The 2026 hEDGE Financial Services Conference is a full-day finance recruiting and networking event for Waterloo and Laurier students, designed to help attendees explore finance careers and learn about different firms and roles. The conference features firm-led workshops, DE&I and alumni panels, a 1-hour networking session, mock interviews, and a new stock pitch competition.

Firm-led workshops let sponsors present topics of their choice, typically highlighting firm culture, values, recruiting timelines, and service lines such as investment banking, sales & trading, and private equity. The DE&I panel allows firms to discuss diversity, equity, inclusion, and ESG initiatives, while the alumni panel connects students with Waterloo and hEDGE alumni working in finance to share career insights.

Mock interviews provide firms an opportunity to screen top candidates and offer attendees practical interview experience. Past participants, including HOOPP and OMERS, have gone on to hire or advance hEDGE attendees. The stock pitch competition features pre-selected teams presenting to attendees and firm judges, with a prize pool of $2,850 awarded to the top three teams. The stock pitch allows students to apply concepts learned from within the classroom, and through outside learning, to develop pitches directly applicable to future interviews and jobs within finance.