How My MBA Kickstarted My Successful Trading Career
A former JP Morgan associate, Hitesh Tanwani used his MBA degree to pivot into trading
Find out how Hitesh Tanwani, assistant vice president in sales and trading at State Street, cultivated his successful business career after pursuing an MBA
Hitesh Tanwani spent five years with multinational financial services firm, JP Morgan, before he decided to embark on a new journey and launch an international business career.
Originally from India, Hitesh acquired an engineering undergraduate degree and had gained an MBA from ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad when he landed his role as an associate at JP Morgan, Mumbai.
But feeling the need to pursue more global opportunities, Hitesh left India and enrolled in the MBA program at The University of Hong Kong (HKU).
The decision has helped him launch his successful trading career.
From India to Hong Kong
Determined to build an international career and gain exposure to cultures outside of India, Hitesh left JP Morgan’s office in Mumbai and embarked on a new path in Hong Kong.
“I definitely felt the need to have an international experience which would add something in terms of career growth and personally—which is why I decided to move out of India and try something new,” said Hitesh.
“Hong Kong is at the center of Asia’s growth, which I wanted to experience and be a part of,” he adds.
Weighing up his options, Hitesh decided studying an MBA would provide him with a broad business education that would allow for a wealth of diverse opportunities after graduation.
When it came to selecting which program to go with, it was a no brainer, he says.
“A big brand like HKU which is over 100 years old and consistently among the top rankings, the MBA was really well tailored to meet my needs.”
Learning new skills on the HKU MBA
During his time at HKU, Hitesh enjoyed the rigorous curriculum which focuses on a broad range of topics, from accounting and finance to marketing and human resources.
He also enjoyed the school’s practical, case-based approach to learning. “HKU has its own case study research center; we would start with concepts from class and build upon them individually,” he says.
Aside from the academic advantages of his time at HKU , Hitesh reflects on the international networking opportunities and sense of community that he gained during his MBA.
He says that a striking aspect of the course was the small, but highly diverse cohort of students that he worked with.
“Being someone from financial services, I was working with people from marketing, logistics and even the fashion industry,” he explains.
During the program, students would work with different groups every time they had a project. Working with a group that consisted of a large blend of working cultures and varied communication styles was essential in broadening everyone's own cultural awareness and understanding of business.
“It was a major takeaway from the course,” Hitesh adds.
Launching a Successful Trading Career
Directly after the program Hitesh landed another associate role at JP Morgan, Hong Kong, however not long after he used his degree to pivot into a new role.
Just one year later, Hitesh began working in FX Sales and Trading SSGM at State Street Hong Kong, a globally renowned investment company.
“[HKU] gave us many tips and tricks to build up your CV which really helped me a lot in getting a shortlist at State Street” says Hitesh.
He was able to successfully progress at the company within just 18 months of landing the role, taking on a managerial position and landing his current role as assistant vice president.
Today, he acknowledges the impact that studying his MBA at HKU has had on his career development. Working primarily in business development, a large portion of his day-to-day role involves working closely with potential clients and keeping a strong relationship with his existing clients.
Within his role, Hitesh focuses on his clients’ needs and negotiating with them. “We learned this exact content during our courses,” he says, adding that he used to carry out mock negotiations and mock discussion sessions at HKU.
The experiences he gained during his time there helped him build up the skills he needed to launch his successful career today.
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) - MBA Programmes HKU Business School
Student
Verified
23/02/2023
On Campus
Academic
Very good academic, caes course amazing, ccs are all amazing, professors are excellent, the architecture and infrastructure is splendid, people here are awesome, made some really nice friends, and teachers support us
Hatim
Verified
6/02/2023
On Campus
Diversified culture
I highly recommend The University of Hong Kong to students all around the world because of their diversified culture, teaching standards, and the people which make the learning experience better every day.
Student
Verified
6/10/2017
A place where you best understand local and international cultures
With plenty of experiences available, HKU provides a plenty of experience for me to explore our own and other countries culture. She has excellent teaching and research staffs in the Department of Ecology and Biodiversity. Time allocate to students are considered sufficient and staffs are ready to reach anytime.
Besides academic, she has various subsidised programmes that allow students to explore. This credit should be given to GenEd (general education) Office to provide different interesting programmes. These ranged from guest speaker giving talks on China-Hong Kong relationship; Contemporary art in Asia; or holding mini forum on geopolitics. Most, if not all, of which are free of charge!
Student
Verified
1/10/2017
Life at HKU
Pursued the SHS degree at HKU, academic and clinical staff members were very devoted and passionate. The academic program is under constant reviews, staff members are open minded and willing to modify the program with regards to students' opinions. Career prospect is good. Uni life is fruitful, many different activities for students to choose. Great facilities supporting learning.
Student
Verified
29/09/2017
Student Life in HKU
As an Accounting and Finance year3 undergrad student in HKU, the university provides lots of opportunities for me to learn and explore my interests.
You could join a wide variety of activities, like being an committee member of societies and joining hall activities. As for me, I chose to join the winter exchange programme, be a committee member, and did volunteering servic and had latrine construction and volunteer teaching in Ghana, Africa. I also organized lots of activities for societies and had lots of meetings with company representatives. As for school work, it is okay normally but definitely u got a lot busier during November and April. You got a lot more free time compared to CUHK and HKUST. And of course, this is considered as the most ‘international’ uni in HK in a way that I could make friends coming from different countries.
Just wanna add, HKU has a good location for foodie as its near Central, Causeway Bay and Tsim Sha Tsui. For those who love night lifes dont miss this. I didnt speak of anything i dislike coz there isnt anything i dislike much, but if I do have to say, it is the hall life of many local students, such as having cheers at night and never sleeps that may disturb others.
Student
Verified
2/09/2020
Blended
Academics
I think it’s a great university that gives you a lot of opportunities in terms of academics as well as extracurricular activities. The education system is fairly westernized and the professors are good for the most part.
Student
Verified
3/11/2017
International, stratified and political
Adequate resources and very convenient campus with sufficient channels to expand your social and professional circle. Also politically active, and perhaps too biasedly so. Its law school is firmly established, with the longest history in Hong Kong. Practical and professional training, with a constant atmosphere of anxiety and competition that encourages a relatively focused and narrow vision of career outlook. Good range of extra curricular activities available.
Student
Verified
12/10/2017
Life in HKU
HKU provides students with lots of opportunities in multidisciplinary researches and experiences. This encourages students to widen their horizons and prepare for the future. The programme I attended organised both local and oversea field trips that allowed me to have the first hand experiences of relative aspects. It was very useful for my later career.
Student
Verified
6/10/2017
BSocSc
I am a graduate of the BSocSc programme several years ago. I appreciate that the programme provided a flexible choice of majors and minors. Even I was admitted into social sciences programme, I could explore various streams of studies in and out of the social sciences faculty, including global studies, human resources, politics, science and music. I did a double major in psychology and sociology. Among all learning experiences in lectures, tutorials, field trips…, I would say the internship experience was one of the most memorable part of my university life. The faculty offers a credit-bearing internship programme in which students can go to various NGOs to work on social issues, ranging from poverty, education to adjustment of ethnic minorities. Students can be placed locally or overseas, depending on placement quota, their personal preference and past experience. I went to a social service agency that serves adults who are intellectually challenged and have autism spectrum disorder. It was an eye-opening experience in observing how different professionals work together to provide training for those people and reflecting on how psychological knowledge could come into play. I was also able to gain some hands-on experience in leading an activity.
There are more and more internship opportunities for university students. It is just another way to gain practical experience apart from applying for interns in government agencies or business companies, especially in organisations that would not openly recruit interns but only work with tertiary institutions.
It should be noted that for some majors/courses, there are really a lot of people studying. When I was an undergraduate back then, we often expected a lecture with 100+ students and a tutorial with nearly 20 students. If you favour close student-teacher interaction in small classes, you may look into the enrolment of particular courses.
