Rooted in Oxford, Rising in Finance: Jingzhi Dai 06Ox 09B Champions the Next Generation
A whole-hearted Emory and Oxford lover with a collection of Emory yearbooks and fond memories of late night Waffle House runs, Jingzhi Dai continues his engagement with Emory Oxford by nurturing the connections he made at Oxford and mentoring current Oxford students.
Jingzhi’s journey at Oxford seemed like fate, with an aunt already pursuing a PhD at Emory at the time and his dad approving of his ability to seamlessly transition to Goizueta Business School.
His fit at Oxford was clear through his plentiful involvement on campus. “I was the president of the business club and the investment club—those were my two primary involvements on campus,” he lists.
These weren’t just roles to Jingzhi, however—they were points of growth outside of the classroom.
One of the key things at Oxford is that everybody tends to take on a lot. So you juggle a lot, and I think my organizational skills were developed at Oxford because I learned how to prioritize. Additionally, you would never get a president position at other campuses in any clubs as a freshman or sophomore. But you could at Oxford. Even if you weren’t involved in student government, which I wasn’t, there were great opportunities for everyone.”
Dr. Frank Maddox and Jingzhi Dai at Oxford Commencement May 2007.
Another professor who greatly impacted his educational journey was Stacy Bell 87Ox. “She really helped me with my essay writing. You might think finance is more math-driven, but it’s actually very English-driven. It’s all about communication—written and verbal—with clients, investors, and more. You’re constantly pitching yourself and pitching a company to the investors. It’s about how you position the story, and getting better at writing really helped.”
He brings these crucial lessons, his passion for sharing knowledge with his juniors and his love for Emory and Oxford to his workplace: Jefferies. Jefferies is a top restructuring firm, and has recently made Emory a target school.
“We only have one intern from Emory this summer, but next summer, we will have six,” he announces proudly—one of whom is from Oxford.
This Oxford student reached out to Jingzhi at the beginning of his sophomore year while Jingzhi was visiting Emory. In response, Jingzhi sent him a series of blogs and instructed him to read them thoroughly. If he was still interested in his mentorship, then he would help.
He did so, to much success. “He went through the intense interview process himself and was one of the few accepted. I am very proud of him,” he recalls.
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To other students interested in this field, he recommends networking and getting to know the industry. “You need to know what the daily job looks like and how they got there,” he advises, drawing from his own experience.
For instance, beyond connecting with his economics and English professors, Jingzhi also connected with Tammy Camfield 89Ox 91C, Senior Director of Advancement and Alumni Engagement, during his time at Oxford.
“I got to know Tammy on campus, and I was looking for summer internships my first year. I was chatting with Tammy and she said, ‘Oh, why don’t you call my friend Scott Walton 89Ox 91C, who has his own wealth management firm?’”
He ended up interning for Scott that semester, which “got [him] into the door of getting more exposure about financial products, mutual funds, studying stocks, studying allocation, and most importantly, studying interpersonal skills.”
He adds, however, that it is not just these connections that will guarantee your success.
“Whether it’s your mentor or your school, they will merely point you into the right direction. That’s all you can ask for. The rest is up to you—you have to try and fail and then do it again and see what happens.”
In finding your career, he recommends this:
“You want to strike the balance of some economically viable role and your passion, because if you are passionate about something, you’re going to be thinking about it all the time and do more than the next guy. It feels less like work.”