Six Top Banks Join March 'Summit' For Minority MBAs

Bulge-bracket banks continue to court minority MBA students. A recruiting and networking event in New York next month features six top-tier institutions reaching out to diversity candidates.

The March 12 "Banking is Back" Summit's sponsor firms include Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and UBS. It's hosted by the Robert Toigo Foundation, an Oakland, Calif. non-profit that provides leadership training and support for minority MBA students and graduates and helps financial employers identify and promote promising minority talent.

The free event will provide opportunities to meet and network with leading Wall Street finance professionals and recruitment professionals and attend sessions that probe career dynamics and demands within equities research, investment banking, private wealth management and sales and trading. In addition, all pre-MBA attendees are asked to submit a one-minute-long video resume that highlights their strengths as a job candidate. Toigo says it will package these video resumes with traditional hard-copy versions and provide the data to the sponsor banks.

"Together with six global banks, Toigo is determined to show MBA students that banking is very much alive, top firms are hiring and growing their teams," says Nancy Sims, President, Robert Toigo Foundation. One aim of the program, she adds, is "dispelling the myths and fears that may exist among MBA students that banking is not a viable career to pursue."

As part of the initiative, Toigo launched a Banking Is Back microsite featuring information and advice on different banking career paths, sponsoring firms, and how-to primers on applying to business school, managing the internship process and more. The site will also feature podcasts of professionals in key market sectors providing first-hand insights into the current environment, career decisions and firm culture.