Carlo Trabanco got his start investing at age 15, when he visited the Capital Markets Lab at FIU’s College of Business. A member—and later president—of his high school’s Future Business Leaders of America club, Trabanco and his peers came to FIU on a regular basis to learn about financial literacy from senior business students.
After investing his birthday money that year, Trabanco found he had a knack for the trade, and over time he’s seen more than a 70 percent return on his investments.
He spent his last three years of high school learning the ins and outs of investing, and eventually earned his Bloomberg license, a certification that allows him to operate the same market tracking-and-analysis software used on Wall Street.
Now 18, Trabanco is also a licensed realtor at Century 21 Real Estate LLC, working part time while he finishes his bachelor’s degree in finance at the College of Business.
Trabanco, a member of FIU’s Honors College, attributes his success to a long list of mentors—ranging from FIU students at the Capital Markets Lab to local investor Raymond Mendez, whom he considers his “professional parent”—who dedicated their time to helping him learn both the trade and other life lessons. And he plans to pay it forward as a senior, teaching high school students financial literacy at the lab.
His advice for students: Be ever hungry for knowledge.

“I’m still learning something every day.”

This post “Finance student excels as young investor” was originally published on FIU News.