Case study - Thibaut Désiré, Business School student and WestLB Panmure intern
I knew when I came to Oxford that I wanted to do my internship in investment banking. - If you're that close to London and you have a chance to work in financial services you should take it!
ESCP-EAP helped to arrange the internship. The school has established links with WestLB Panmure. Quite a few students go there for winter internships ('winternships') instead of the longer summer internships that are most common in investment banking.
Working in the M&A advisory department, I was part of a team undertaking research into possible takeover targets for WestLB's clients.
A client would call my manager and say it was thinking of expanding into a particular market. I would then be instructed to go away and find possible companies for the client to buy, something known as 'preparing a pitch'.
It was interesting. I used databases to look at potential targets and then narrowed the field according to the client's specifications. Usually they were looking for something that fitted well with their existing business, but sometimes a low price was also important.
The good thing about the internship was that I got to work across a range of sectors. I did a lot of pitches on companies focused on high technology and companies in luxury goods and consumer goods, all of which had a European focus.
WestLB Panmure was trying to increase its presence on the Continent, so they made the most of the fact that I'm French and that I also speak English and German.
The internship gave me the chance to touch the myth of investment banking. What I found was an industry that is very work intensive. I would arrive at 9am and usually wouldn't leave before 8pm on one occasion I left at 3.30am. From what I hear, the hours at WestLB Panmure are actually short compared to other banks.
However, I also found an industry that was very multicultural, that employs a lot of interesting and intelligent people and that was more laid back than I'd expected. Being French, I took a full hour for lunch every day, and I seemed to be respected for that.
I want to do another internship in investment banking. But I won't be doing it in M&A. Although my internship at WestLB Panmure was interesting, it made me realize that I wouldn't be happy making a career in M&A advisory work.
As an intern, the problem was that I never got to see the fruits of my labour: I identified the target companies, made the pitch, but had nothing to do with what happened thereafter. It was a bit frustrating. Next time I want to work in project financing.
