Hometown: New Delhi, India
Abhirit "Abhi" Kanti has always believed in challenging his worldview and embarked halfway across the world in the United States for an undergraduate degree from Purdue University. Though his major was electrical engineering, it was the universality of mathematics that captivated his imagination when his Linear Circuits professor demonstrated how cash flows in a household could be modeled with the same differential equations used to describe the behavior of LCR electric circuits. To explore the emerging domain of mathematical modeling, he took challenging courses in Numerical Methods, Game Theory and Programming, and prepared himself to engage in NYU’s prestigious MS in Financial Engineering program.
As a student at NYU, he has been committed to building both the technical as well as the soft skills needed to thrive in the cutthroat, and increasingly data-driven world of finance. He participated in the University Trading Challenge where he and his friends yielded 1st and 2nd places overall, as well as dominating the competition by securing 1st place in three out of the four competition categories (trading, portfolio management and Forex Trading). Tangible resources, such as NYU FRE’s world-class curriculum, faculty of industry practitioners and the Bloomberg lab, were as invaluable as intangible resources like guidance from the alumni network in securing this victory.
He also co-founded and serves as the Vice President of the Bulls and Bears FRE Club. This extracurricular club is aimed at enhancing the cohort’s FRE degree experience by conducting finance-related projects to build practical skills outside the classroom, leading discussion / debate groups and creating an informal environment for FRE students to get to know each other and form a tight-knit student body. He serves as an ambassador to the program alongside Alex Marchi and Claudio González.