Oxford Saïd Finance Lab Provides Students Opportunities To Put Theoretical Knowledge To Practical Use

Apart from regular class room experiences, students at Saïd Business School and across the University of Oxford have been availing a number of unique challenges offered by three leading firms in investment banking, private equity and asset management, to test the knowledge they acquired from their stint at the Oxford Saïd Finance Lab.

The Oxford Saïd Finance Lab is a joint venture between the Private Equity Institute, the finance faculty, the programme office and the Careers Centre. It provides an opportunity for students to attend the Lab in addition to their programme of study. It hosts a series of practical workshops on financial modelling and real-life case studies working alongside a number of banking firms and funds. Each workshop is followed by a networking opportunity with company representatives. Students apply theory-based learning from the programme and combine it with practical training.

The Lab offers students the opportunity to understand key concepts, instruments and models required for finance courses, elective and interviews. Students gain the skills required to develop a financial model following a step-by-step methodology connecting business plans with financial statements, financial structure, valuation, risks and investment returns.

Centerview, Bridgepoint and Hermes have been offering exclusive networking and mentoring opportunities through challenges giving students the opportunity to apply their skills to scenarios they would typically see during the first three years working at a bank or a fund.

In the Bridgepoint Private Equity Challenge, more than 34 graduate and undergraduate teams totaling 100 University of Oxford students participated. They attended seminars including a real-life case study and two presentations by Bridgepoint investment directors on how to raise leverage finance and how to prepare investment proposals. The Teams worked together to assess the potential for a leveraged buyout of four companies suggested by Bridgepoint, and prepared an investment proposal and financial valuation model.

The winning graduate team was made up of three Oxford Saïd MBAs; Johan Krynauw, Alexander Bertoli and Ruvimbo Nyangoni. They produced a case study on the Nordic manufacturer of wooden windows and doors, Inwido.

Centerview, Bridgepoint and Hermes have been offering exclusive networking and mentoring opportunities through challenges giving students the opportunity to apply their skills to scenarios they would typically see during the first three years working at a bank or a fund.

‘We were attracted to Inwido not only because it is the number one player in its market but it also has exposure to a range of geographies across Europe,’ said Johan Krynauw. ‘Inwido is predominantly exposed to the residential market so a key part of our thesis was to enter into the commercial market to reduce exposure to residential and a potential downturn in discretionary spend, and further differentiate Inwido from its competition.’

The winning undergraduate team was Rebecca Zhang, St Peter’s College; Gen Hall, St Edmund Hall; and Daniel Berg, St Edmund Hall.

The recommendations of the teams were evaluated by a Bridgepoint investment team (11 members are University of Oxford alumni) and Andreas T. Angelopoulos, Oxford Saïd Finance Lab Programme Director, who awarded the top undergraduate and the top graduate teams a cash prize, dinner at Exeter College and the opportunity to spend a day at the Bridgepoint headquarters in London to attend seminars and workshops.

In the Hermes GPE Private Markets Challenge, MBAs Sean Walsh, Kaspar Baumann and Kareem Edwards were the winning team. Three teams were selected from 12 to present their work to and network with the Hermes’ committee, led by Peter Gale, Head of Private Equity & Chief Investment Officer at Hermes GPE and an Oxford alumnus. One of the three winning students would get an 8-week internship at a Hermes office in London, New York or Singapore.

Teams were asked to value and prepare a bid for a limited partner’s stake in an existing private equity portfolio of companies. The winning team evaluated risks associated with the transaction, such as exit multiples and exit timings, and developed strategies to account for the risks. As part of their analysis, the team creatively ran a Monte Carlo simulation, which evaluated the impact of the risks, the results of which were accounted for in the bid.

Walsh said participating in the Chalenge allowed him to increase his understanding of the financial concepts imbibed during his MBA and through the Oxford Finance Lab. Working closely with team members was extremely valuable. “I learnt a tremendous amount from my team, drawing on their experience and knowledge through the project. The Hermes Challenge was a fantastic experience and I recommend it to students even mildly interested in finance, and especially in asset management,” he added.

All the members in the Challenge had the opportunity to attend various workshops and presentations with the senior Hermes team. They also took part in a live teleconference workshop with Sanjoy Sankaran, Oxford MBA alumnus, who had won the Hermes Challenge in 2015. Sanjoy is currently working with the firm on private equity co-investments in New York.

Meanwhile, undergraduate law student Zera Ong of Wadham College, who won the Centerview M & A Challenge received a paid, eight-week internship programme at the Centerview office in London.

The 30 MFE (Master in Financial Economics) and undergraduate students who participated in the Challenge were asked to develop a strategic advisory case study on a large publicly-listed company of their choosing. The three most accomplished case studies were then selected to present to the senior partners committee led by James Hartop, Partner at Centerview and Oxford alumnus, at their London office. These students also had the opportunity to spend the day with the Centerview team at their offices and attend a networking dinner in London.

Zera chose to study Nestlé, in the light of the recent changes in the cost of raw materials, such as almonds. However, on close perusal of the company’s three-year historical financial information, she came to know that the growth drivers lay not in its confectionery business but in its skin health and nutritional foods segments. With her keen interest in the pharmaceuticals industry, she decided to capitalise on this opportunity to create innovative proposals which would be aligned with Nestlé’s strategy of moving forward, Specifically, she made three proposals: an acquisition of a skincare company from L’Oréal, a joint venture with a pharmaceuticals company and partnerships with dairy farms in Myanmar.

To participate in the Challenges, students must be registered on the Oxford Saïd Finance Lab programme.(Image Courtesy : www.sbs.ox.ac.uk)