HWS News
10 April 2024 • Alums Karofsky ’89 Joins President’s Forum Series
President of UBS Investment Bank Rob Karofsky ’89 returns to campus in April as a President’s Forum Speaker.
Bringing decades of experience as a leader in the financial services industry, President of UBS Investment Bank Rob Karofsky ’89 joins President Mark D. Gearan in conversation on Thursday, April 18, kicking off the HWS Volunteer Leadership Summit.
Karofsky will discuss current economic trends, organizational leadership and his career in finance during the conversation. Titled “The Future of Finance,” the event will begin at 7 p.m. in the Vandervort Room of the Scandling Campus Center.
Established in 2000 by President Gearan, the President’s Forum Series brings a variety of speakers to campus to share their knowledge and ideas with students, faculty and staff, as well as with interested community members.
Karofsky began his career in financial services at Morgan Stanley as an oil analyst within the commodities business before joining the equities unit, where he became manager of the international equities desk and manager of US Delta One trading. He later held various regional and global leadership positions at Deutsche Bank and AllianceBernstein before joining UBS as Global Head of Equities in 2014. From 2018 to 2021, he served as co-president of UBS Investment Bank, and has been sole president from 2021 to date. He is a member of the UBS Group Executive Board.
As a student at HWS, Karofsky was a Durfee scholar, played football and was a member of Sigma Chi. He graduated with high Honors in economics and later earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.
A regular contributor to the HWS Finance Experience program and a member of the President’s Leadership Council, Karofsky joined President Gearan and young alumni in October at a breakfast event in New York City to share his expertise and advice.
In the winter 2024 issue of the Pulteney Street Survey, Karofsky and his former advisor, Professor Emeritus of Economics Pat McGuire L.H.D. ’12, looked back at the lasting impacts of Honors research and the value of close faculty-student collaboration.
In recognition of McGuire’s impact on his life, Karofsky recently made a significant contribution to the Patrick A. McGuire L.H.D. ’12 and Sandra A. McGuire Study Abroad Fund. The fund recognizes the McGuires’ commitment to global education and the impact they have made on the programs at HWS.
Click here for more information on the HWS Volunteer Leadership Summit.
In the photo above, Rob Karofsky ’89 offers career insights to recent HWS graduates at an event in New York City in Fall 2023.
