Speaking to Sean Cameron (MBA 2010) is a bit like having a spirited dialogue with a tenured HBS professor. His financial vernacular spilling over into conversation like a textbook; his knowledge of and passion for macroeconomics, palpable.
Raised in New Hampshire, Cameron grew up in an environment that, in his own words, was “a bit of a news junkie household.” Surrounded by stacks of publications like The Wall Street Journal, as a teenager he developed a keen understanding of macroeconomic terms—an interest that grew as he later forged his own higher educational and career paths.
As an undergraduate at Princeton University, Cameron majored in economics with a minor in finance and spent much of his senior year at the university’s interdisciplinary research centers, The Bendheim Center for Finance and Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
“It was just a treasure trove,” said Cameron. “I was getting coursework in finance, macroeconomics, and policy, and, while there, I got a sense that I was leaning toward bonds. That’s what led to my first position in fixed income at Goldman Sachs.”
HBS or Bust
After graduating from Princeton in 2005, Cameron accepted a financial analyst position with Goldman Sachs in mortgage trading and investment banking—but not until first earning a GMAT score he felt would later secure his acceptance at HBS.
“In those seven weeks after graduation I did little but study,” said Cameron. “I knew I wanted to go to HBS because of how the students come together and learn from each other. Sometimes you just know what’s right and pivot toward that.”
In fact, HBS was the only graduate program Cameron applied to. He appreciated that HBS wasn’t a finance-only institution—rather, its well-rounded approach would prepare him in areas he knew he had deficiencies, such as management, strategy, operations, and marketing.
“I was intrigued by the study of business as a profession through multiple lens,” said Cameron. “Harvard Business School prepares students well for a training in general management and prizes a multi-disciplinary perspective rather than one overly focused on one area.”
Cameron credits the HBS network, especially Career & Professional Development (CPD) Career Coaches, in helping him navigate his career journey both as a student and thereafter. He utilized CPD’s recruiting platform as well to source his summer internship and full-time position post HBS. As the former education representative in his HBS class and co-president of the Investment club, Cameron developed strong relationships with his professors—one of which, helped him to land his current position at MFS Investment Management.
In It for the Long Run
As a research analyst at MFS Investment Management, Cameron focuses on quantitative, strategic, and thematic approaches to bond management. MFS specializes in managing investment portfolios for both retail and institutional investors with the goal of delivering long-term results.
On a day-to-day basis, Cameron typically works behind the scenes, researching macroeconomic and market crosscurrents to inform clients’ long-term investment decision making—not unlike preparing a case at HBS and then discussing it in the classroom. He and the research team at MFS are driven by an insatiable intellectual curiosity that they then apply to equity and bond management.
“In order to sustain yourself in a job and career like this, you have to be inherently curious,” said Cameron. “You have to not only enjoy answering questions, but also asking them.”
An avid marathoner with thirteen 26.2-milers now under his belt, including a recent personal best of 2:39:49, it’s easy for Cameron to draw the parallel between running and research. He makes it a point to go the distance every day for the benefit of his clients’ long-term investment portfolios.
In his words: “Miles make champions. As long as you do the work, you keep getting stronger.”