Christian Lee Agraviador, FMVA's Linkedin Analytics

I developed an acute sense of wonder and awe for the financial markets during college, to the point that I do not want to choose any other career aside from Finance. This is something I never expected as I thought I was certain that I would become a lawyer someday, hence the fact that I chose to study Philosophy as my major degree. But as everyone knows, nothing in life is certain. The watershed moment that led me down this path was the heartbreak I suffered after a breakup. To distract myself from the pain, I decided to focus my attention on financial literacy, which resulted in the opening of my first equity trading account. At first, I traded without any discipline and risk management at all, which led me to lose a significant portion of my portfolio. I learned the hard way that equity trading is not as easy as many advertisements and commercials made it seem to be. I could not just quit. I had to make the money back, which is why I decided to get myself together and become a serious investor. To do that, I had to build up my knowledge about the capital markets. I read 50 pages of Economics & Finance every day. I took a minor degree in Financial Economics and another in Financial Management. I also undertook multiple internships in various financial institutions like Valens Research, COL Financial Group, Inc., CTS Global Equity Group, Fortman Cline Capital Markets, A.Stotz Investment Research, and Philippine Commercial Capital, Inc. (PCCI Capital). Along the way, I realized how fun capital markets are, which led me to conclude that I will be willing and happy to dedicate decades of my life as a finance professional in the capital markets. I believe that the capital markets give my life meaning. I cannot see myself going to any other field.