Spotlighted Student: Brianna Robbins '15
Brianna Robbins '15 grew up in a suburb of Buffalo, New York (specifically in Orchard Park), where she attended Nardin Academy and played basketball and lacrosse. Her first introduction to Haverford College was when Haverford's women's basketball coach, Bobbi Morgan, approached and recruited Brianna after seeing her play at a competition. Brianna had been looking for a small liberal arts college with challenging academics and the opportunity to play basketball and lacrosse. Her high school guidance counselor, who was familiar with Haverford, encouraged her to participate in an over-night visit with Haverford's basketball team, a decision that sealed her decision to attend the institution. Since her freshman year she has played defense in lacrosse and forward in basketball.
Brianna knew she wanted to do something with business in college. After taking Introduction to Economics her first semester at Haverford, followed up by a few economics electives, her path to a major in economics unfolded. She thoroughly enjoys its real-world application and its rational and logical approach; she particularly enjoys how problem solving is enmeshed in the discipline. Curricular high-lights have been Crises with Indradeep Ghosh, as well as Microfinance and Corporate Finance with Shannon Mudd.
For her thesis, Brianna aims to examine the main differences between active exchange traded funds and the traditional passive exchange traded funds (ETFs). There are several different investment vehicles and management strategies that an investor may choose from when deciding how to invest their money. An ETF is an investment vehicle that traditionally mimics an index without the guidance of a professional portfolio manager. In 2008, the first actively managed ETF was created, in which the investment vehicle is structured exactly the same as an ETF but is actively managed by a professional portfolio manager, and thus has higher fees. Brianna hopes to determine if the higher expense ratio associated with actively managed ETFs is justified by higher returns.
To enrich her academics Brianna has participated in summer internships. The summer following her sophomore year she worked for Philadelphia based start-up Grassroots Unwired, an organization that sells and operates a mobile canvassing platform that provides a mapping tool to track canvassers and help streamline door-to-door activities. Dedicated to the advertising and marketing department, she worked on finding markets other than campaigning organizations that might benefit from the unique software. Her time at Grassroots Unwired was made possible through funding from Haverford's Whitehead Internship program and the Philly StartUp Scholars program.
The summer following her junior year was spent working at BlackRock Inc, an asset management firm in Princeton, NJ. Brianna worked in their Client Relationship segment of their U.S. Wealth Advisory business. She focused on retail sales, whole-sale markets and client businesses. She assisted in market research, running reports, and presenting and speaking in sales pitch competitions, as well an as intern-wide portfolio challenge.
After graduating with a major in economics and a minor in philosophy, Brianna will begin a two-year analyst position with BlackRock where she will return to the sales desk in Princeton. In her first year she will tackle the Series 7 and the Series 66 Securities licensing exams, giving her the opportunity to delve into the world of asset management. She looks forward to spending one-on-one time talking with clients, and learning more about the finance industry and the stock market.
Brianna has served as co-Vice President of Students' Council since her junior year, specifically as a benefactor on the appointment committee. She also works in the athletics office carrying out administrative duties.
