Summary of the Stockholm Investment Banking Week 2011

The annual Stockholm Investment Banking Week of 2011 took place between 16th – 18th of November. A group of fifteen delighted London Finance Group members travelled from Gothenburg to Stockholm to visit prominent financial firms in the capital of Sweden.

The trip initiated on Wednesday with a visit to Carnegie Investment Bank. The group was treated with an afternoon-long presentation of various aspects of the firm; including its history, current affairs as well as presentations from the Structured Finance department and Investment Banking Division, where the latter included a practical case study of a recent M&A case.

The next day started off with a visit to Cevian Capital. The group met with a VP of the firm and were able to gain valuable insights into the company and its context through an interactive session with a lot of questions.

Next, the group visited Nordea Markets for a full four hour visit during the afternoon hosted by a former LFG alumni and founder. For the following hours, the group was presented to the different departments of the bank in many short but intense and informative sessions. The group was able to meet and ask questions to representatives from Capital Markets, Equity Research, Corporate Finance, Structured Finance as well as interact with current and previous interns. The presentations ended with a Q&A-session with the HR Department. Afterwards, the group was taken on a walk-around on the trading floor coupled with with a couple of informal drinks along with company representatives.

On the final day of the trip, the group visited Handelsbanken Capital Markets. In an introductive session, the SIBW participants were divided into smaller groups and asked to specify the learning objectives for the day. The rest of the morning was nicely conducted with presentations from various departments including Markets and Equity Research, Structured Products, Quantitative Finance, Corporate Finance and Dept Capital Markets. The latter included a very interesting valuation case. Just before lunch, the small groups were asked to present their conclusions for the day in an useful interactive session.

The last stop of the SIBW was to Nasdaq OMX Group, more commonly referred to as the Stockholm Stock Exchange. The visit was excellently hosted by the communications manager of Nasdaq OMX Nordics which included an extensive presentation of the company, its business areas and operations. Furthermore, the group received insightful presentations on the topics of algorithmic trading and compliance monitoring in regards to the stock exchange. Finally, the group was given a round-trip in the impressive building, including a guided tour of the in-house bourse floor and a much appreciated opportunity to take a group photography with the famous bourse closing bell.

All in all, we would like to direct our sincere appreciations to the companies, hosting HR personnel and inspiring representatives who enabled the trip to become a success. Thank you!