A Good Day for Bankers

Today I made my COW presentation, which I handed off the title to Florian, another ex-Investment Banker. Alot of the quotes this week (baring Florian's) were strange instead of funny, so I decided to make the theme of the week "WTF" thinking of this short clip:

End of The World


When I got to school, the front page of the Financial Times read "Snooty Bankers Blamed for Credit Crunch." I almost died laughing. It was an interesting day.

Another good thing that happened to me today was that I got extended another Banking interview, this time with my (tied to second choice) company. So far everyone I had applied for had accepted me for a January interview. And I have to admit, I am excited. I tried to deny it before, but I really do love Banking. Banking is who I am. I just don't like working in Corporate Finance. That job requires the best problem solvers in the world, and I like immediate answers. Hence, Sales and Trading.

I love it. I do feel so complete. And yesterday I turned in my application for the Lehman Fellowship. I think I did a good job on it. With that out of the way, that leaves time to work on my ABP case the whole... entire... weekend....

Madrid Banking Tour

There is a quote from the book "The World is Flat" that goes a little something like this:

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must out run the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It does not matter whether you are a lion or gazelle. When the sun comes up you had better be running.

People say this a great explanation of the Banking world...

Yesterday was the first annual IESE Madrid Banking Tour. I flew up to Madrid and met Irene (from Uruguay), Gonzalo (Argentina) and Francisco (Portugal). Took a cab up to Cuidad Grupo Santander up in the mountains where we met the other IESE students. Seriously, this Spanish bank, Santander, had actually created it's own "city" away from it all, completely isolated, with 6 restaurants, a day care center, a spa, a golf course, a gym, a mini hotel, and so much more. I've never seen anything like that in my life!

Main thoughts of Santander after visit: Regal, competitive, aggressive, entreprenuerial, macho, extravagent, holier-than-thou, the "Goldman Sachs of Spain." Although my team facilitator Martin worked at Santander last summer and I find he is a great guy... I just don't see myself feeling complete at Santander. I'd have a feeling I'd be really lonely up there without my high rise buildings. And I don't need a city away from it all to feel like I am Master of the Universe.

Santander donated one of their buses to take us to BBVA, a mainly retail bank that is growing their investment banking wing. Kind of like Wachovia was when I first joined. Although their building wasn't nearly as nice (or a city), it was very much in the center of Madrid which I liked a lot. And what's more, the people there were just super, super nice people.

Our tour guide who showed us around the trading floor used to work for Santander. But he was so proud of working for BBVA. I could see this pride in the other employees as well. It was like they were one big family, just like Wachovia is. He showed us to the Fixed Income trading floor, and I became nostalgic looking at the 4 computer screens and multiple charts and trading platforms. I wished I was back there trading again. I had a good feeling.

When our guide took us down to the equity trading floor, he said it was newer so the lighting was a little different. But when we entered, I had the most ebullient feeling... when the doors to the trading floor opened up and the light hit me, I felt like I was in one of those scenes where you enter through the gates of Heaven and the choir of angels sing... I swear, it was that feeling! And I knew this felt right for me! The equity trading floor at BBVA... it was amazing. As we walked around, Irene pointed out a research report on a trader's desk.

"Hey Ann, isn't that where you used to work?" she said.

I couldn't believe it. It was a Wachovia research report! Unfortunately, I was too exhausted from lack to sleep to enjoy the moment half as much as I could have.

After the tour, Irene and I took a cab to the airport where we met Gonzalo, running his hands through his hair (inside joke...) We studied together for a few hours while I waited for Juan Pablo to get off work so that he could see me at the airport. He didn't make it this time, and I was kind of glad, since I didn't look my best. I almost looked like I had been beaten up from exhaustion and general fatigue. I had a great time with Irene and Gonzalo. South Americans are just so much fun.

The Sweetest Thing

Today I saw one of our Spanish waiters who mans the coffee machines at IESE take his lunch tray and sit down by himself at a table for 2 in the middle of a crowded cafeteria. He proceeded to do the sign of the cross before starting his meal. I thought it was the sweetest thing. I wanted to take my tray and sit across from him, but I wasn't sure he wanted the company. And I realized that while I am always rushing it's good to take time to appreciate the little things around you...

An American Thanksgiving In Barcelona

I've never had a Thanksgiving outside the United States, or away from my family for that matter. But I never really considered Thanksgiving that important to me. An American student at IESE had a Thanksgiving party at her house for all the first year Americans. I never really liked parties that brought together only a certain nationality (because I think we should be global and diverse, not nationalistic), but I decided to go anyway.

But when I came in the door and saw David, Josh, Jacob, Jake... I almost pounced on them all! I love my Americans! It was the most familiar thing, everyone talking with the same accent, the same mannerisms I grew up with, the same smells in the kitchen, I came to really appreciate my country and it's culture which I once believed was non-existant. I think what Josh said really hit home: "Close your eyes. You hear that? Nothing but Americans..." It was like a little home away from home.

I remember meeting all these people when I first came to IESE, and it was good to see how much everyone has matured... And although there is nothing I love more than being with people from all over the world, I did finally appreciate my country that day.

After dinner, me being trashed, we went to the BOW at Yabba Dabba. Almost the whole team A8 was there. It was nice to see them all. Spent some time talking to Florian. Although he is almost my exact opposite on the personality scale, I had a really pleasant time talking to him that night. And Josh. What a great guy. And, who could forget, Sebastian.

What Are You Sinking About?

Fabulous!

LDN

Having spent days and nights pouring over cover letters, bank websites and Vault Guides, I have finally turned in all my Banking applications. So I guess my fate is sealed. This summer I will most likely be living in London.

"LDN" by Lily Allen


When you look with your eyes, everything seems nice. But if you look twice, you can see it's all lies...

Te Mando Flores

This is a song I first discovered while in Bogota, Colombia. Don't think there was ever a song more special to me than this. When Alejandro and I went to the Latin Party at Cafe Noir tonight, dancing to Fonseca again (and seeing people sporting those distinctive Colombian woven hats) brought back that feeling of utter freedom.

First Impressions - Wrong Again

Elle Woods: I can't take it anymore! I'm going back to LA. No more boring suits, no more trying to be someone I'm not...
Emmitt: What if you are trying to be someone you are?

I was having another bad day, everything was going wrong as usual. Frankly my life had been so empty until Capital Markets came around. Today was an explanation of the IPO process: a day in the life of my old job... minus all the details like underwriting spreads, late night dinners with lawyers, and the fight for the Left Lead role.

My campaign speech for section A student Representative was nominated for the COW: "I didn't prepare a fancy speech and I won't deliver grandoise promises, but I can promise you this: I will do whatever you want..." Well I was completely aware of it's meaning, but I was trying to get at the point that an elected official is here to serve its constituants. And in Marketing today, we had the Propecia hair loss prevention marketing dilemma, and I tried to explain how a testimonial ad was not appropriate for this product because frankly, who cares if Dick Cheney for example suffers hair loss? It is too evident, & common. Testimonials work best on personal issues people are afraid to acknowledge, and a famous one is Bob Dole's ad on ED.... Whoops. Why did I mention ED? From one COW nomination to another, I bet.

I left class feeling down. I wondered about my purpose in life. Everything was going wrong for me as usual, as evident by my midterm grades for Decision Analysis. The worst grades I've ever received in my life. But I was numb. I couldn't do anything about it now; it was a sunk cost.

We had our Morgan Stanley group interviews today. I ended up being 15 minutes late because I was talking to Sebastian outside about Private Banking. He was wearing a pinstripe pantsuit with a red tie, and I was wearing a pinstripe pantsuit with a red scarf. Great minds think alike.

Anyways, so I was 15 minutes late for Morgan Stanley. This day just couldn't get any better. One of the worst things you can do in banking is arrive late. And 15 minutes late is the kiss of death. I figured I should prepare to get slaughtered, especially after the horrible first impression I had with the last Morgan Stanley sales & trader at the career fair. I was certain that guy would be there to rip my face off for being late...

But it turned out my first impression wasn't a bad one at all. They even stopped the presentation to introduce themselves to me. The 2 bankers were interviewing people by picking out resumes at random. When one of the bankers suddenly decided to pick one of the resumes of his choosing, I knew it would be me. It was a pressure tactic to see if my tardiness had flustered me.

Being experienced in Wall Street, it didn't. I did my pitch, and explained my story. They actually liked it. They said they could really believe my love for the capital markets, and my sincerity. And they especially liked how positively I talked about my experiences. Which was interesting, because I didn't feel positive at all. I felt tired, worn out and insecure. But when I spoke about the markets, my passion definitely showed, naturally, even when I was trying to subdue it in the face of professionalism.

And afterward, the banker actually came up to ME and gave me his business card. He said, "It is evident that you truly enjoy Finance because you had so many chances to get out... and you always came back." For once in my MBA career, I felt that something "fit just right." Despite first impressions, I look forward to applying to Morgan Stanley.

And outside, I was surprised to get so many compliments of my interview. As I walked to the bus, random students would come up to me saying I looked radiant somehow. But I was dead tired. I guess that when you really love something, it shows, and it can be beautiful.

I caught the bus to head to Zara to buy a new suit. Spent a couple hours trying them on, nothing seemed to fit right. Some were obnoxiously pinstriped, some were twead professor-looking, some were sexy fashionista... but I found myself gravitating towards dark, conservative cuts. The banker suits. When I saw the dark charcoal style with faint raised white pinstripes, I picked it up and bought it without trying it on. When I got home I found that it fit perfectly, no adjustments needed, and made me look, well, really really ridiculously good looking. I was made for banker suits. And when all is said and done, when you find the right one, whatever it is, everything just fits together perfectly...