We are happy to announce that the LFG London Investment Banking Week 2011 was a success!

The week started off on Monday morning with an early flight to London followed by a visit to UBS Investment Bank right upon arrival in central London. We were greeted by the co-head of the Nordic region, the Nordic IBD team as well as Swedish representatives from the equity sales and global healthcare M&A team. After an initial presentation, the participants were allowed to ask questions to the bankers in order to gain insight on the recruitment process as well as the UBS bankers’ careers paths.

After the visit, the group headed to the LSE Bankside House to check-in. Later that evening, a preparatory case challenge was presented to the group by the LFG board. The aim was to introduce the participants to market seizing and presentation skills, as a preparation for the investment banking cases that laid ahead.

Tuesday morning the group headed to Canary Wharf and a visit to Morgan Stanley. After entering Morgan Stanley’s impressive building; the group was sent to the client meeting floor, where the group was met by Swedish bankers from different divisions along with HR.

An insightful panel debate took place with the Swedish bankers, where they presented their day-to-day work, as well as their career path at Morgan Stanley. The session was followed by a presentation from HR about the recruitment process and a networking session, were 15+ Morgan Stanley bankers exchanged contact information with the LFG members.

After the Morgan Stanley visit, it was time for JP Morgan. The group was greeted by JP Morgan’s hospitality team and was sent to the 7th floor, the Rockefeller room, where senior investment bankers presented themselves over a sandwich lunch. After initial presentations from senior bankers across different divisions of JP Morgan, two IBD analysts presented a valuation case study to the group. The JP Morgan visit ended with a networking session together with Swedish and American bankers.

On Wednesday, it was time for Credit Suisse and Rothschild. The group headed to Canary Wharf and the Credit Suisse building. The session began with a HR-session regarding recruitment, tips and advices in the application process, interview techniques as well as a Q&A-session. Thereafter it was time for a trading simulation, where 4 participants from the LFG group acted as market makers, pricing the spread of a stock of a pharmaceutical company going through clinical trials. The rest of the group was divided into 4 teams whom acted as an event driven fund. The funds allocated its pre-designated capital based on different market scenarios which affected the stock.

Later on, it was time for an investment banking deal simulation together with Gothenburg alumnus in the Nordic IBD team of Credit Suisse. The group was divided into two teams. One acted as a private equity investor, and the other was the portfolio company in the likes of Tommy Hilfiger (a real transaction in which Credit Suisse had lead mandate). After initial research and financial modeling it was time for a negotiation between the teams. Initially, the two groups couldn’t agree on the deal terms, but following some more modeling and negotiations, the two teams came to an agreement which, according to the Credit Suisse Nordic head of IBD, was almost identical to the real life outcome of the deal.

Afterwards the LFG group got a tour of the different trading floors of Credit Suisse. The session ended with a Q&A-session with the Head of Nordic Region at Credit Suisse.

After a long lunch in Canary Wharf, the group headed to Bank, where the offices of Rothschild are located. The group entered the fantastic reception of Rothschild, which was decorated with old paintings and antique bonds and stocks. As the group was examining their surroundings, they were sent up to the Rothschild war room for a presentation from an executive banker.
After the presentation, the group was visited by the Rothschild family’s chief archivist and keeper, who told the amazing story of how the German-Jewish family started its pan-European business enterprise focused on trade, which later grew to become a global investment bank. The group got to see some of the first shares and bonds issued in Europe.

The visit was rounded off with a networking session with Scandinavian bankers at Rothschild.

After the visits, the group enjoyed a night out in London by meeting up with another Swedish school on site. The group of Swedes shared their experiences over a long and interesting dinner.

On Thursday morning it was time for Citigroup. The LFG group was introduced to a transaction, where a senior banker gave a briefing on the technical aspects of the deal. The group got the opportunity to ask technical questions on how a transaction is conducted. Therafter, the group was guided through all of the different trading floors of Citi. The visit ended with a presentation from the HR-department and a networking session with Swedish bankers from the different divisions of the bank.

Later that afternoon it was time for Goldman Sachs. The LIBW participants met with Goldman bankers from four different divisions. The Goldman bankers talked about their careers, divisions and daily work. Later on, a Q&A-session was conducted with HR, followed by a tour through the impressive facilities of Goldman Sachs.

Thursday night was spent at The Anthologist in central London, where the last night of the trip was enjoyed over a couple of drinks.

Friday was the last day of the trip, and Barclays Capital and Deutsche Bank covered the agenda. At Barclays Capital the group started off by getting acquainted with a Swedish senior banker, who told his story of how he became a banker, and what differentiates Barclays Capital from the other investment banks. Afterwards, the participants were divided into groups of 3-4 people and introduced to a unique case study. The case covered the time management difficulties and priorities which IBD analysts face. Each group was assigned an analyst from the Barclays IBD to guide the group through the exercise. The visit was rounded off with a tour of all its trading floors together with a Q&A-session with the HR-department.

During the afternoon, it was time for the last visit. The group left Canary Wharf to head for the City for the last time, and to visit the Deutsche Bank. The session started off with a young Deutsche banker from Sweden, who worked in the market side of the firm. The group asked the banker questions about his career and background. The final part of the visit was spent on a transaction case in which Deutsche Bank had lead mandate, together with the Nordic head of M&A execution and an IBD analyst, who also turned out to be a LFG alumnus.

Filled with new knowledge and insights about investment banking, together with a wide range of new contacts, the group left London and arrived back in Sweden late on Friday night.

In summary, the trip was considered to be a great success.
The investment banks have kept in touch with the LFG board during the week and expressed their satisfaction with the selected group of students who visited the banks. Furthermore, the banks are also urging the members of the group to apply for summer internships and graduate schemes.

It also has to be mentioned that LFG has already been approached by several investment banks for the 2012 edition of the LFG London Investment Banking Week.

Pictures from the trip: http://www.londonfinancegroup.se/node/461