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. [Read more…]