NMSU Alumnus devotes career to helping others preserve and grow their finances

Wealth management professionals like New Mexico State University alumnus CJ Dennis devote their careers to helping others preserve and grow their finances. Dennis, a Las Cruces native who has a bachelor’s degree in finance from NMSU’s College of Business, spent 17 years working at Vanguard before becoming a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Advisors. (Courtesy photo)

Source: NMSU News Release
DATE: August 13, 2024
WRITER: Carlos Carrillo López, carlopez@nmsu.edu, 575-646-1955

Thanks to the strength of world equity markets, the wealth management sector in the United States has experienced unprecedented gains in recent years. In 2023, assets under management in this burgeoning market topped $58 billion in the U.S., and federal labor statistics show wealth management jobs growing by 13% over the next decade.

Wealth management professionals like New Mexico State University alumnus CJ Dennis devote their careers to helping others preserve and grow their finances. Dennis, a Las Cruces native who has a bachelor’s degree in finance from NMSU’s College of Business, spent 17 years working at Vanguard before becoming a senior vice president at Wells Fargo Advisors.

Today, Dennis is a private wealth financial advisor, helping both high-net worth clients and organizations with their financial objectives.

“Moving to Wells Fargo has really allowed me the opportunity to help clients in almost every facet of their financial needs,” Dennis said. “From planning to insurance to liability management. It feels great to be that vital resource for clients.”

After graduating from NMSU, Dennis relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, to work as an investment consultant. Among his responsibilities, he assisted new investors with a minimum of $1 million in assets. He eventually became a portfolio manager and worked with large institutions throughout the western U.S. His areas of focus included endowments, foundations and nonprofit organizations where collectively he managed approximately $2 billion.

Dennis said he learned to effectively manage institutional assets through his experience as a senior investment analyst. In this role, he was instrumental in assisting institutions with ad-hoc analytics, portfolio analysis and presentation development. He also credits courses he took at NMSU that focused on financial analysis to prepare him for the role.

In 2016, Dennis became a chartered financial analyst charter holder after completing a robust certification program through the CFA Institute. CFA requirements include 4,000 hours of work experience over three sequential years and demonstrated skills in leadership, teamwork, business communications, critical thinking, time management and other areas. CFA candidates must also pass the rigorous three-part exam, where historical pass rates range from 35-50%.

Dennis most recently served as the president of the CFA Society of Phoenix, which represents more than 500 portfolio managers, securities analysts, registered investment advisors, economists, pension plan sponsors, educators and other investment professionals in the greater Phoenix area. He currently serves on the group’s board of directors and was instrumental in growing the CFA Society of Phoenix’s Global Research Challenge. This marquee event hosts students from area universities, where they compete analyze a publicly traded company to gain real-world experience on what financial analysts do daily. Dennis championed the society to expand outside of Arizona and include both NMSU and UNM students to participate in this challenge.

“It has been a real honor to coach and advocate for NMSU. I owe the university so much and feels great to pay it forward,” he said.

In addition to his degree from NMSU, Dennis completed a management program through Wharton Executive Education at the University of Pennsylvania.

A version of this story first published in the latest issue of the College of Business Annual Report. Read the issue here.

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Levi Gwaltney

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