Angela Okware on upgrading her career to investment banking with Asper’s Master of Finance Program.
Current Asper Master of Finance (MFin) student Angela Okware spends most of her days around numbers…but she might just be able to brew you a Budweiser or Coca-Cola while she’s at it.
In her career up to this point, Angela worked in operational finance, an area requiring knowledge of both business operations and every step of a manufacturing process. Knowing how to spot opportunities and red flags means understanding the initial sourcing, production, and warehousing, until the final sale is made.
Angela comes to Winnipeg from Kampala, Uganda, where she worked for Anheuser-Busch Inbev (the makers of Budweiser), Carrefour (a French Retail Chain), and Coca-Cola.
Not long after she joined the MFin Program, she saw snow for the very first time—an otherworldly sight for someone from a country often termed “the pearl of Africa.”
Throughout her career, Angela became more interested in the ups and downs of the North American investment markets.
“It so happens Africa doesn't yet have a very developed capital market,” she said. “I wanted to see the bonds prices changing following a statement coming out of the US.”
Like an action hero, she felt a call to “get into the action,” and looked for a path where she could earn a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.
When Angela did her research, Asper’s MFin program stood out.
“The University of Manitoba has a good ranking, for one, and also the affiliation with the CFA Institute,” she said. “For me, that was the deciding factor.”
Indeed, the Asper MFin is a CFA Institute University Affiliation Program. It is designed to prepare students to write all three levels of exams needed to obtain the CFA, with a focus on the Level 1 exam.
In addition to being a CFA Affiliated program, Asper Master of Finance students can complete their degree in one year (three terms)—one of the shortest durations for programs of its kind in Canada.
Now that she’s here, Angela is very happy she chose Asper.
She’s in school full-time, and enjoys the schedule of evening classes, where she has the day to study, cook, and volunteer.
Helpful academic advisors made the transition to a new set of systems easy. The graduate-level study spaces have made her feel at home.
“And it’s just a great community,” she said—speaking fondly about game nights with friends from the program.
Okware elevated her Asper experience even further by participating in a case competition. Along with classmates Steven Hardie and Clare Issak, the trio placed first in the 2026 CFA Society Canada Regional Ethics Challenge for the Prairies (SK and MB).
The team rallied to come up with innovative, creative solutions for the cases, which challenged them on future ethics issues they would face in investment finance.
Okware said they stood out thanks to the synergy between their team, as well as standout mentorship and coaching from Asper Professor Howard Harmatz.
And they’re not done yet. Next (thanks to their win), Angela and her team will be headed off to make an international impact in the upcoming CFA National Competition.
Looking forward to her future, Okware hopes to merge her expertise in the manufacturing sector with investment banking, and—if she has the opportunity—stay in Winnipeg.
This shouldn’t be hard considering the breadth of manufacturers in Winnipeg, a North-American supply chain hub and home to countless large manufacturers such as New Flyer.
And by the way: Okware has nothing but great things to say about Manitoba. She enjoys the close-knit community, the welcoming people, and that everyone “obeys the rules in traffic,” (traffic is a little “chaotic” in Kampala by comparison, she says).
She doesn’t even mind the dramatic change of climate.
“For one reason or another, I like the cold,” she said.
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