Finance is Changing — Here is How to Keep Up
Closing the Knowledge Gap in Finance
The Colby Financial Review’s leadership team sat down with a finance professional and Colby alumnus recently, and one theme came up repeatedly: most people are involved in markets without truly understanding them. For students trying to break into finance, that gap is even more pronounced. Information is everywhere, but clarity is not. This disconnect is exactly why the Colby Financial Review exists. Traditional sources like the Wall Street Journal or Bloomberg are valuable, but often dense and difficult to navigate for students just starting out. The goal is not to simplify finance to the point of losing meaning, but to make it accessible enough that students can actually engage with it, and eventually form their own views.
What Investors Get Wrong
He pointed to a growing issue in markets: investors allocating capital without understanding what they own. This has been particularly evident in the ever-growing private credit market, where many retail investors have deployed capital without fully understanding the risks, especially liquidity risks. When market conditions changed, many were caught off guard, expecting access to capital that was never meant to be easily withdrawn. The takeaway here was straightforward. You do not need to understand every detail of every investment, but you do need to understand the structure, risks, and tradeoffs. Without that baseline, decision-making becomes reactive rather than intentional. For students, this reinforces the importance of building foundational knowledge early, not just consuming headlines, but actually understanding the drivers behind them.
How to Think About Markets
When our conversation turned to markets, the focus was not on predictions, but on perspective. The alumnus pushed back on the idea of evaluating performance year by year, emphasizing the importance of zooming out and thinking in decades. The classic 60/40 portfolio (60% stocks and 40% bonds), often criticized in recent years, is not obsolete; it is misunderstood. While it may not yield the same level it once did, it still serves a critical role in balancing risk, particularly in volatile environments. For younger investors, the implication is not to copy this allocation directly, but to adopt the mindset behind it. Time horizon is an advantage, and short-term positioning and constant adjustments often lead to mistakes, while consistency and discipline tend to compound.
Breaking Into Finance
For students focused on recruiting in finance, the advice was direct. Technical skills are necessary, but they will never be what sets candidates apart. Most applicants have similar coursework, similar experiences, and similar resumes. What stands out is how you communicate your narrative. At the point of decision, hiring managers are not just evaluating credentials; they are asking whether they want to spend long hours working with you. That comes down to clarity, confidence, and repetition. The ability to explain your experiences, interests, and goals in a compelling way must be practiced deliberately. Breaking into finance is ultimately a numbers game. Repetition matters, whether in networking conversations or interviews. The students who improve fastest are the ones who actively refine how they present themselves over time.
AI Is Changing the Game
If there was one area the alumnus emphasized most, it was artificial intelligence. Not as a distant trend, but as a present reality already reshaping the industry. Tasks that once defined entry-level roles—processing information, summarizing data, producing reports—are increasingly being automated. In one example, an AI system completed a coding assignment in under two minutes with significantly higher accuracy than human applicants who took hours. The implication is not that technical skills are irrelevant, but that the nature of those skills is shifting. Knowing how to leverage AI—asking the right questions, interpreting outputs, and applying them effectively—is becoming more valuable than doing everything manually. The alumnus compared AI to “Moneyball” in finance: a structural advantage that early adopters will use to outperform, while others struggle to keep up. Those who ignore it risk falling behind, regardless of their traditional qualifications.
What This Means for Students Now
The conversation ultimately came back to a few core ideas. Understand what you are investing in. Think long-term. Develop a clear, repeatable story. And most importantly, adapt early to structural changes, such as AI. For students at Colby, the opportunity is clear, and the resources are there, but it takes initiative to use them; the opportunities won’t land on your lap. Those who take the time to build real understanding and pair it with true interpersonal skills will put themselves in a position to stand out.
