On August 17th, we had the privilege to collaborate with the Macquarie University Economics Society, to bring you the Meet the Experts Event, which was a wonderful success!

We would first like to thank all of our members that made it to the event and would also like to thank the Macquarie University Economics Society for their work in order to make this event possible!

After some opening remarks from Professor David Orsmond, the first half of the event saw Dr. Lurion De Mello chair an Economics Panel comprising of Stephen Halmarick (Chief Economist at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia), Su-Lin Ong (Chief Economist at the RBC - Capital Markets Division) and Johnathan McMenamin (Senior Economist at Barrenjoey) on the subject of Macroeconomics and Policy Applications. The panel discussed their viewpoints on the current crises affecting the domestic and global economies, while also discussing their careers and their pathways into them. The Economics panel was both insightful and thought provoking, and allowed attendees for this event to pose questions, which the panel brilliantly answered with their own respective expertise.

After a short break, the second half of the event saw Keith Woodward chair a Finance Panel consisting of Carlos Nochez (Senior Portfolio Analyst at Apex Group), Michael Garcia (Senior Analyst at the Reserve Bank of Australia) and Vinayak Muralidharan (Senior Investment Analyst at Antipodes) on the subject of Economic Data and Industry Decision Making. This panel delved into the complexities of interpreting data and translating it into real-world business decisions. In addition, the panel also gave their opinions on passive vs. active investing strategies, tips to break into finance, as well as their own respective pathways into the financial industry.

Afterwards, the finance panel stayed for a mini-networking session for enthusiastic students wanting to learn more about the topics discussed, career advice and much more!

We are grateful to have had the opportunity to host both sets of these amazing industry leaders and would love to have them back at Macquarie University at a later date!

Finally, the AFS Executive Team would like to send a special thank you to Cheryl Kwon from the Macquarie Photography Society, who was able to take some great shots of this event!

Event Gallery: