ON THE SPOT: Master's in finance student, London Business School

21 July 2008

3 minute read

ON THE SPOT: Master's in finance student, London Business School

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.

Post a question below for Brijesh to answer between 21 and 23 July inclusive (only questions which are answered will be made live).

AUTHORBrijesh Pande

Insider Comment

Br
Brijesh Pande
24 July 2008
Your guess is as good as mine regarding the value of the dollar in 7 years time! But I do think there are some important themes - (a) the US will continue to become a smaller part of the global economy at the expense of growth from the BRIC economies. I would expect the USD to depreciate against these currencies - especially the remimbi, (b) I expect commodity currencies like AUD and the gulf countries (should they remove the peg) to strengthen further, and (c) EUR may depreciate because I am yet to be convinced of a real reason for the EUR to be performing at these levels apart from a strong correlation to crude prices. I would expect this relationship to diverge.
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Mi
Mike
24 July 2008
What will the value of the dollar be in 2015?
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Br
Brijesh Pande
24 July 2008
Adam: The MiF is an excellent program if you take Dr. Suleyman Basak's two electives - Fixed Income and Financial Engineering. These two courses alone make the MiF worth it for me. Regarding the things I didn't like it's the project which hopefully will be changed in future years.
I was lucky to have prior experience so did not face a huge challenge getting a job. However, a number of people in my class have struggled because they are trying to switch indsutries or have less experience. a lot of very talented people have struggled which is unfortunate but its a buyer's market so firms can be very specific with their requirements and until we don't see a pick up in the financial sector this demand supply dichotomy will remain.
However, the current situation forces you to think what you are really good at, what your niche is and how you can pitch yourself to potential employers. I think it is a good thing in the long run because such a rigorous thought process should ensure longevity with whichever firm one joins.
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Adam
24 July 2008
Hi Brijesh, thanks for taking questions here. I'm in incoming MiF arriving in London next month and I'd like to ask how you found the program. Any things you particulary liked/disliked? Any advice? How was the job market for you? You found a position of course, but how rough was the going?
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Br
Brijesh Pande
24 July 2008
Hi Rishabh
There a number of areas you mention. All apart from M&A seem a natural fit with your qualification. Do any i-banks come to your campus to recruit? If not try your career's service to give you contacts for i-bank HR people and best route would be to go through them. You need to be aware that compliance, audit etc hirings are generally not like the regular program hiring for front office roles, so if you have a contact in one of the areas it can give you an advantage.
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