Career Launch: How Caddying Helped Fraser Owenson Land a Job with Piper Sandler
Fraser Owenson
Investment Banking Analyst at Piper Sandler, Fraser shares how caddying while competing on the golf team at Cal State East Bay helped him land a great job.
Why do you enjoy your job so much?
Every day is different and offers a new challenge, which makes my job extremely interesting and offers a great opportunity to learn every day. I am fortunate to be in a great team where I am involved in a variety of deals and have exposure to many different elements of the industry, meaning no two days are the same. Certain elements of the job can be difficult. However, coming from a competitive athletic background, I find this is just a motivator to continue to push myself further.
How did caddying help prepare you for this role?
Caddying helps prepare you for a career in many aspects, including teamwork, time management and attention to detail. However, the communication element is one of the most overlooked yet important skills in my opinion. Given banking can be so quantitative-focused, also having a strong set of qualitative skills from years of caddying has proved extremely helpful and beneficial to my role. I feel that being able to communicate well with people throughout your career is vital, and caddying offers a great opportunity to learn how to interact and build relationships with people who are further into their careers and very experienced in their industry.
Did anyone that you met caddying help you land your job? If so, please explain.
Early on in my time caddying, I was introduced to Bobby Stevenson, Managing Director of Franklin Venture Partners and Co-Head of Private Investing for Franklin Equity Group, who really opened my eyes to understand how many opportunities there were in banking and investment management. Bobby was extremely influential in my understanding of the industry, and offered invaluable advice, both throughout my recruitment and for my broader career, and we still remain friends to this day. I was also introduced to several Piper Sandler employees across a range of the Investment Banking groups while I was caddying, which helped me gain a deeper understanding of the firm’s culture and hear about the company through first-hand experiences, which proved extremely helpful when I ended up joining the firm last year.
Fraser Owenson & Bobby Stevenson
Can you name someone whose career inspires you and that you'd like to emulate?
Jimmy Dunne has always been someone I have looked up to, both in golf and in business. As someone who also started caddying at a young age, it’s inspiring to see how much he has helped the game of golf, how he led Sandler O’Neil throughout the years and eventually helped establish Piper Sandler as we know it today.
What's the best perk of your job?
As mentioned before, each day presents a new challenge, so I feel you are able to gain a deeper understanding of the financial markets and a great knowledge of the industry. Every task offers a new opportunity to learn, while interacting with people from a range of backgrounds and companies means that every day offers something new.
