Luke
Makuen

I am a second-year Finance student at Case Western Reserve University from South Philadelphia. I am interested in investment banking and currently study consumer businesses through the Weatherhead Fund.

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CWRU · Class of 2029

About me

South Philadelphia to Cleveland

I grew up near Angelo’s in South Philadelphia in a tight-knit family: my parents, my sister, and me, plus my two cats. Sports were a large part of my childhood, and I played baseball for most of it. I initially came to CWRU to continue playing.

Philadelphia is energetic, loud, and rarely slow. I have also been fortunate to travel to different cities and countries with my family. Between home, baseball, and travel, I have found that I prefer being around people from different backgrounds and in places with active environments.

Luke with his dad at an Eagles game — My dad and I at the Eagles NFC Championship Game in 2018; the game before they won their first-ever Super Bowl. Go Birds!

Luke batting for Friends’ Central varsity baseball — Four years of varsity baseball at Friends’ Central, three league championships, and team captain as a senior.

Experience

What I’ve worked on

Weatherhead Fund
Associate · Consumer

Luke presenting an investment pitch to the Weatherhead Fund general body — Presenting an investment pitch to the Weatherhead Fund’s general body.

Researching and presenting public-market investments

I research consumer businesses through filings, earnings calls, Bloomberg, and analyst reports. My work includes developing investment theses, building DCF and comparable-company valuations, and presenting stock pitches to the fund.

Presenting to the fund has taught me how to defend an investment thesis when other members challenge its assumptions and how to revise my view when the argument against it is stronger. The combination of analytical work and communication is one reason I am pursuing investment banking.

Simon & Schuster
Finance Intern

Seeing the financial operations of a large company

I worked with accounts-receivable and operating data across more than 5,000 customer accounts. I processed invoices and claims, reconciled balances, supported three-month cash forecasts for major accounts, and audited royalty payouts for more than 200 authors.

The role gave me exposure to FP&A, forecasting, and the financial processes behind a large company. It also clarified that I wanted my next experience to include more interaction, urgency, and teamwork.

Five Below
Customer Analytics Intern

Turning product data into recommendations

I analyzed more than 11,000 pet retail products, identified several that I believed Five Below should sell, and presented my recommendations to the buying team. Some were pursued across more than 1,800 stores, giving me an early look at how a large analysis can contribute to real business decisions.

Outside finance

A few things that are part of my life

Luke skiing in the mountains — **Skiing**
Skiing makes me feel like I’m flying. I love going off-trail and through the trees, and I’ve been fortunate to ski in Zermatt, Switzerland; Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, France; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Luke making fresh pasta with his family — **Cooking**
Cooking is part of my everyday life, and I even wrote my college essay about eggs. In this photo, my family and I were making fresh pasta together in Italy.

Sugar and Pepper resting together — **Sugar & Pepper**
These are my cats, Sugar and Pepper. I know the names don't make much sense, and somehow Pepper is also a lot nicer than Sugar.

Recalc Finance Accelerator

Why Recalc

Conversations

I spoke with Cormac Apostolides, Mark Takasaki, Jared Sandberg, and Shilpi Bardhan to understand what the program is like beyond technical training and recruiting preparation. The part of those conversations that stayed with me was the pod structure.

CormacMarkJaredShilpi

Pods

Pods create a smaller group within Recalc where members can work through recruiting together, discuss challenges, improve their networking approach, and build relationships with mentors.

What interested me most was hearing that those relationships extended beyond scheduled training or transactional advice.

Participation

As a baseball captain, I learned to support teammates individually and set a standard through consistency rather than being the loudest voice.

At Recalc, I would show up prepared, help members work through difficult concepts, and contribute to discussions about businesses and markets. After recruiting, I would make myself available to younger members entering the same process.

LukeMakuen