Simone Torsello

Simone has always had a keen interest in the world of banking and finance, beginning his journey at just 15 years old. After finishing high school, he returned immediately to the banking world, working at the cash desk of a small retail bank outside Zurich. After two years there, he was afforded the opportunity to manage his first portfolio of clients, offering financial solutions in the credit and investment space. This experience undoubtedly helped him as he began an undergraduate degree in business administration, with a specialization in banking & finance.

After graduating, he decided the time had come to realize one of his big dreams and he went backpacking around Latin America for 10 months. After returning from this trip, Simone was reinvigorated and he began a new role servicing ultra-high-net-worth Individuals, which he continued in for another two years. It wasn’t until 2019 that he decided to take the next big step in his career by joining IE University’s Master in Finance program and moving to Madrid.

Now, having finished the master’s program, Simone has returned to the finance world and is making great strides in his new position as Account Associate at PIMCO Zurich, while also studying for the CFA level 1. In his day-to-day life, Simone organizes conference calls for currently invested clients with either product specialists or portfolio managers. As their clients are all professionals, they demand a high-level service including on-time delivery of recurring reporting. In these calls, Simone serves as a connector, responsible for ensuring the smooth handling of client requests. Alongside this, he has to develop customized reports and ensure consistency between the information they possess and what is publicly available. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Simone has to contribute to business growth by pitching products-in-focus to their new and existing clients.

Simone appreciated his time at IE University, commenting specifically on the pace of the program. His undergraduate experience was taken part time and, for the master’s, he enjoyed being able to focus solely on the compact and fast-paced program. He says he was able to learn a huge amount of new information in a short amount of time. He also credits the professors with having a deep practical and academic knowledge of their subject areas, while also being very down to earth and approachable.

As a partner institution, IE University offers CFA prep courses, which he recommends highly to anyone.

Going into the program, Simone wanted to develop a deep technical knowledge of his field, alongside furthering his natural interest in investments. The master’s provided him with exactly what he was looking for. As a partner institution, IE University offers CFA prep courses, which he recommends highly to anyone. But, above all, Simone valued the other participants, who joined from all around the world and were consistently skilled and high performing. He says that by talking to them and having discussions about assignments—as well as the current state of the economy—he was able to learn a huge amount.

Beyond other high-impact students, Simone was able to take advantage of a number of networking opportunities, specifically through club activities. During his time at the institution, he was the President of the IE Hedge & Mutual Fund Club, which connected him with a lot of investment professionals and others within IE University.

For anyone thinking of joining the program, Simone’s advice is simple: Try to interact with as many people from IE University as possible, whether students, professors or other IE University staff. Besides that, he recommends working hard and devoting as much time to the master’s as possible. He claims “it’ll be worth it” and, if his own professional trajectory is anything to go by, it seems he’s entirely correct.