For Levi Pettit, success in finance isn’t just about what you know—it’s about being in the room where decisions happen. The CFA® charterholder and current Pepperdine Graziadio MBA candidate points to significant shifts in workplace culture that could impact young professionals’ career trajectories.
Remote Work’s Hidden Cost
“COVID changed a lot of things,” Pettit notes, addressing the widespread move toward remote work. “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.”
Early Career Lessons
After graduating magna cum laude from The University of Texas at Dallas, Pettit began his career at Independent Financial as an enterprise risk management analyst. The role taught him valuable lessons about continuous learning.
“I was working in enterprise risk management; nothing in my undergrad prepared me for that,” he recalls. His first boss offered crucial advice: “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 Power of Direct Access
A fortuitous lunch meeting led Pettit to help build a family office, where he discovered the value of direct communication. “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.”
As an investment associate there, he gained comprehensive experience in alternative investments and private equity. “It was an amazing experience,” he reflects. “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.”
Looking Forward
For those entering finance today, Pettit strongly advocates for in-person roles. “Unfortunately, I just don’t think remote environments provide that opportunity,” he emphasizes. “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.”
His journey from risk management analyst to investment professional underscores a crucial point: while remote work offers convenience, the foundations of career development in finance often depend on being physically present to observe, learn, and grow.