John Wagner, MBA

Current position: Senior Analyst - Asset Management, Pelium

Story updated: Fall 2025
Job title updated: Summer 2025
Story posted: Spring 2023

My favorite part of GMercyU is its tight-knit community. I’ve been able to meet many individuals both inside and outside of my sport, and make connections and friends that will last a lifetime.

As a student at Pope John Paul II High School, John wanted to continue his soccer career and learned of GMercyU when searching for local Division III schools.

“The selling point for me was the family-like environment around the men’s soccer team as well as the 4+1 MBA program, where I could acquire my undergraduate degree in finance and also my MBA within 5 years,” John said.

“I chose Finance as my major because I find the industry extremely interesting, and I love the analysis and investing pieces. Having a firm understanding of how to invest in whatever asset class you choose is pivotal for a strong financial career,” he said.

John loved his experience in the Finance program and expressed that every professor made themselves available and helped him grow through any challenges. 

Aside from learning the technical skills of the industry, John’s professors stressed the importance of people skills, writing, and public speaking for creating a well-rounded business student.

I have to credit Dr. Harper, Dr. Figueira, and Dr. Bruce for their tutelage and teachings. All three professors have helped me learn financial technical skills that will benefit me down the line. More importantly though, the three taught me about the importance of people and growing your network. You can be brilliant, but without people skills you won’t go very far.

Internship Experience

During his time in the Finance program, John completed internships at three companies.

At BWB Capital Partners, John served as a Real Estate Investment intern. In this role, John researched and compiled real estate market data to analyze markets for investments. Examples of collected data include population growth, job growth, unemployment, and more. After compiling the data, he analyzed it to discover five-to-10 year trends to determine market visibility for investment. John also assisted the principal broker in analyzing commercial real estate deals using an Excel financial model that calculated ROI, cash-on-cash return, IRR, and other financial metrics.

For his second internship, he served as a Property Management intern at BIG Realty Property Management. John conducted unit walk-throughs for properties under management and move-in and move-out inspections. Once finished, he uploaded pictures and documents into AppFolio system. John was also responsible for fielding inbound calls from tenants and property owners, directing them to solutions for their issues.

As a Mortgage intern at Movement Mortgage, John compiled and organized contact information on builders and real estate agents to create an easier process to gain referral partners. He also visited real estate and home builders’ offices with loan originators to develop relationships.

“My biggest takeaway from the internships is the importance of people skills. Through all my internships, whether in the residential or commercial real estate market, who you knew was everything. Beyond that, the ability to read people and make genuine connections is a necessary skill in order to have a successful career in the finance and business world,” John said. “I also learned that a person’s job, wherever they may work or whatever field they are in, is to solve problems for the business. The bigger the problem you solve, the more money you will be paid. Learning to find and solve issues is a skillset that has unlimited value for a company.”

Why GMercyU?

“I would absolutely recommend Gwynedd Mercy University to an incoming student. At Gwynedd Mercy University, you will receive a top-level education and have the opportunity to make a genuine impact through the many organizations that exist on campus,” John said.

During his time at GMercyU, John was a four-year member of the Men’s Soccer team and also served as the team’s captain. For three years, John was the team’s Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) representative.

Post-Graduation

After graduating in May 2023, John will intern at SitusAMC as a commercial real estate asset management analyst during the summer. In fall 2023, John will return to GMercyU to continue his MBA, which he is expected to graduate with in May 2024. He will also play one more season on the Men’s Soccer team.

“Once I start working full-time, I plan to continue my career in the commercial real estate industry either in asset management, debt, brokerage, or private equity. All four areas of the industry I think I would enjoy and see potential in all of them for a sector I could grow my career,” John said.

Experience in GMercyU's MBA Program

As a 4+1 MBA student, John earned his MBA just one year after he graduated with his bachelor's degree. In the MBA program, he enjoyed the coursework, his professors, and the other students in his cohort.

"A lot of the classes were discussion-based, so hearing people's different opinions on a case study was something I thought was valuable," he said.

Above all, what he carries with him into his current job in commercial real estate is how to perform meaningful analysis.

You can get caught up in numbers, but what does it actually mean? Being able to interpret a case study, numbers, etc. and get to some sort of meaningful actionable item or conclusion based upon what you've read is something you'll learn in this program. Meaningful analysis is a really important skill, especially for entry-level jobs where you're often an analyst of some sort.