Now Booking: Equity & macro research/Data & analytics

About

A research-minded operator across financial markets, data, education, and impact.

Rida Fatima portrait
Karachi · Pakistan

01 · Opening

Learning has never been limited to a classroom for me.

I've never seen learning as something limited to classrooms. For me, every subject becomes more meaningful when I can connect it to people, financial markets, decisions, systems, or impact.

After matriculation, I knew I wanted to make a difference, but I didn't have one fixed path. I was curious about entrepreneurship, marketing, economics, finance, programming, physics, religion, public speaking, and problem-solving. Instead of waiting to become "ready," I started trying different things, building small wins, and learning through real work.

02 · Early Journey

BDSWO: where responsibility wasn't a theory.

My early foundation in execution came through NGO work with BDSWO. I worked on volunteering and community involvement, event coordination and on-ground logistics, vendor management and budget awareness, social media promotion and outreach, and supporting people through practical programs.

That's where I learned the skills that matter in real projects: ownership, structure, communication, and follow-through.

03 · Learning + Internships

Communication, structure, and execution matter as much as technical knowledge.

Upkey entrepreneurship/marketing internships taught business plans, pitching, marketing strategy, and client-oriented thinking. A research/logistics internship in a mental health organization sharpened operational coordination, documentation, and structured delivery. MindWorks International, a speaker internship, built public speaking, debating, hosting, and storytelling.

Ideas only become valuable when they're translated into something people can use.

04 · Computational Finance

Why Computational Finance fits me.

Computational Finance gave language to many things I already loved: numbers, financial markets, logic, systems, uncertainty, risk, and decision-making. In simple terms, it combines finance, mathematics, statistics, and computing to solve real financial problems.

It's where I get to work with Python and data workflows, financial markets and investment research, risk and forecasting, and quantitative thinking and decision systems.

05 · Finance & Research

Sherman Securities: moving closer to market reality.

At Sherman Securities as an Equity Research Analyst Intern, I studied Pakistan's economy and the PSX; tracked CPI, T-bills, current account, and LSM; ran sector research (including Steel and Power); connected company fundamentals to macro shifts; understood CPI methodology and market-moving events; and wrote research-backed explanations to support better decisions.

I care about research that doesn't just sound smart. I care about research that reduces confusion and leads to clearer action.

06 · Leadership

Societies have been one of my strongest teachers.

President · Quants Society. President · NED Photography Society. Chief Financial Officer · NED Debating Society. Founder · EnginEER Talks (UK-registered firm supporting university students in third-world countries).

Across these roles, I learned how to build teams and organize systems, coordinate events and speakers, host sessions and communicate with confidence, and mentor students.

07 · Community & Impact

Combine Foundation: turning a mission into a system.

I helped build and run the Kitchen Gardening & Sustainable Agriculture Initiative under the 'Apna Ugao, Apna Khao' mission. That meant agriculture student recruitment and team structure, weekly operations and field coordination, KPI tracking and performance monitoring, budget management and resource allocation, event strategy and community engagement.

Execution is the difference between awareness and impact.

08 · Philosophy

The biggest mistake is not failing. It's never trying.

My approach is simple: Apply anyway. Start messy. Learn in public. Build useful things. Help juniors grow. Make knowledge accessible. Convert ideas into execution.

Today, I'm building my work around finance, data, research, education, and impact. I'm open to paid research projects, finance and analytics consultancies, speaking invitations, NGO collaborations, student workshops, and opportunities where analytical thinking and execution discipline are needed.

Timeline

The path so far.

  1. 01

    Matric

    Curiosity across entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, programming.

  2. 02

    BDSWO

    Volunteering, event coordination, vendor management, outreach.

  3. 03

    Internships

    Upkey, mental health research, MindWorks speaker internship.

  4. 04

    University

    Computational Finance at NED: financial markets, math, computing.

  5. 05

    Societies

    Quants, Photography, Debating CFO, EnginEER Talks founder.

  6. 06

    Sherman Securities

    Equity Research Analyst Intern · PSX & macro.

  7. 07

    SOA Challenge

    Top 6 globally · only team from South Asia.

  8. 08

    Combine Foundation

    Kitchen Gardening & Sustainable Agriculture lead.