There are the usual adjacent-field career changes, and then there is the story of how a comparative literature and philosophy professor ended up as a wealth management advisor and vice president for the J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
It was 2018 and Carl E. Findley III (’25SPS, Wealth Management) was ensconced within the world of academia, teaching in the Great Books Program at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and publishing academic papers on Russian and German literature and philosophy. He had studied Russian and philosophy as an undergraduate at Bowdoin College, then headed to the University of Chicago for his Ph.D. in comparative literature and philosophy.
But then Findley’s father passed away, and things began to change.
“I found myself stepping into a very complex role of going through the inheritance process for multiple businesses and lots of agriculture property,” he said during a recent conversation with Columbia University School of Professional Studies (SPS) about his journey to a career in wealth management and the role that Columbia’s program played in it. “I basically went through the inheritance process 10 to 15 years before a lot of other people in my age group.”
“It was a very complicated process, and I had to take a step away from teaching to wrap my head around how to deal with and successfully manage really complex assets, including financial assets,” he continued. “And that process really led me to a desire to help other people through the inheritance process.”
So Findley began a two-year process of researching wealth management degree programs, and eventually realized Columbia’s Wealth Management program was “a perfect fit.” He enrolled in the program in 2024 and graduated in 2025 with an M.P.S. in Wealth Management and a job offer from J.P. Morgan, where he now focuses primarily on next-generation inheritors and art collecting families seeking tax-efficient ways to hold, sell, or donate their art. Along with his role at J.P. Morgan, the San Diego-based alum recently served as a course associate for the SPS Wealth Management program’s Investment Planning class, and gave a series of mini-lectures on the topic of art as an asset class.
Read the conversation with Findley below.
Can you tell us more about why you decided to pursue an M.P.S. in Wealth Management from SPS?
I wanted to get the right credentialing and the highest level of expertise that I could, and that led me to Columbia. The faculty in the program are not just professors, they are practitioners. SPS and the Wealth Management program in particular have a unique mandate in that regard: to draw on and leverage the expertise of people who have not only deep academic knowledge, but also the ability to put that knowledge into practice.
The interview process was really pivotal for me, and I felt the excitement about the program — which is led with tremendous expertise by Tracy Schwartz, who has experience in the hedge fund world and deep experience in finance. I learned the story of why the program was created, not only for career changers like myself but also for people already in the industry who really want to deepen their knowledge of financial markets. Once they explained that, and I realized the faculty were practicing professionals as well as professors, I knew I wanted to go to this program.
How did your Columbia education prepare you for your current role at J.P. Morgan?
I think there are two standout takeaways from the Wealth Management program. Number one: through constant practice it gives you a deep familiarity and comfort with speaking the language of high finance. There are a lot of group activities and group projects with your fellow classmates where you get to practice and put into effect some very high-level and complicated concepts, from psychology to the history of banking and advising, to complex investments like hedge funds and options. So when I came into this job I was not caught off guard — because the last thing you want to do is to run to a dictionary and look something up in the middle of a conversation.
Number two, which is closely related to that, is confidence. When you are taught by professors of the caliber that you have at Columbia, you gain a certain confidence that you can walk into a conversation with a client — like an ultra-high-net-worth family — and speak their language, because you have been trained properly. The program does a remarkable job of giving us the confidence to walk into these high-level conversations feeling like we can hold our own.
Did you have any favorite courses?
For me, personally, the standout was Investment Planning. It is really at the core of why I went to the Wealth Management program: to understand how these complex investments work, how returns work, how fees are structured, and the concept of risk-reward — which is really a fundamental concept at the heart of finance. That was the course I found the most stimulating. It’s taught by Stephen Bodurtha, who I think is one of the shining lights of the program. He has a unique skill of taking complex financial concepts and then distilling them into something palatable, dynamic, and clear.
What advice do you have for incoming or prospective students to the Columbia SPS Wealth Management program?
To the degree that you can, put everything else in your life on the shelf and give your full attention to the program. Do not be deceived by the nature of it being a hybrid, online program. It is not any less rigorous than it would be if you were in person. Devote the hours required to achieve excellence. If you do that, you will also further your career because, when you are done with the program, you will have done the heavy lifting.
Secondly, don’t cut any corners. Do all the reading, go to all of the faculty office hours. They aren’t just coffee breaks, they are moments when you can ask your burning questions to a highly successful financial practitioner. And that person would cost you a lot of money if you were to ask them for advice outside of the context of Columbia. These are people who are very busy and highly successful. Some of the best family offices and most well-known investors and business owners in the world seek the advice of the people who are your faculty. Their advice is golden.
So my advice is: Put everything else on the shelf while you are enrolled in the program, go to office hours, give it 100%, and don’t be deceived by the fact that it is an online program.
What challenges or advancements in the field of wealth management do you think students should prepare for?
AI, and in particular large language models, are increasingly doing a lot of the legwork. So the soft skills that ultra-high-net-worth and high-net-worth individuals are expecting from an advisor are becoming that much more important. Investments is just one aspect of the conversation you are expected to have with clients. What is the value-add that you can provide that will differentiate you from a sea of advisors? Clients also expect you to be able to hold a conversation, connect with them on a personal level, and empathize with them.
Being an advisor today requires you to deliver a high level of service and be proficient in a wide range of subjects beyond just investing, and that is where Columbia’s program stands out. You are taught to connect with the client, not just advise them.
Views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Columbia University School of Professional Studies or Columbia University.
About the Program
Columbia University’s Master of Professional Studies in Wealth Management program is a 16-month online program with asynchronous instruction specially designed to accommodate working professionals. It is taught by distinguished faculty with deep applied experience in their respective fields. Additionally, it is a CFP Board Registered Program designed to help students meet the educational requirement for CFP® certification.
The application deadline for the M.P.S. in Wealth Management program is May 1. Learn more about the program here.
