Why Sean McDermott Chose Trinity for Finance

Sean McDermott '26 didn't wait for graduation to start making real decisions in finance. He's already executed a $500,000 trade through Trinity's Student Managed Fund (the largest undergraduate-only student managed fund in the country at $17 million!), secured a highly coveted full-time position with banking powerhouse Stephens Inc., and built the alumni relationships that make competitive industries feel a lot more reachable.

And he's doing all of that before he gets his diploma.

"You're not going to get those experiences, especially as an undergraduate, literally really anywhere else in the country," McDermott says. "So I think that experience has been really unique."

A finance and economics double major from South California, McDermott came to Trinity as a recruited athlete for baseball , and loved the warm weather, rigorous academics, and competitive tuition costs.

And he fell in love with finance after taking his first financial accounting class, where he was intrigued by the idea of understanding a company's financials and higher-level valuations. "Once I took corporate finance, and really started to understand more of the intricacies of financing a business, I really enjoyed it," he says.

McDermott has particularly enjoyed working with Professor of Finance and Business Analytics Dante Suarez , Ph.D. "He's been able to guide me through portfolio allocation, looking at broad sector thought, looking at broad macroeconomic trends, and intrinsic valuation, but also looking at management cases, and figuring out what makes a company unique or undervalued in its industry," he says.

But faculty and on-campus opportunities aren't the only resources that make Trinity a good investment, McDermott says. He credits the University's passionate and tight-knit alumni network with helping him connect with the Stephens Inc. opportunity, now a full-time position.

"Trinity deserves a lot of credit in that one. Trinity is a small school, with a smaller alumni network, but that means our alumni are very, very interested in helping Trinity students as much as they can," he says. "At Stephens, the guy who ended up hiring me is a Trinity alum, and he got the job originally because another Trinity alum referred him."

During McDermott's networking efforts, he says he spoke with a couple of dozen Trinity alums across investment banking and private equity roles. Those relationships, he believes, are part of what separates Trinity's experience from bigger schools.

"I think without Trinity, I probably don't end up in the position that I'm in," he says. "This industry really comes down to what kind of connections and relationships you can build, and Trinity's network is just so passionate that it really punches above its weight in that category."

As a senior, McDermott has relished building friendships and camaraderie with his SMF colleagues and baseball teammates, but has also found energy through opportunities like serving as a leader for a Catholic men's Bible study student group.

"At Trinity, you end up getting these really good interdisciplinary opportunities to meet with and connect with different types of people from different backgrounds who are studying different things. And I think that's a really positive benefit," he says.

As McDermott thinks back on his decision to attend Trinity, he's excited about the next wave of finance majors who are considering following in his footsteps.

"I feel this current senior class has, by far, the best job placement that Trinity's ever had. And I know that there's a lot of motivation both from alumni in the industry about this senior class, as well as going down to some of the sophomores and juniors right now," he says. "If you're looking to get into a competitive industry, like investment banking, obviously one of the most competitive industries to get into, Trinity can place you very well."