LSE Act.Count.Think

Act.Count.Think host Ronojit talks to Olivia Chan, a Global Systems Expert at AB InBev. Olivia discusses her unconventional journey into the world of IT Consulting after graduating with a degree in Accounting and Finance from the LSE. Olivia talks about how being open to different career paths has helped her and emphasizes the value of demonstrating multi-domain knowledge in today's competitive world. Finally, she shares her thoughts on how students should approach this critical phase in their career journey.

Act.Count.Think host Ramesh talks to Joachim Klement, currently an investment strategist at Liberum and has previously served at Credit Suisse and UBS. In the first episode of this two-part series on ‘ESG Roadblocks in 2021’, Joachim talks about key challenges such as greenwashing and reporting among others. He shares his insights on how these issues vary across firm sizes and investors and how some of these roadblocks will be eliminated through harmonization.  

In this episode, ACT hosts Ronojit and Ramesh chat with Adriano Sbroscia, an analyst at Sequoia Investment Management. Adriano talks about how the Sequoia Economics Infrastructure Income Fund implements sustainable investing principles and the challenges they face in the process. Adriano enlightens listeners on a whole host of issues ranging from ESG screening, greenwashing, and comparability to how this is becoming a ‘must-know’ to break into the buy-side.

Professor Dr. Alnoor Bhimani, former Head of LSE’s Department of Accounting, gives us an exciting glimpse of his upcoming book titled ‘Accounting Disrupted’. Professor Bhimani discusses what AI, Repeated Process Automation, Blockchain and Deep Intelligence mean for the future of the finance function. He provides detailed insights on how the industry is adapting and how they are tackling data and other ethical challenges. Finally, professor Bhimani provides his outlook on what would a finance role look like in the future and how current students can equip themselves with the necessary technology skills.

Hosted by a fresh new team of vibrant Accounting students, the third season of the podcast is back in all its glory. In the first episode, our host Ronojit Dagupta interviews the hosts of the previous two seasons: Danyal Adnan, who is currently an investment banker at Qinvest and Lewis Patterson, who recently concluded his internship at Nomura. The guests walk down memory lane and discuss the story and people behind the inception of this podcast. The key theme of this podcast is centered around ‘Careers’. Danyal and Lewis having graduated during Brexit and Covid-19 job markets respectively, share their personal experiences navigating through tough job markets. They talk about being open-minded and diversifying applications, making the best use of networking events and why it is important to go a step beyond regular online applications, especially for international students.

ACT Hosts Reeva Rathod and Lewis Patterson speak with Deborah Taylor, who was previously a Director at Barclays Investment Bank, focusing on Sustainable and Thematic Research. Deborah discusses the impact Environmental, Social and Governance factors are having on both the investment community and the Equity Research divisions of investment banks. She also gives her advice on students wishing to become involved with ESG Equity Research and Investing. 

Lewis Patterson chats with Dennis Sugrue, a Senior Director at Credit Rating Agency S&P Global Ratings. Dennis discusses the important role Credit Rating Agencies play in the market today, as well as covering the recent rise in Environmental, Social and Governance Factors (“ESG”) and their impact on credit analysis. Dennis also provides his advice on careers for finance students, highlighting the benefits of credit ratings as a platform for a career in finance.

In a new season of Act.Count.Think, LSE student Lewis Patterson chats with Nick Anderson, ex-Portfolio Manager and Head of Equity Research at Janus Henderson Investors, who now sits on the influential International Accounting Standards Board. Nick discusses the Board’s role, the current challenges facing the Accounting Standards and the continued usefulness of annual reporting. He also offers some advice on careers within Asset Management, as well as commenting on the usefulness nowadays of the CFA® for students and professionals alike.

Plamen Monovski is a seasoned investor who helped build the emerging markets team at Blackrock, and served as Managing Director there before joining Renaissance Asset Management as CIO. Today, Plamen is an angel investor on a mission to transform investing in private companies using the power of quant. He also teaches young professionals with promising careers how to invest in the public market so that they build real wealth overtime. If you are interested in learning more about Plamen's investment course, please reach out to him at plamenmonovski1970@googlemail.com

In this episode, LSE student Danyal Adnan sits with Georgia Stevenson, Associate at Northzone, a global early-stage VC fund. Danyal asks Georgia about her journey from being a management student to a VC associate and what she learned along the way. Georgia also shares her advice for LSE students who wish to pursue a career in VC.

Puja Turner is Executive Director and Head of CEEMEA Loan Finance at J.P. Morgan. Puja completed her MBA from Wharton and went on to lead capital markets teams at top banks like Deutsche and Goldman Sachs, before coming back to J.P. Morgan to head the CEEMEA Loan Finance Team. In this conversation, she explains what debt financing is all about and what role it plays in stimulating growth in emerging markets. Puja also shares her advice for LSE students aiming to pursue a career in leveraged finance. 

We chat with Julian Macedo, founder of transaction management consultancy The Deal Team and former Head of CEEMEA ECM at Barclays, on the current trends in European M&A. We also ask Julian about his experience of becoming an entrepreneur after having worked in investment banking for more than 20 years, and what advice he has for students who wish to pursue a similar career path as him.

We chat with Dr. Ishrat Husain about Pakistan's balance of payment crisis and the economic imbalances that have led the emerging market economy to seek yet another IMF bailout. Dr. Ishrat Husain is the current Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Institutional Reforms and Austerity. He has also previously served as Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan and Chief Economist at the World Bank for Africa and the East Asia and Pacific Region.

Ken Lee is an MSc Programme Director at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), prior to which he was the Head of Equity Research EMEA at Barclays. In this episode, Ken reminisces about his time as a valuation analyst at Citi and provides insight on what incoming analysts should expect when they take up their roles after graduation.