Billion-dollar deals: J.P. Morgan banker, alum tells of ascent

Published: 2013-04-16

Joe Benny, a student in the Specialized Master in Finance (SMF) program, said he had the best validation yet that his course work has real-time, real-world application.

It came from J.P. Morgan Securities Managing Director, Peter York, a Fisher alumnus, who is a senior banker in asset-based lending responsible for loans ranging from $100 million to more than $2 billion.

York, who obtained his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Fisher, spoke to students about his work at J.P. Morgan. York specializes in restructured financing and leveraged buyouts.  During his visit to the Fisher campus, he gave the SMF students an overview of today’s climate in the leverage finance and asset-based loan markets, focusing on the firm’s success in capital markets and high yield bonds.

Benny is currently working on his SMF project in the university treasurer office, which is responsible for the issuance of bonds, notes and master leases. “It was great hearing about debt management from a professional’s insight,” Benny said. “It runs in parallel to what I’m doing in my project and his perspective reflects and supports what we are learning in the academic setting.”

York’s lecture at Fisher isn’t the first time the alumnus has given an inside view of his successful career in banking. Over the last several years, York has hosted students in Fisher’s Student Investment Management program and other finance classes at J.P. Morgan’s offices in Chicago. “I enjoy doing this and think it’s important to give back,” said York, a certified public accountant who also encouraged the students to support Fisher after graduation.

York and his wife, Jill, started a scholarship at Fisher, which supports a student majoring in accounting or finance with a GPA of 3.0 to 3.5.