Bancroft Capital Announces Disabled Veteran Training Program Advancement and Activation for 2021 Candidates
Posted: August 13, 2021
Fort Washington, PA – August 13, 2021 – Bancroft Capital, a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) specializing in Institutional Brokerage and Capital Markets services, announced the advancement into a promising career path for one 2021 Veteran Training Program (VTP) candidate and the activation of a new candidate to the VTP program.
Committed to offering meaningful training and employment to service-disabled veterans, Bancroft Capital launched its signature VTP in 2019. Bancroft funnels profits, earned through its hard work and extensive knowledge, into the VTP, which puts disabled veterans in a position to develop a skill set capable of supporting a new career as Institutional Traders and Investment Bankers. Bancroft is dedicated to helping restore disabled veterans to their rightful place as leaders in our society and communities, but first and foremost as providers for their own families.
Former VTP Candidate Captain James Leaghty, USMC, will transition to career opportunities on the buy-side of institutional financial services. He is also considering additional professional designations to further enhance his intellectual curiosities and financial skillset. While participating as a Candidate in the VTP for less than a year – the knowledge and skill sets he developed have proven invaluable. In addition to practical application through active professional engagements while serving an internship with 40-year industry veteran and Managing Director of Capital Markets, Steve Ivcic, Leaghty was afforded the time and support necessary to complete the CFA Level 1 examination. He leaves Bancroft with the Series 7, 52, 63, 65, and 79 – in addition to the CFA Level 1 candidate.
“I will never forget the support given to me at Bancroft. It’s an amazing feeling when the entire team supports the veterans at the firm and their aspirations – regardless if the veterans want to stay at Bancroft or find opportunities elsewhere,” said Leaghty.
Leaghty served on active duty as an Artillery Officer and Wartime Movement Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps for six years. With a passion for academia, Leaghty previously pursued a political science degree from the University of Utah and has studied the Korean Language at Yonsei University. Leaghty also pursued a Master of Finance from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
“Our team at Bancroft is honored to have had James Leaghty take part in the VTP. As with all candidates who successfully graduate from the VTP, this is a WIN for the VTP and James, given our goal for the VTP is restoration of disabled veterans on whatever pathway that takes them,” said Bancroft Capital Founder Cauldon D. Quinn.
Bancroft simultaneously announced the activation in the VTP of disabled-veteran Sergeant Ahmad Smith, USMC. Ahmad’s activation in the VTP had been pending his honorable discharge from active military duty. Three years later, Ahmad will now receive educational support and training as he embarks on his career in the institutional finance industry. Ahmad, who lives in Orange County, CA, will train out of Bancroft’s Southern California office where he will work toward the completion of the VTP-sponsored FINRA program and obtain his brokerage licensing required for a career in institutional financial services.
“I am blessed to participate in the Veteran Training Program,” shared Ahmad. “I never imagined I would have this opportunity that will profoundly change my life and also the lives of my family,” Smith said.
Ahmad joined the Marines at the age of 21 after attending two years of college at Vaughn College of Aeronautics. While looking to build a career in the military he graduated recruit training in Parris Island, SC. Apart from the day his son was born, this was one of the proudest moments of his life. After years of Military Occupational Specialty Training and field combat training, he was selected to be a part of a task force in the middle east for seven months. He conducted maintenance of communications equipment and serving as a Basic Machine Gunner for any ranges and possible patrols that would occur, fulfilling his obligation to duty in the middle east. After six years of intense training and a deployment, the time came to move on to future endeavors due to a spine injury which left him with rods and screws in his lumbar spine.
“Bancroft is humbled to accept Ahmad in our Veteran Training Program. We look forward to great things with Ahmad as he combines an exceptional capacity to achieve with dogged persistence,” Quinn added.