I-Banker Caps Career Week

Bart Grenier, vice president of Fidelity Investments, discussed the stock market and its impact on job opportunities in Career Week's keynote address yesterday.

In front of a small crowd in Science Center B, Grenier downplayed the magnitude of recent market downturns and said he foresees significant opportunities in the financial services field.

"The market has declined, but you have to have a long term perspective," he said. "The Standard & Poor 500 [financial index] is at about the same level as it was in February."

"If this is a crisis, please sign me up," he quipped.

Grenier also discussed the effect of global markets on the United States' economy as a whole, saying "the Russian economy is not that globally significant" while "Latin America's economy is a problem for the U.S."

Turning to career opportunities, presumably the primary concern of those in attendance, Grenier said "the financial service market shows great promise through at least the next ten years."

"Demographic trends point to a market peak in 2006," he explained. "Corporate profits--and thus stocks--will continue to rise well beyond that."

Specifically, Grenier said he anticipates upcoming growth in newly deregulated industries and in Europe, the latter improvement a result of the European Union's single currency, the Euro, set to come into effect in Jan. 1999.

Many of those in attendance said they appreciated the timeliness of the topic.

"It was a good idea to have Mr. Grenier speak," said Janil Ghani '99, who attended the speech. "He essentially pointed out that what's been going on in the market is not such a big deal and that we can calm down."

"The speech complemented the other Career Week events," Ghani added.