In January, Blair Academy’s seventh annual Finance Summit was jointly hosted for the first time by three schools: Blair Academy, The Hill School and Mercersburg. As in past years, the summit was designed to provide a space for thoughtful dialogue, shared learning, and developing professional connections among students, alumni, parents, and industry leaders.  

The program featured three guest speakers with decades of experience and distinct perspectives on the world of finance: John Bonello of Millennium Partners, Preston Athey of T. Rowe Price Associates, and Pablo Coballasi ’91 of PC Capital. Though their paths differ, each built a career guiding investment strategy and managing complex portfolios in demanding markets.

Bonello, a Blair parent, drew on his experience in G7 government bonds and macro-driven markets through his work at Millennium Partners. He touched on the ways macroeconomic forces shape financial decision-making and spoke candidly about why the U.S. Treasury yields are currently an unattractive investment given tax rates and inflation. Pointing to broader concerns, he noted that the national debt has grown from $21 trillion in 2017 to $38 trillion today. “We spend more on interest service than on national defense,” he said. “We have all this debt rolling over and the interest service is massive. We don’t talk about it, but the central banks are printing money again. It’s inherently unstable and unsustainable. We are debasing our currency.”  

Athey, a Hill School alumnus, spent an impressive 38 years at T. Rowe Price, where he focused on equity analysis and small-cap portfolio management. His work is grounded in rigorous research, disciplined valuation and a long-term approach to investing. Having invested his first stock at the age of 7, Athey shared lessons learned over a lifetime of investing. “Over a long period of time, most managers cannot beat the market,” he said. For individual investors, “Very low-cost passive management is probably the most appropriate way to invest.” He added that the real challenge is not passive versus active investing, but human behavior: “People who invest with their heart and not their head. They buy high and sell low. Just put the money in and forget.” 

Coballasi flew in from Mexico City to join the Summit. He leads PC Capital with a focus on private equity, identifying high-potential companies and scaling businesses throughout Latin America. His remarks highlighted the role of private equity in both value creation and social impact. Thinking back to his own early experiences in Mexico City, Coballasi spoke about his mission to reduce economic inequality and contribute to the development of his country. “When I was growing up in Mexico, I became acutely aware of the social inequality that a large portion of the population faces,” he explained. “Private equity is a powerful way to create and grow businesses that generate prosperity, jobs, social mobility and opportunities for a lot of people. It is a field where you can do really well financially, but also do a lot of good.”

Together, the speakers represented three distinct pillars of finance—global fixed income, public equity, and private equity. Their collective insights offered attendees a clearer picture of what thoughtful investment stewardship looks like in practice, as well as how thoughtful analysis can support responsible allocation of capital.

More important, the evening served as a reminder that what makes these schools exceptional is not only their academic rigor, but also the strength of the relationships within and among their communities—ties that help prepare students for leadership in an increasingly complex world.

– Blair Academy Director of Communications Adele Starr