Introduction: The Master of Financial Economics program starts in July and sees students complete their degrees approximately 18 months later. The program includes a semester-long internship in the field. Simon (Yumeng) Yang‘s MFE adventure was a little longer. He took a year out to open Caffe’in, a coffee business that now has two locations on the UofT campus.
“We love the strong ideas our students bring to the MFE program,” said Professor Jordi Mondria, Director. “In Simon’s case, we could make an accommodation to support an exceptional entrepreneurial opportunity while maintaining our academic standards. It’s been great to watch him succeed as a founder, as a student, and now at RBC.”
Having finished his degree requirements, Simon is now working full time and shared this memoire of his MFE experience.
The MFE is only a year and half long. It was an adventure, but it was shorter than any of my other academic journeys. The program was the most memorable and vivid of my education life. I have never felt so connected with any program and cohort as I felt with the MFE.
I first joined the program in 2023, after working a year at the Bank of Canada (2022-2023). I was seeking more career opportunities and personal growth. Before the official start date, I could already feel the rigor and demand of the program. As soon as I accepted the offer in February, I had been spending hours every day after work studying BIWS, polishing my resume, reaching out to networks, and scheduling mock and real interviews.
Just before starting the program, I started my own coffee business. Caffe’in started as a single truck parked right on St. George Street at UofT. From the first moment, I intended the venture to be a complement to my formal finance training, not an alternative to it. After years of academic preparation in financial economics, I wanted to test theoretical frameworks against the realities of running a business. Thin margins, volatile costs, and real downside risk. Building and running Caffe’in provided a first principles understanding of how cash-flow durability, operational constraints, and risk accumulation interact in practice. It was an experience that has sharpened my analytical judgment and reinforced my long-term commitment to institutional finance and risk management. Leveraging my financial training, I secured an early-stage angel investment and designed my successful exit strategy for the business.
Those two summer months of starting the program while starting up the business represent one of the most demanding periods of my life. The Department of Economics’ MFE program is the most renowned graduate finance program in the nation. With its fame comes student responsibility. We were expected to study two intensive courses while preparing for mock and real interviews throughout the first two months. Jeff made sure our calendar was full of PD sessions and interview practices to prepare us for landing the opportunities we wanted. I also had to work on a new business; contacting suppliers, licensing officials, employees; and delivering operations， products， and designs outside of my regular MFE time. I will never forget staying in the basement workrooms of Max Gluskin House until 4AM studying Microeconomics with the members of my cohort. I’ll never forget running to Caffe’in immediately after class to keep the new-born business alive.
It was at the end of my first summer, when my business finally opened for operations, for me to realize that I had to commit full-time to the business. I had to have a conversation with my program team. I expected them to be furious when I came to them, but they were not. Jeff, Jordi, and Ana were superbly supportive. They guided and reassured me, granting me a year on personal leave to build my business. They were only disappointed that I did not come to them sooner so they could help with my personal growth earlier.
Their support made me warm, like a hot latte during winter, as we say in the coffee business. The MFE program team showed me that a student was not just another person who comes and goes, but a part of a cohort that takes care of one another. With that encouragement, Caffe’in was able to grow to the stable business it is now. It is now, with the work of an experienced and committed general manager, capable of operating without me.
After stabilizing the business operations using financial skills I learned in class, I was ready to come back to the program a year later, fully committed to my financial career. I officially re-entered in September 2024. It was another rigorous time as we all tried to land good internships while juggling a full course load, including Econometrics which is one of the most difficult courses in the MFE program. Doing the academic preparations while participating in mock interviews, resume reviews, and coffee chats was especially stressful when internship offers just were not coming in. These moments made me wonder if I truly belonged in the program. Then, it all came together. My internship offer from RBC came through by the end of October. The emerging risk team wanted me to join them within an hour of my interview because they loved how I elaborated on my views on global politics and how it all ties back into finance and economics. Once my offer came, I was surprisingly calm. Just like that, I had achieved what I could only have dreamed of over the months before.
After securing and completing the internship, I devoted the rest of my time in MFE focusing on my academics, helping the new cohorts of MFEs, and continuing to build my friendships with my classmates. It was a sad and touching moment when we had to say goodbye to a dear friend just this past month. Tears were in people’s eyes as he walked through the gates at the airport.
I feel blessed that I went to the truly exceptional emerging risk team at RBC as an intern. I received a return offer from Group Risk Management at RBC to work as a rotational analyst. Now, after completing the degree and having started my full-time role, I do not want to put my emphasis on the academic and professional rigors the MFE program, but on the most important treasure the program has to offer: the people I connected with and the friendships I built. They are the true crown jewels of my MFE adventure.
Simon (Yumeng) Yang completed his MFE course work in December 2025 and will cross the stage at Convocation Hall this June with his cohort.
Return to the Department of Economics website.
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