前花旗总监谈他在伦敦商学院的金融硕士学习

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Brijesh Pande has just finished the master's in finance at London Business School. Previously head of fixed income capital markets at Citigroup in Indonesia, he joined a leading Australian bank in Singapore as head of FX, interest rates and derivatives corporate sales for South Asia after his course finished. We've asked Brijesh a few questions below. He will also be available to answer selected questions from readers between 21 and 23 July inclusive.

Did you always plan to go back to Asia when the course ends?
 

Yes. I've had about 10 years' experience working in Asia, so I wanted an assignment which would leverage my previous experience. I'd obviously get a lot more credit for what I've done already if I went back to the Asian markets.

What benefits have you gained from studying a master's?
 

It's given me the intellectual confidence to be better at my job. Although I headed a sales desk before, the breadth of products and intellectual expertise in London is vast by comparison. The master's has given me the opportunity to pick that up in a tight timeframe. London Business School in particular has given me the opportunity to learn from some of the leading global finance academics, which has greatly augmented my theoretical foundation in the finance arena.

Do you think South East Asia will be discouraged from adopting structured products by what's happened to credit markets?
 

SE Asian corporates have largely escaped the credit crisis, but as a result of it they find that not only are they operating in a challenging credit environment, but that their operating cost base is now exposed to large-scale inflationary risk arising from the sustained momentum in commodities markets. In such an uncertain environment, I believe corporates will need structured risk solutions more than ever.

What about securitised products?
 

I’m not very bullish about illiquid and very complicated structured products because a) investor (and corporate) confidence has been dampened by the dismal performance of the highly rated mortgage related structured products, (b) most of the top banks in the structured credit space do not have the same risk appetite they had 12 months ago, and (c) there is still doubt about the ratings of complicated OTC securities.

Should local banks in South East Asia be trying to capitalise on international banks' problems?
 

Local banks (or regional banks which had limited exposure to the US mortgage markets) definitely have more capital available at this point and this could be used to aggressively build out a business. But the key to success is being able to attract decent intellectual capital in the sales and trading space. If they can do that, they will be able to move into businesses traditionally dominated by US banks. It is precisely this kind of opportunity that has attracted me to my new employer.

[此贴子已经被作者于2008-7-23 13:22:03编辑过]

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Additional Question 1:

Hi Brijesh,

Congratulations.  It is always good to see someone who has been successful, especially in Asia, as they are helping poor countries become richer.  My question to you is how does a Masters in Finance compare to an MBA.  I have heard that later on in life, it is managerial skills that are more important, so MBA's would perhaps be more recognised, especially in the credit crunch where financial skills may suffer?  Also an MBA has more prestige.  My other question is how do you think doing a masters compares to doing a CFA?

Answer:

Michael: I think the MBA and the MiF are targeted at two different segments. An MBA does provide you with broader managerial skills as opposed to MiF which is finance focused. However, if you are targeting finance companies specifically it is hard to argue against the Master's in Finance being a better qualification. Also you will find that the MiF has slightly higher average age as people are doing it to specialize in finance. I have done both and if pressed to select one would choose the MiF because it is better aligned with my finance focus. Regarding the CFA, if you want to get into the investment management profession it is almost a prerequisite, but not of any significant additional value added on the sell side.

Q2:

Hello, Can you tell me what are the daily requirements your division faces, at an analyst level? Would you specify on what you mean by intellectual capital? What factors do you attribute to the US banks dominance? Thank you.

A2:

HCI: On a daily basis an analyst does anything from pricing plain vanilla transactions - fx spot and forwards, to put together dealing statistics or chasing up the back office reports.

By intellectual capital I mean your own technical knowledge base.

Factors for US banks dominance are - the best human capital, good processes and product innovation.

Q3:

Hi Brijesh. You have had a very impressive journey so far. Just wanted to ask you how difficult was it for you to break into FX sales. I come from a Funding sales background with a solid base in audit, but seem to having a lot of trouble breaking into FX sales.  Is there any secret to breaking into this area?
Thanks

A3:

Swanster: Breaking into any new business is a combination of good luck and preparation. Selling FX spot and forwards is not complicated at all and almost as plain vanilla as quoting on time deposits. However, an FX sales head will want to see at least a familiarity of fx options - which is where the value added of a good sales person is (given spot and fwds are heavily commoditized). Additionally, if you have client base you can easily convert to fx sales might give you a leg up in presenting yourself as an fx salesperson. After building up the knowledge base however, you still need to get lucky with someone willing to look at your profile for fx sales. If I was in your place, I would start by speaking internally to your own company's fx sales head.

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If you would like to ask him a question, please post here:

http://news.efinancialcareers.hk/newsandviews_ITEM_LATEST/newsItemId-14365#viewAllComments

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