William Tanna

UIC · Cum Laude · CFA Level I Candidate

I'm William Tanna

I'm a recent finance and analytics graduate who likes building things as much as I like analyzing them.

I graduated Cum Laude from the University of Illinois Chicago in May 2026 with dual degrees in Finance and Information & Decision Sciences, concentrations in Business Analytics and Supply Chain & Operations, and six semesters on the Dean's List. I'm a CFA Level I candidate, sitting for the exam in November 2026.

I've worked across two markets — Indian equities and derivatives in Mumbai, then a live U.S. student investment fund — and I keep stacking practical credentials on the side (AWS Academy Data Engineering, SAP Global Trade Services basics, financial modeling foundations).

At a glance

Location
Chicago, Illinois
Education
UIC · Cum Laude · May 2026
Degrees
Finance & IDS
Concentrations
Business Analytics · Supply Chain & Operations
CFA
Level I · Nov 2026 exam
Schedule
LinkedIn
GitHub

How I got here

My path has been a mix of finance, data, and operations — and I've found that the overlap between those three is where I do my best work.

On the finance side, I interned as a Finance & Investment Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan in Mumbai — portfolio work across 20+ accounts (~$1.5M AUM), equity and derivatives analysis, Excel reporting during a CRM migration, and investment ideas that helped land 3 new clients. Later, as a Quantitative Research Analyst Intern at the Michael B. Michael Investment Fund ($150K AUM), I built a 20+ page Gap Inc. DCF thesis deriving $43.12 fair value vs. $21.01 market price (105% implied upside) — approved live by the investment committee with a ~1% allocation (~$1,200). I also automated Python/SQL data pipelines (−40% processing time), ran Monte Carlo stress tests, and screened names with factor models using Bloomberg Terminal, Market Pulse, and Charles Schwab ratings.

On the building side, I co-founded ClearSpend Analytics, an AI-driven vendor spend analysis platform that landed 3 clients in its first month and identified over $15K in savings for them. I also designed and built Chargeback Risk Intelligence, a full-stack fintech ML platform with an XGBoost model (23 features, 0.987 ROC-AUC) and Claude API integration for real-time fraud analysis. Separately, I built a credit risk model on the Lending Club dataset using LightGBM, taking it from 57% to 95% accuracy through iterative feature engineering — the project that got me hooked on applied ML in the first place.

That combination of finance instinct and technical build-ability came together at the 2025 Chicago Tech Circle Competition (backed by Google), where my team won 1st place with WITCH FOR FITCH, an ESG automation platform that cut PDF processing costs from $2.50 to $0.06 per document — 56x cheaper — while scaling monthly capacity from 1,600 to 28,800 documents, an 18x speed improvement.

On the operations and leadership side, I spent my undergrad years at UIC Recreation & Wellbeing, working my way up from Operations Attendant to Intramural Supervisor to Social Media Manager to Operations & Facilities Coordinator (OFC) Supervisor — earning a promotion after just one semester and becoming one of only two students selected for that supervisory role. Running a facility, managing student staff, and owning the social media presence taught me as much about people and execution as any classroom ever did.

How I work

I default to building rather than just theorizing — if I can prototype something to test an idea, I will. I like decomposing a messy problem into a model, a script, or a spreadsheet I can actually manipulate, then iterating from there rather than waiting for a perfect plan. The dual concentrations matter here: analytics for the model, supply chain and operations for how work actually moves. I'm comfortable between DCFs, factor and risk models, and the operational side of managing people, processes, and deadlines.

I've also mentored peers through UIC's Finance Mentorship Program — teaching forces you to clarify how you think. Where I want to take this: a career in finance and analytics, open to opportunities anywhere in the world. Near term I'm focused on CFA Level I in 2026 and landing a full-time role.

Outside of work

I box, play golf, and grew up around football and soccer — I referee games when I get the chance. I follow basketball closely (watch, don't play) and document a personal fitness transformation on Instagram.