Genti Cici, CAIA®,
B.S. '06, International Business
M.B.A. '07 Finance
What distinguishes the University of Baltimore relates directly to the people walking its halls and how their unique skills and competencies impact the community and world around us. So many UBalt alumni find ways to give back to the Merrick School as well as working to improve the lives of those their career brings them in contact with.
When Genti Cici, B.S. '06, M.B.A. '07, enrolled at UBalt, he didn't know at first if it was right for him. He spent some time feeling his way around before realizing it was one of his best decisions. The small class sizes impressed him, as did the opportunity to communicate freely with professors. "Close communication creates a better learning environment and gives you the chance to enhance your learning experience through your professor's personal experience and background."
When asked to recall his fondest memory of his UBalt experience Cici remembers the global field study his International Business class took to Buenos Aires. The study, guided by Professor Christine Nielsen, was a ten-day trip, where students met with local business owners to build working relationships between them and the state of Maryland. As he recalls, "we were representing the office of DBED (Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development) and making contacts for future potential business development between Maryland and Buenos Aires. The experience was a one of a kind; we also visited the 'Casa Rosada' – the equivalent of the 'White House' in US. We met with business owners, made contacts, learned about their businesses and their needs. It was an exciting and educational ten days."
Working full-time as a financial representative at MetLife Financial while attending classes left Cici with very little free time and a need for flexibility in class scheduling. He felt that UBalt allowed him to "have his cake and eat it too." As he explains: "It was the availability of classes for people working full-time that gave me the opportunity to earn income while advancing my knowledge at a fast pace. Essentially this translates economically to the ability to self-finance my degrees and have only very minor college loans."
Today, Cici works as a Global Investment Strategist for PTC International Portfolio Management, Inc. (IPM). His responsibilities include: customizing investment solutions based on clients' needs, asset allocation, portfolio management/trading and alternative investment implementations. He also develops proprietary in-house alternative strategies that can enhance performance while lowering overall portfolio risk. He maintains a monthly investment newsletter which he shares with clients and prospective clients.
Cici takes great pride in his ability to help his clients navigate what he describes as "an intensely and unnecessarily complex field." He explains, "I prefer to keep things simple, I like to make my clients feel at ease and in control of their investments, so I use common words to explain what I'm doing to help them."
Looking to the future, Cici has set himself admirable goals. He wants to use his knowledge from investment advising and building client relationships to expand his scope of work and create a 'Family Office' Style of wealth management, where he could assist families in not only financial matters but also non-financial matters. He sees himself as, "being the 'quarterback' of the family, the family maintains control of issues via the Family Office, while we work with trusted professionals such as lawyers, accountants, other professionals to achieve optimum efficiency in managing & growing their financial and intellectual wealth."
Not only does Cici enjoy helping his clients but he also takes every opportunity to give back to UBalt. He is a member of the Merrick Alumni Board and in this role he plays an active part in promoting the university, its programs and events. He enjoys the opportunity to return to campus and give presentations to finance classes about work he has completed and other relevant issues in finance and global investments. He believes in a world where independence, creativity and simplicity will push the next generation of growth and entrepreneurship.
This Merrick School of Business alumni profile was added in January 2013.