and make sure there was some type of team culture,” he advises. “That’s where I learned and grew the most.”
Looking ahead, Pettit sees potential in the registered investment advisor space, where he hopes to leverage his family office experience to serve multiple high-net-worth clients. “I really felt like this is a business model I can build out because of my background,” he says. “I’ll be able to bring my service to multiple families and be an outsourced family office.”
For young professionals entering finance today, Pettit’s career path demonstrates the value of remaining open to unexpected opportunities while building a strong foundation in fundamental financial concepts. His experience suggests that success in finance comes not just from technical expertise, but from the ability to build relationships and adapt to changing circumstances—skills best developed through direct, personal interaction with industry veterans.