Jason Mozingo

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Mozingo

Jason Mozingo

Jason Mozingo faced the same decision many prospective UCLA students face: enroll at Berkeley or go to school in Westwood. But for Jason, whose parents had gone to UCLA, the decision to become a Bruin wasn’t just an easy one, it was a rewarding one. At UCLA, his bread and butter was economics. Jason took difficult econ classes, including one with Jack Hirshleifer, a long-time professor and well-known economist. However, he also got the opportunity to take classes in other disciplines and meet students from a variety of backgrounds, an experience which he considers one of the best aspects of being a Bruin. Although Jason knew he wanted to pursue a career in finance post-graduation, he was less certain about which sub-sector would most interest him. For students not sure where to start their career (or for those graduating in a tough economy), Jason says do not worry too much about finding the “perfect” job after graduation since building a career is a process, not a single event. Furthermore, that process often includes graduate school or switching industries.

Despite graduating in a recession (early 1990s), Jason started his career in sales and trading at Merrill Lynch’s Los Angeles office. At Merrill he decided investment banking and eventually a career in investing would be a better long-term fit. He also knew he wanted to pursue an MBA. In the interim, Jason decided to join a boutique L.A. based investment banking advisory firm and complete the three-year CFA program. Upon receiving his CFA designation and reviewing his graduate school options, he decided to move to the East Coast and enroll at Harvard Business School. His transition between jobs was catapulted by his HBS experience, which thrusted him into a forum for recruiters from Wall Street’s best firms. He found his calling in private equity during the summer of his M.B.A. program at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, one of the top investment banks at the time. Jason had the fortunate opportunity to work on a live control private equity deal within the merchant banking (private equity) division that closed before he left back for HBS. Working on that transaction confirmed his interest in the field and convinced him to return to the firm’s private equity division for a full-time role after graduation. Moving from sales and trading to investment banking and then to private equity is generally difficult, but for Jason, the connections and experience he earned at Harvard enabled him to make the transition.

After a number of years working in his ideal job, he realized the private equity industry was changing. Witnessing billion dollar leveraged buyouts, acquisitions financed with a significant amount of debt, Jason saw potential for these acquisitions to fail and for the debt used in them to become distressed. Jason knew opportunities in distressed investing would rise and many traditional private equity firms would be unable to profitably invest in distressed debt. Jason identified one newly formed firm that would capitalize on these trends: Centerbridge Partners. Their focus on these two themes with a hybrid private equity and distressed investing model struck a chord with Jason and convinced him to make the difficult decision to leave his firm and join Centerbridge. His story shows another reason to not worry about landing the perfect job right out of college: opportunities and interests change over time.

After eleven years at Centerbridge where he was a Partner leading investments in consumer-related businesses and cumulatively two decades of investing experience on Wall Street focused on large and mature companies, Jason decided he wanted to pursue an entrepreneurial venture and start his own firm. That firm, Passkey Investors, LLC is a family office that invests in earlier-stage growth companies in the consumer and consumer-technology space. In addition to running Passkey Investors, Jason also serves on UCLA’s Department of Economics Board of Visitors, helping the department understand the market demand for different types of data and finance training.

Jason is a passionate UCLA alumnus and advocate of giving back to the school that means so much to every Bruin. UCLA is fortunate to have a wide array of accomplished alumni and he suggests undergraduates reach out to them to gain invaluable insight into potential career paths. UCLA is also no stranger to corporate recruiting events, and he also recommends young Bruins to take advantage of company forums on campus to gauge potential fit after graduation. But as he’s stressed, finding the perfect job out of college might not come right away, and that’s ok. After all, a successful career isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.

Written by Chris Lane.

2020 PhD Grads Accept Positions at Yale, Federal Reserve and Uber among others

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The 2020 UCLA Ph.D. Economics job market outcomes were released today. Congratulations to all of our students – We are very proud of you!

Half the class will stay in academia, including positions at Yale, Southern Methodist, and Reed in the US, and Nottingham, Tsinghua and Shanghai University of Finance and Economics outside the US.

Others will work for governmental institutions, like the Federal Reserve and World Bank

And several students will move into private sector roles at tech firms (Uber, Amazon), economic consultancy (Analysis Group) and finance (Citadel).

Here is the full list.

 

CA Unemployment Insurance Claims during the Pandemic

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The COVID-19 crisis has led to historically unprecedented increases in the level of initial Unemployment Insurance (UI) claims filed in California since the start of the crisis in mid-March.

Till von Wachter and UCLA’s California Policy Lab have partnered with the Labor Market Information Division of the California Employment Development Department to analyze daily UI claims to provide an in-depth and near real-time look at how the COVID-19 crisis is impacting various industries, regions, counties, and types of workers throughout California. This analysis can be found here and will be updated on a weekly basis.

PhD Student Selected to Attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings

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The UCLA Department of Economics would like to congratulate doctoral student, Diana Van Patten, who has been selected to participate in the 7th Lindau Meeting on Economic Sciences, which will now take place in 2021. Ms. Van Patten was nominated to be part of this prestigious group by the UCLA Economics Department, then selected as the nominee by UCLA and the University of California system, and finally by the Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings. Held every few years, this next meeting will bring together Nobel Laureates along with 373 young economists from around the world to exchange knowledge, ideas, and experience. To learn more, click HERE.

After graduating this spring, Diana will be an IES Fellow at Princeton University during the 2020-2021 academic year before starting as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Yale University’s School of Management starting in Summer 2021.

Congratulations, Diana!

Lee Ohanian discusses the social safety net with PBS News Hour

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UCLA’s Professor Lee Ohanian was interviewed by PBS News Hour’s Daniel Bush, to discuss how COVID-19 could reshape America’s social safety net and how this could affect the upcoming election. An excerpt of the article can be found below.

Could the coronavirus reshape America’s social safety net?

By Daniel Bush

The Democratic primary race was all but over before the novel coronavirus upended the 2020 campaign cycle last month. With former Vice President Joe Biden as the nominee-in-waiting, the only lingering question had been how far he might shift to the left to win over Sen. Bernie Sanders’ progressive followers before formally clinching the nomination.

But in the weeks since the pandemic brought traditional campaigning to a standstill, the national political debate has moved away from the narrow ideological battle on the left that dominated the primary season.

Now, Americans across the political spectrum have been forced to rethink the government’s role in protecting workers and supervising the economy, as more people confront a public health crisis that has exposed major gaps in the social safety net.

Read the entire article here

For more than 40 years, millions of Americans and citizens of the world have turned to the PBS NewsHour for the solid, reliable reporting that has made it one of the most trusted news programs on television (source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about)

Andy Atkeson discusses COVID-19 impact on US Economy on NPR

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UCLA’s Professor Andy Atkeson joined Executive Director of the Center for Bioethics at Harvard Medical School, Christine Mitchell, on NPR’s On Point to discuss the impact COVID-19 will continue to have on our economy and what to expect moving forward.

The full audio broadcast can be found by visiting WBUR’s website here.

On Point is broadcast every weekday on NPR stations around the country. Produced by WBUR in Boston, On Point’s vibrant conversation covers everything from breaking news to ancient poetry, and features writers, politicians, journalists, artists, scientists and ordinary citizens from around the world. The show is broadcast live on air from 10 a.m. to noon EST Monday through Friday, and airs again throughout the day and evening on more than 290 NPR stations coast to coast. The show is also available digitally through WBUR’s website, apps and its online archive, in addition to its regular podcast (source: https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/about)

Christine Doan

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2019 Donald Edward Bragg & Diane Sims Bragg Scholarship Recipient

Biography: Christine Doan is a third year double majoring in Business Economics and Communications. She is a first-generation Vietnamese student and is passionate about empowering marginalized communities and sparking social change. Growing up in a family with little resources, she’s learned the importance of hard-work, perseverance, and advocating for yourself. After excelling in her economics and management courses, she wanted to use her financial knowledge and skillset to give back to her community–she has helped prepare income tax returns through VITA and worked to change collegiate perceptions on financial literacy and wellness through her internship at Pluto Money. She’s also involved in a handful of clubs at UCLA, and when she’s not preparing for culture nights with the Vietnamese Student Union and United Khmer Students or volunteering with Alpha Phi Omega, she’s pursuing her love of dance with Foundations.

Future Plans: This upcoming summer, Christine wants to study abroad in Milan to learn about brand strategy and business communications. With her dual degree, she plans on working as a corporate communications strategist or marketing consultant in the future. After a couple years of working experience, she plans to pursue a Master’s degree.

What does this scholarship mean to me?: I am extremely grateful and honored to receive the Donald Edward Bragg & Diane Sims Bragg Scholarship award. I am humbled by their recognition of my achievements and will continue to work hard to carry the momentum of this success into the future. Prior to receiving this scholarship, I was working multiple work-study jobs to cover the payments for my remaining time at UCLA, and being able to alleviate this financial burden will allow me to focus more on my educational pursuits and internships. To me, receiving this scholarship isn’t just about receiving money, it’s receiving the opportunity to do more as well.

Joshua Tyler Patel

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2019 Jeffrey W. Baus ’59 Scholarship Recipient

Biography:  Josh Patel is a 4th year Economics Major and Accounting Minor. He is originally from the Inland Empire – about an hour away from UCLA. Josh decided to be an Economics Major after enjoying his AP Macroeconomics class in high school and later was convinced by Professor Gardner’s 1A class to pursue the Accounting minor. He has held multiple positions on campus, previously being a member of Moneythink and VITA, an undergraduate teaching assistant for Professor Lu for MGMT 120B, and is currently a supervisor within UCLA Residential Life. Josh is thankful for UCLA’s many resources, his friends and family.

Future plans:  Josh has interned with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) for the past two summers, and will return in the fall of 2020 as an Audit Associate. He plans to use the upcoming summer to study to become a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and travel as well. Josh plans to specialize in the tech and media industry and continue his knowledge of accounting and consulting in the future.

What does the scholarship mean to me? I am very grateful to have received the Jeffrey W. Baus ’59 Scholarship. This award not only validates my previous hard work and dedication, but also helps alleviate some of the burden of being a student worker. Supporting myself through college has been tough, but I’m very proud of myself and being able to manage my classes and work. This scholarship allows myself to continue to thrive academically and takes off some of the burden or being a student-worker. I am very thankful for Mrs. Baus and her commitment and dedication to UCLA, and hope that my career will allow me to give back and mentor future generations of Bruins.

Samantha Chandra

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2019 Harold R. Mortenson Endowed Scholarship Fund Recipient

Biography:  Samantha Chandra is a fourth-year Business Economics major with double minors in Entrepreneurship and Digital Humanities. She grew up in Bali, Indonesia and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her college degree at UCLA. At UCLA, Samantha serves as the president for 180 Degrees Consulting, an organization with a mission to provide consulting services to nonprofits and social enterprises. Samantha was also involved in Bruin Entrepreneurs, the largest entrepreneurship community on campus, raising money for multiple events and eventually serving as Internal Vice President in her junior year. Samantha was also a Sharpe Fellow in the Consulting track, and was involved in other campus programs like the Social Enterprise Academy.  Samantha’s interests lie in the field of business, entrepreneurship, and design. Beyond campus involvements, Samantha has completed internships in various fields, including media entertainment, startups, venture capital, and consulting throughout her 4 years at UCLA. To put her interest and learnings in entrepreneurship into application, Samantha worked on a student startup in her senior year, developing and designing a location-based social media app for UCLA students.

Future plans:  Samantha will be pursuing a career in consulting upon graduation. She will be working at Deloitte Consulting as a Business Technology Analyst in their Chicago office. She plans to gain meaningful experience and exposure to different industries by working in consulting and eventually starting her own business, either back home in Asia or globally. She is also considering applying for MBA programs after a few years of professional experience.

What does the scholarship mean to me?  I am really grateful to receive the Harold R. Mortenson Scholarship. Coming into college, I looked for scholarships and was told there were not many opportunities for international students. I was really thankful for this scholarship for giving me the opportunity to help out my parents who are supporting my education here, and I am really grateful to now be able to do that with this scholarship. I hope that my journey in the next few years will rightfully represent this scholarship, the economics department, and UCLA.