By Jong Eun Jung
Sunny Podila
Sunny Podila (MBA’20) was originally working in public accounting as an assurance services senior associate at a local Nashville firm when he realized that he wanted to transition to mutual funds and asset management. “I was always interested in personal investing. And I thought the mutual fund industry was something where you can put your own influence on what other people end up investing in,” Podila said. He decided an MBA program would be the perfect transition from auditing to equity mutual funds.
Even before starting the MBA program at Vanderbilt Business, Podila started networking with alumni, and his hard work ultimately paid off when he landed a summer internship at Fidelity Investments. During the internship, Podila realized that he wanted to do more equity trading, so he began looking at other jobs in mutual funds to find a better fit.
After another round of applications and interviews his second year, Podila accepted the offer to become associate portfolio manager at Dimensional Fund Advisors. “I (look forward to) working with people that are academically focused, and also getting hands on experience in equity trading and the mutual fund industry,” he said.
Click through Podila’s timeline below to find out how he landed the offer.
