Candidate:

Mr. MBA Enjoyer

About Me:

A Corporate/Investment Banker in the field of energy, renewables and infrastructure; I have been in the finance industry for 2 years having taken the jump from my previous role as an engineer for an Oil Major. Despite the pedigree of starting at a dream job for most chemical engineering majors (at one of the world’s largest oil company), I took the plunge into the finance industry as I realised that I have developed strong interest in the field of corporate finance. I was lucky enough to enter one of the largest banks in Asia as a Corporate/Investment Banking Associate in the Energy/Renewables field leveraging on my ability to combine my technical capabilities with my all-round understanding from some of my financial education from the CFA curriculum.

I currently enjoy my job especially given that the bank has always granted opportunities to juniors who are willing to innovate and take on additional responsibilities, besides my day-to-day work of client management, and despite my lack of finance internship/college experiences I have also participated in sell-side pitches and M&A Advisory in the field of energy/renewables, engaging with large corporates/PE funds on both the sell-side and buy-side on various types of deal structuring.

Why I am considering an MBA?
1) Barely made it into my college on the back of an interview/letter of recommendation from my army’s head of battalion with a score lower than the 10th percentile. At that point, there is basically no chance for me to be considered for any of my (childhood) dream schools for college education. Buckled down and decided that college was a fresh start and put in much effort to graduate as a first class honours student, securing what is probably a dream job for people from my discipline, that was when I saw hope to secure an esteemed post-grad education and rub shoulders with amongst the best peers in the world through obtaining an MBA in US.

2) Believe that with an MBA, I would not just be able to develop on the educational front – extremely interested in deepening financial knowledge/statistics, I would also be able to learn from my peers including my fellow MBA course mates (with diverse backgrounds) and potentially the Undergrads at the school that I will be joining.

3) Leverage the MBA experience to continue developing on my budding career in finance especially in the Energy/Renewable space.

Schools:

Target School: Wharton

Considering: Harvard, Chicago Booth, NYU Stern

See More Profiles For: Wharton

Application Status: Open

Details:

Undergrad School: Local Top University

Undergrad Major: Chemical Engineer with Second Major in Food Science

GPA: First Class Honours (not sure how that translates)

GMAT: 730

Age: 30, Ethnicity: Asian or Indian

Other Degree/Certification: CFA (Level 3 Pass) charterpending

School Name: CFA Institute

Extracurriculars: Mentor for underprivileged Juniors | Volunteer at MP sessions | Tutor

Work History:

Title: Refinery Applications Engineer

Industry: Power / Energy

Company: Fortune 100 Top 10

Length of Employment: 2 yrs, 6 mos

Title: Corporate/Investment Bank Associate (Energy/Renewables/Infra)

Industry: Banking & Finance

Company: Top Firm

Length of Employment: 2 yrs, 1 mos

Big Life Wins:

1) Joined the front office banking industry in the largest regional bank without prior internship/undergraduate experience and am on track for my second promotion this year (part of the company’s program to fast track promotion despite only being at the company for 1 year).

More work specific – Provided FX structuring for a USD5b Petrochemical Plant Advisory which could enable client to save up USD211m of financing costs (25% of overall financing costs), provided analysis for Sell-side pitch deck to client was specifically recognised by client as something that they have never seen before from other competitors, and spearheaded my bank’s oil and gas/coal portfolio’s emissions tracking and enabling portfolio optimization on coal/oil and gas clients.

2) Took a significant pay-cut on the initial transition before securing a significant increment in terms of compensation in line with my contribution to the bank within 1 year (including picking up on essential financial skills like DCF modelling/credit analysis), all while working on my CFA Level 3.

Post MBA Goal:

Short term goal – Reinforce my experience in corporate finance through the course and join either a top investment bank (M&A) or private equity firm, providing both technical and financial advisory in the energy/renewables/infrastructure industry.

Long term goal – To become a highly specialised industry advisor in a top investment bank, or as an investor on the buy-side, through education, continual self-learning, and learning from peers (both in and out of the course). I believe that the world is moving towards energy transition, however there will be a lucrative niche for advisors that can balance the role “old energy” – oil & gas/combined cycle power plants with the ever growing presence of new technologies or “new energy” – renewables/hydrogen/ammonia.