Investment Professional Levi Pettit Shares Career Insights for Finance Graduates
As the financial industry continues to evolve with hybrid and remote work options becoming increasingly common, seasoned investment professional Levi Pettit offers a counterintuitive perspective for recent graduates: prioritize in-person work experiences, especially in the early stages of your career.
“The young people who want to pursue finance may find remote work attractive,” Pettit acknowledges. “However, what they really should be looking for are opportunities where they can be face-to-face with people every single day. That’s where I learned the most—and how I grew the most.”
Strategic Career Moves: Lessons from Levi Pettit
Pettit speaks from experience, having navigated multiple roles since graduating magna cum laude from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2018 with dual degrees in finance and economics. His career path has included positions as an enterprise risk management analyst at Independent Financial, a credit analyst at Veritex Bank, and most recently, an investment associate at a first-generation, single-family office.
Each transition taught valuable lessons about the industry. His banking experience, for instance, provided crucial insights into lending practices that would prove 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 explains. “Having that credit background from a commercial bank was really helpful in navigating conversations with commercial lenders and senior bankers.”
Building a Strong Professional Foundation
For those just starting their finance careers, Pettit emphasizes the importance of being proactive in skill development. He suggests that young professionals should be prepared to go above and beyond basic job requirements—whether that means taking additional online courses, pursuing certifications, or seeking out mentorship opportunities.
The value of mentorship, in particular, cannot be overstated, according to Pettit. “Find mentors—I would definitely not be where I am today if it wasn’t for the mentors I have in my life,” he advises. He credits much of his success to the guidance received from industry veterans who helped shape his career decisions.
Currently pursuing an MBA at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School, Pettit reflects on the importance of organizational culture in career development. He particularly values environments that foster direct communication and learning 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.”
This experience has influenced his perspective on workplace dynamics. “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 emphasizes. He believes that regularly observing company leaders making decisions and performing tasks provides invaluable learning opportunities that remote environments simply cannot replicate.
Looking ahead, Pettit plans to leverage his diverse experience in the registered investment advisor space, where he sees an opportunity to serve multiple high-net-worth clients. His career trajectory offers valuable lessons for emerging finance professionals: prioritize environments that offer direct mentorship, embrace continuous learning, and don’t underestimate the value of in-person professional interactions.
For recent graduates entering the finance industry, Pettit’s journey demonstrates that success comes not just from technical expertise, but from building strong professional relationships and maintaining a commitment to ongoing growth and development. His experience suggests that while remote work may offer flexibility, the foundational years of a finance career are best spent in environments that provide direct access to learning opportunities and industry veterans.
