Smith School of Business fosters a competitive environment, prompting students to consider their careers post-graduation from the first day of their journey. Like every other student, the competitive nature has driven me to expand my horizons and seek further education outside my courses. My method of choice is reading. Books like "Too Big to Fail" by Andrew Ross Sorkin and "Zero to One" by Peter Thiel originated the habit, recently leading me to explore Ray Dalio's content.
His books "How Countries Go Broke – The Big Debt Cycle" and "Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order – Why Nations Succeed and Fail" cover high-level topics, revealing a different perspective with which to view macroeconomics. "The Big Debt Cycle" struck me in a particular way. The concepts are so intuitive, yet so deep in implications, that I nearly had to read every paragraph 3+ times. In a nutshell, he describes patterns he noticed in financial crises that indicate incoming recessionary periods. Every 80 years or so (in most cases), the last being the early 1930s in Canada, countries experience large debt crises, often originating from the transition to fiat currencies, then debt growth outpacing income growth for decades until it becomes unsustainable (the two biggest steps, there are many more before and between).
Seeing the effect debt has on the economy long-term, it was clear that I wanted to take part in it. No matter the economic state (or AI impacts), people will be necessary to offer debt financial services as debt fuels economic growth and offers relief during troughs.
I had conducted some light research into the career opportunities in the debt sector, and I was met with a pattern: sell-side debt jobs (leveraged finance and private credit) don't hire many undergrads. This is because the learning curve is steep. Interns must learn both M&A mechanics and debt fundamentals at once. Logically, they prefer people who have experience in one of the two to lessen the initial shock.
The Mission
This is the origin of Strata: to educate and prepare undergraduate students for careers in the debt market. Strata (Latin for layers/tranches) is a metaphor representing the capital structure. It reflects how risk is distributed as well as value; all layers have their own niches and risks, some more than others, but I am choosing to take a risk in pursuing PC and LevFin as entry is difficult as an undergraduate student.
To decrease the risk of failure, Strata aims to build fundamental knowledge in the following concepts:
- Capital structure analysis and debt hierarchies
- Credit risk and downside protection
- Loan structuring and covenants
- Private credit, leveraged finance, and direct lending
- Distressed debt and restructurings
Beyond education, Strata aims to expose students to the wide range of career paths available in debt markets—investment banking (LevFin), private credit, corporate banking, restructuring advisory, credit research, and asset management. These are roles that are critical to how capital flows through the economy yet are often overlooked in traditional finance education.
Start Your Journey
Strata began as a personal curiosity, one born from attempting to gain knowledge above that of my peers. I urge all reading this to try this for themselves; you may discover your passion.