Investment professional Levi Pettit has a message for finance graduates considering remote work opportunities: think twice. The CFA® charterholder and Pepperdine Graziadio MBA candidate sees crucial development opportunities that only come from being physically present in the office.
Navigating Post-COVID Career Choices
“COVID changed a lot of things,” Pettit acknowledges, reflecting on workplace evolution. “People coming out of undergrad or college who want to pursue finance may find that attractive. However, it’s important for people who [are in] their entry-level job [to] be looking for opportunities where they can be face-to-face with people every single day — in my experience, that’s where I learned and grew the most.”
Learning Through Immersion
Pettit’s own career trajectory illustrates his point. After graduating magna cum laude from The University of Texas at Dallas, he stepped into a role at Independent Financial as an enterprise risk management analyst. The position offered unexpected learning opportunities.
“I was working in enterprise risk management; nothing in my undergrad prepared me for that,” he recalls. His first boss provided perspective that would shape his approach to professional development: “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. You need to realize you will need to continue learning for the rest of your career.”
The Family Office Experience
A chance lunch meeting led Pettit to a pivotal opportunity in a family office environment, where direct access to leadership proved invaluable. “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 explains. “I could be completely open and honest to even the managing partner about what was going on.”
In his role as investment associate, he gained comprehensive exposure to alternative investments, private equity, and venture capital. “It was an amazing experience,” he notes. “I realized how these high-net worth individuals looked at investment opportunities — not just on the public side between stocks and bonds, but on the private side as well.”
A Clear Direction
For today’s finance graduates, Pettit’s advice is unequivocal: prioritize in-person opportunities. “Unfortunately, I just don’t think remote environments provide that opportunity,” he states. “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.”
Through his progression from analyst to investment professional, Pettit demonstrates how the traditional office environment, despite its declining popularity, remains a crucial incubator for professional growth in finance.