Risk Taking

I came to Barcelona and IESE with plans to start my own business. Then as I struggled in a new culture and country, I thought I wanted to go into Industry and take a break from Banking. Then, after the banking sessions started, I felt a strange pull to what was comfortable.

The fact of the matter is, I like being in a bank. It feels like home. It is what I´ve wanted to do for so long. I actually get excited about discounted cash flows. But really what is it that I want to DO with my life??? You know careers and dating are alot alike. If you were dating someone for so long, you might be scared to leave him for someone else because you are scared of taking risks. BUT on the other hand it might be that you are with the person you are meant to be with all along.... As the saying goes "If it ain´t broke, don´t fix it."

But on the other hand they say that what you really want to do can stem from what you wanted to do when you were 5 years old. When I was 5 I wanted to be an Emergency Room doctor. Hmm.... this Healthcare industry might have something there.

So I was dabbling with the prospect of going into the Healthcare/Pharmaceutical industry. I want to have a set schedule. I want to have a social life. I want to get out of the spreadsheets and into lunching with clients. And if I go into Pharma, most likely I will be lunching with doctors ;-) Just joking. But the thing with Pharma is that I´d be taking a big risk. Most of the banks hire from summer internships. I will be interning with a Pharmaceutical company. The things I worry about are these: 1) Will the job be boring, AKA too slow for me? It is said that everyone who gets out of banking get so bored easily with the pace of regular industry 2) Is it really my dream job? What IS my dream job? 3) What the %$/&% would I do??? I don´t want to sell medical supplies. Is there anything else out there?

I think another indication of what you are supposed to be comes from what others think of you. For instance I constantly have people asking me how to manage their finances, or their children´s finances, or you get the point. And I say to them "I´m an Investment Banker. I raise money for corporations. I put stocks and bonds in the market. But wait.... if you put 25% in this large cap index and 40% in the Russell 2000, mitigating this risk with some treasuries and money market funds..." yeah you get the idea.

So after some freaking out, I came up with this conclusion: I believe that ultimately, I am a banker through and through. I look impeccable in a suit. I like meeting clients. I am an advisor. I know the financial markets, so that you don´t have to. I will manage your money, and look damn good doing it. So this summer, I will "break up from my boyfriend Investment Banking" per se and fool around with the Pharmaceutical Industry. If I like it and feel it is for me, I will look for a full time job in that Industry. Most likely will be in Houston, Barcelona or Switzerland (lots of hospitals). If I don´t like it, I will fall back on my extensive finance experience and work for a bank somewhere. Most likely in Asset Management or Equity Research and most likely in Spain or the US. Because I speak English & Castillian and I don´t want to live in the UK. And the thing about Finance is that math is the same in all languages!