Stefano Ciccarelli began his academic career at Luiss with the bachelor’s degree program in Economics and Management and then completed the master’s degree program in Corporate Finance. Stefano then was selected for the QTEM Masters Network, where he had the opportunity to study at the EDHEC Business School and the Warwick Business School, where he is currently.
Alongside another Luiss student, Pier Vincenzo Cucinella, Stefano won the Warwick Investment Challenge on financial markets. “The challenge was really interesting because it felt like we were in a real situation. We received data and we had to decide what to do,” he explained.
The competition allowed students to collect information, develop strategies, study trends and analyze the performance of industries. “Our algorithm, available online and ready for manipulation, allowed us to change the composition of our portfolio and come up with a more precise result compared to other teams in just ten minutes.”
Stefano chose Luiss for its competitive environment that motivates students to give their best and learn from everyone around them, both students and faculty. His fondest memory is the time spent at the Luiss LOFT. “It was my favorite place. I learned so much there with the prototyping and programming lessons.”
Stefano advises Luiss students to not be intimiated by difficulties. “Get used to complexity and failure. This is an important lesson to reach your goals. Be proactive, not reactive.”
Currently, Stefano is working on his own web site, financecs.com, and, thanks to his experience with the Legalità e Merito project, where he taught high school students on the importance of rule of law, he came up with the idea of “developing a platform, possibly even free, to share and develop personal skills.”