Off-balance Sheet financing: 7 techniques to hide debt!

The event will take place in:

Tuesday April 29th, Classroom P-211 in C/ Pinar nº 18. From 19.00 to 20.00h.

There will be limited seats – first-come, first-served basis (see below).

The session will be in English.

Financial Accounting is the foundation for all the deals in the business world but nowadays we see complicated operations that demand a higher knowledge of this topic. In order to learn more about financial accounting and see practical examples, the Finance Club encourages you to come to this conference.

The event will be held by Mr. Jesús Pinelo, ex-student of the IE Business School and currently responsible for the accounting department in Union Fenosa Group, a listed Spanish energy company.

How can I register?
Please reserve your seat HERE

Organized by IE Net Impact Chapter and IE Finance Club, with Morgan Stanley Ethic Fund

The event will take place in:
Classroom S-101 in Serrano 99, on Wednesday 16th of April from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
There are 64 places available – served on a first register first serve basis (see below).
The conference will be in English.

Fund management is nowadays a hot topic for many people because of the results that fund managers have been achieving for the last year. In order to know a little more about how they work we have invited Mr. Ignacio Dolz de Espejo, Morgan Stanley Ethic Fund Manager to talk about this issue, and in order to make it more interesting he will talk about social responsible investments in the fund universe, with the example of the Morgan Stanley Ethic Fund.

Who should attend? Anyone interested in fund management and/or social responsible investments.

How can I register? Please reserve your seat HERE

Last week, on March 5th, IE Women in Business Club (IE WIB) organized, in collaboration with IE Finance Club, IE Net Impact Chapter and Club de Emprendedores Colombianos, a conference on Microfinance.

The conference started with a financial course on microfinance institutions, their target (self-employed poor, especially women, who have little or no access to formal credit), risks, assets and empowerment, conducted by Prof. Gutiérrez.

Marcela Torres Córdoba, IMBA08, Vice-President of IE Net Impact Chapter and of Club de Emprendedores Colombianos, illustrated the key concepts with her own microcredits project in Colombia.

Please, visit IE WIB Blog to read the article on this event and post any comments.

Written by Julia Emilia Sanchez, IMBA08 and member of IE Finance Club

On Monday, February 25th 2008, the IE Finance Club hosted an Education Day to provide students and alumni with an overview of career opportunities within the finance field. The panel consisted of five executives from reputable firms that operate within the Spanish marketplace: Deloitte, RBS, Merrill Lynch, Gala Capital and GBS Finanzas. Each speaker gave a transparent description of the responsibilities they face on a daily basis. IE Professor, Tomás Gutiérrez, presided over the panel offering reflective insights on the overall finance industry.

This first event was organized by Tomás Gutiérrez, along with Ildefonso Bertrand Figar and Felipe Rojas, both IMBA08, respectively President and Vice-President of the Club.

Speaker 1: Carlos Robles, CFA and Vice President for Investment Banking at Merrill Lynch.

Investment Banking Structure: Carlos provided a helpful overview of the traditional investment banking structure. He explained that Merrill Lynch, like many other investment banks, has 3 primary groups: 1) Private Client Group, catering to wealthy individuals that invest upwards of 5mm. 2) Investment Manager- Blackrock, compiles pools of money for investment from different sources, both private client and retail. 3) Global Markets and Investment Banking, consisting of 3 arms: Investment Banking, Debt and Equity. The Investment Banking arm employs 2000 bankers worldwide, 600 of which are focused in Europe. Bankers are allocated across three categories: 1) Country 2) Industry 3) Product. Often times, depending on the transaction, bankers collaborate across these categories.

Investment Banking practices: Investment bankers provide strategic and financial advisory for Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and Capital Structure Situations. Bankers work with the top management (Chairman, CEO, CFO) of large corporate and financial institutions. They advise companies on acquisitions by providing them with strategies on how to close deals and help to value companies. Inversely, they also work in hostile situations on behalf of a company that is being acquired in order to help management strategize on the prices they should demand. Day to day, investment bankers engage in both pitching and execution. Junior level executives tend to focus on valuation analysis whereas upper management consider potential transactions and devise pitches accordingly.
Investment Banking Career path: He eloquently defined an investment banking career as ...

a very clear path in which “the rules are well defined". At Merrill Lynch, the career advancement takes place in intervals of 3 years. First, an entry level candidate post-college enters as an analyst. Carlos described this role as “someone that works a lot.” In said capacity, the analyst would perform extensive financial analysis, conduct due diligence and engage in any other necessary tasks delegated by upper management. Three years later, an analyst ideally grows into a Vice President (VP) position in which he/she oversees analysis assigned for various projects and develops client presentations. The next step is a Director position that shares similar responsibilities as the VP role. Moreover, the Director also prepares to build his platform during these three years in order to rise to the Managing Director role. Once achieved, Managing Directors oversee one or two sectors within a particular country and focus on developing relationships with certain clients. In general, the other speakers reiterated similar career advancement structures within their firms.

Speaker 2: Ezequiel Szafir for Deloitte

Ezequiel described Deloitte as a “good place to start and stay". He went on to say that Deloitte is a place where people can “smell and taste corporate finance". Ezequiel runs the Transaction Support Services Group.

In essence when a company acquiring another company does not have a corporate finance department, they hire firms like Deloitte to help them with elaborating the deal from start to finish. Within this process, Ezequiel noted two key steps: pre-deal and post-deal. Pre-deal entails numerous types of due diligences: Financial, Tax, Legal, Operational & Commercial, Information Technology and Synergy Studies. All of these in depth reports comprise the homework required to assess whether or not to proceed with the deal. Ezequiel clearly pointed out that “transactions take a lot of work, a lot of discussion and a lot die along the way.” Deloitte has an arm of 800 consultants that the Transaction Support Services Group draws on for expertise in the areas noted above. Once a deal closes, most of the grunt work has passed and the company then shifts gears to track the progress/ensure execution.

Ezequiel highlighted four areas of knowledge that Deloitte values:
1) Accounting & Auditing
2) Treasury and Corporate Finance
3) Valuation
4) Business modeling and operations

Similar to the career timeline Carlos from Merrill Lynch described, Ezequiel pointed out that careers at Deloitte in the Transaction Support Services Group also follow a structured path. Initially, junior level employees engage in extensive analysis using excel, whereas senior level executives focus more on sales.

Speaker 3: Leopoldo Reaño for Gala Capital Partner Advisors SGECRSA

Leopoldo describes Gala Capital as a Spanish Independent Private Firm that targets the middle market transaction in the Iberian Peninsula. He proceeded to explain that 3 levers exist when trying to pursue deals in Private Equity: 1) Look for companies with a low multiple, although in Leopoldo’s opinion, this approach gained too much popularity and therefore does not work as effectively as it used to. 2) De-leverage, which means identifying large companies that can generate enough cash to support large amounts of debt. 3) The method Gala Capital employs: look at companies where there is an opportunity to double, triple them in size organically, geographically, or via acquisition.

Ideally, Gala Capital seeks to double their investment in 3 years and triple in 5 years. Leopoldo summed this practice up by saying, “D-Day is the day we sell the company, not the day we buy it.”
In order to provide a more tangible example of Private Equity practices, Leopoldo walked the audience through the four phases of an investment cycle: 1) Investment Sourcing, establishing relationships with banks, M&A houses, lawyers, consultants, owners and managers to seek out potential deals. 2) Deal Execution entails thorough due diligence/analysis, negotiations and financing of a deal. 3) Portfolio Management & Exit, means participating in Board of Directors & Executive Committees, add-on acquisitions if needed and management coaching. 4) Firm Management, producing quarterly investment reports and overseeing investor relations.

Leopoldo emphasized that his firm is very focused on meeting certain criteria when looking at investments. Last year, they looked at 150 deals, did work on 20 deals and only ended up investing a fraction of these.

In terms of recruitment practices, Leopoldo said that many associates come from backgrounds in investment banking, consulting and now they also consider candidates with line experience in relevant industries.

Speaker 4: Álvaro Camarero with RBS

Alvaro works in the Project Finance Sector and spoke enthusiastically about his experience in the field. Álvaro, a former engineer, explained that project finance can be a great way for engineers to penetrate the finance field. The entity that Álvaro works for, RBS is a lending organization that operates in both retail banking and the global banking/markets area. Project finance falls into the second category. Álvaro forms part of a team of 12 individuals that focus on the energy and construction sector. Álvaro´s role in project finance is two-fold, first he and his colleagues lend money to develop projects and secondly, they optimize risk allocation among different parties involved in the project. Like the other speakers, Alvaro reiterated the importance of conducting due diligence before entering into a project. RBS also turns to consultants such as Deloitte to help compile all the necessary data on these projects before making a decision.

Álvaro discussed the market for project finance and noted that substantial projects are developing everywhere, an encouraging point for individuals that wish to work in this field. Several Spanish companies such as Acciona, Iberdrola, etc are leaders in the world thereby generating job opportunities. Furthermore, Álvaro stressed that project finance does not succumb to volatility relative to other fields since demand for roads, infrastructure, etc. always exists.

On a closing note, Álvaro gave the audience a very comprehensive list of why he enjoys his job in project finance:
-Exposure to multi-disciplinary tasks.
-Ability to develop knowledge on legal aspects.
-Negotiation with clients.
-Originating deals.
-Modeling.
-Tangibility of projects (ability to see evolution and completion of projects the firm has financed).

Speaker 5: Juan Santodomingo from GBS:

Juan described his firm GBS as a Middle Market I-Banking institution. Alike larger institutions such as Merrill Lynch, they invest money in equity and debt instruments. The only main difference is that GBS does not hold a banking license. Juan clearly explained the 3 main divisions that fall under corporate finance category within his firm: 1) Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) 2) Corporate Strategy 3) Debt Advisory.

Within GBS, the operations take place in 3 phases: 1) Deal origination 2) Execution that entails valuation, investment roadshows and conducting due diligence. 3) Closing: negotiation and contracts.

Aligned with the comments from the rest of the panel, he too affirmed that many hours are dedicated to research (origination) within his organization. Juan said that, “In 90% of the cases, you will get nothing…but when you do, it’s pretty good.”

In order to help the audience understand the demands of corporate finance, Juan ended his presentation with a few characteristics that he looks for in potential candidates. Foremost, previous experience in investment banking, corporate finance, private equity, corporate banking and strategic consultancy definitely gives candidates a competitive edge. In addition, GBS looks for financial modeling expertise, accounting & finance knowledge, and fluency in English.

Closing comments:
Overall, the presentation provided the audience with a great overview of different career paths within the finance industry. The speakers helped IE’s students and alumni by informing them of the resources they need to penetrate and advance within the industry. A few takeaways included: individual wishing to pursue careers in finance that do not possess backgrounds in the field should consider making an initial sacrifice and accepting an entry level analyst role in order to penetrate the business. The second key point, reinforced by Juan Santodomingo from GBS, stressed the importance of developing strong technical skills in order to work quickly and with ease on excel. Thanks to the helpful information provided by these speakers, attendees can make more informed choices regarding his/her career path.

IE Women in Business in cooperation with the IE Finance, IE Net Impact Chapter and Colombian Entrepreneurs Clubs are delighted to invite you to the conference: "MICROFINANCE. The world of microloans: a women's world".

Microfinance refers to the supply of small amount loans, savings, and other financial and non-financial services to low income people. Microfinance programs have generally targeted poor women. It is an activity that has grown above the average of the industry and we invite you to find out about its origins, development and the reasoning behind the target segment and its high performance indicators.

Speakers:
Tomás Gutiérrez Pérez, Professor of Finance at IE Business School. Tomás will tell us about the history and background of the Grameen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus. He will explain why this is a women's world, the evolution of microloans and the future of Microfinance.

Marcela Torres, IMBA 2008 Student. A practical example. Marcela has done extensive research in this field and has launched a project in Colombia. She will tell us about her experience and how she has contributed to help women building successful businesses in Colombia.

When: Wednesday 5th March 2008
Venue: Aula Magna (María de Molina, 11)
Time: 6.30 pm (duration: 1.5 hours)
The conference will be held in English.

REGISTER for this event HERE, writing your NAME and EMAIL.

The Education Day is an informative session on the different opportunities in the finance industry. The goal of the session is to provide participants with a deep understanding of the different alternative careers in Finance.

In this first session, the topics will include:
• Mergers & Aquisitions: Juan Santodomingo- GBS Investment Bank- VP.
• Investment Banking: Carlos Robles - Merrill Lynch – VP
• Corporate Finance: Ezequiel Szafir- Deloitte- Partner.
• Private Equity: Leopoldo Reaño- GALA Capital- Investment Director.
• Project Finance: Alvaro Camarero – Royal Bank of Scotland Director Project Finance
The event will be moderated by Tomás Gutierrez – Professor of Finance at IE Business School and CEO of Nova Capital Mergers and Acquisitions.

The event will take place in:
The Aula Magna, Maria de Molina 11, next Monday 25th February, from 7 pm to 9.10 pm.
Seats are limited to 134 attendees – served on a first register first serve basis (see below).
The session will be in English.

Who should attend? Students considering a Finance career after their Master programmes, undecided students, curious marketers, alumni, and any other member of the IE Community.

REGISTER HERE
FOR SIGNING , include your NAME AND EMAIL (Write it as the first person of the list), then MARK the event and SUBMIT it. If the page is in Spanish change it to English at the bottom.

For more information on IE Finance Club, please contact us at Finance.Club@ie.edu

1 Million € of virtual money per team, 22 teams, competing in real time for 8 weeks, with access to invest in Global Stocks, Currencies, Commodities, Derivatives and just about everything else there is to invest in.

The Stocktrack stock market simulator competition is a mandatory game played by those students enrolled in the courses of Portfolio Management, taught by Professors Juan Pedro Gómez (in English) and Laura Nuñez (in Spanish). The game was also open to the IE Finance Club Members.

We had heard that cash is king. However, after listening to the strategies of the top 3, we found out that information is king! Gardenia Fresneda Da Silva (MBA 07), Ricardo Degollado (EXCHANGE STUDENT) and Miroslav Toshkin (IMBA 07) were the contenders presenting their teams' strategies.

Ricardo’s team had made some money on investments in stocks and then lost it all when he moved his focus to commodities and invested in gold and oil. This together with his team’s investments in T-Bills put him on a pedestal in the Sharpe ratio rankings at a whopping ratio of 1.94. Ricardo and team kept a close watch on the news throughout the 8 weeks, meticulously checking the movements of their portfolio.

Gardenia, who belonged to the group brokered by Nicolás Tobón (MBA 07), was the top performer by absolute returns until week 7, after which Miroslav made some wise and high risk high return investments, putting him in first place for absolute returns. Gardenia mentioned that they too, like Ricardo, started with investments in stocks but moved to oil. There was no looking back after week 5, during which her team was close to 15% returns, leaving the closest contender at a mere 7%. Gardenia kept watching out for oil movements, $ exchange rates and the contemporary financial crises. She then diversified and gained brownie points for her team.

Comments by Finance Club members:

Samarth Sheth: Initially the # 1 was someone whose strategy was to be highly leveraged; come week 4 and this portfolio was at a -55%. The positions were risky and unhedged. Huge leverage landed them up at the bottom of the pyramid. Learning for me – “Greed is good” (Wall Street - the movie) however a hedged one is better!

Joaquín Ruiz: The Portfolio Management Competition is another success event of the Finance Club and coordinated/sponsored by Instituto de Empresa and his Chair of Finance Prof. Juan Pedro Gómez. Students have had the chance to discover the intricacies of investing in all types of financial securities and compete among each other in real time basis.

Congratulations to the top 3 teams, and especially to Miroslav´s team!

Professor Dr. Peter Gómez was at the Instituto de Empresa Business School to talk about turbulent times in stock markets on October 15, 2007. The speech was attended by Finance Club members and finance enthusiasts alike.

Prof. Gómez went from the macro to micro scenario, first discussing the current situation with the NYSE/Euronext merging, and then focusing on the Dubai Stock Exchange; and their ambition to have a stake in the LSE. He also mentioned turquoise, which will be an exchanged formed by the leading investment banks, etc. Spending very little time on the pros of the consolidations, he focused primarily on the negative points; something which no one has done as of yet.

After about 10-15 minutes, he moved on to talk about the strategy followed by the Swiss stock exchange .

To continue reading, click on More...

"15% of the Swiss economy depends on the financial sector employing 200,000 people, contributing 16% of the total tax collection towards the state" said Prof Gómez. However the global competition and the consolidation spree have forced the rankings of the Swiss Exchange down from 2nd in the 80’s to 6th currently.

At this point in time we were left flummoxed as to why wouldn`t the Swiss Exchange merge with another biggie to improve its stature in the market? The answer came when Prof. Gómez mentioned the fact that they want to focus on domestic markets and have merged with the German derivatives market for exactly that reason. He mentioned that the stock exchanges merging would not reach a sustained growth rate. Initially the growth would be aggressive, however, it would reach a point in time where problems such as no further synergies would surface, and growth would stagnate. "SWX’s core mandate consists in the strengthening of the Swiss financial centre by providing internationally competitive exchange services and maintaining regulatory authority for Swiss securities", mentioned Prof. Gómez towards the end.

Comments from the Club coordinators and event organizers:

Samarth Sheth: "Prof. Gomez was the first person in my opinion who actually brought out the negative aspects of the merging stock exchanges. With his brief presentation we got to know of the flip side of the coin!"

Miroslav Toshkin: "Prof. Gomez presented a thorough and well-thought concept about the future objectives of the Swiss Stock Exchange in the context of the turbulences of the finance sector. We had a unique opportunity to question one of today’s stock markets strategist".

Dear IE students and IE community,

The Finance Club is proud to present the “PRIVATE EQUITY DAY” on Monday, November 19th.

The objective is to provide the attendees with an understanding of the latest hot topics about Private Equity & Venture Capital, together with a practical emphasis thanks to a Private Equity Workshop.

The Finance Club proposes the following agenda:
(PLEASE READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR REGISTERING CAREFULLY!)

· Workshop => from 16h30 to 17h30
The Workshop will take place in A-301 AULA MAGNA.
Topic: "Private Equity Investment in a Target: Turnaround, Roll-up vs. Roll-over Strategies, Corporate Development and Capital Efficiency"
Conducted by Mr. Gorka Briones, CFO ODECO Group / Quercusequity

· Round Tables=> from 18h00 to 20h15
The Round Tables will take place in Aula Magna.

- Private Equity Round Table => from 18h00 to 19h00
Topics: “Opportunities and Threats of Private Equity after the Market Turmoil” & “Investments in Emerging Countries (e.g. China/India)”
Participants:
Fortis, Mr. Andrés Núñez Lagos (Head of Acquisition & Leveraged Finance Iberia)
Nazca Private Equity, Mr. Álvaro Mariátegui (Managing Partner)
Candover, Mr. Javier Abad (Director of the Madrid Office)
Moderator: ASCRI/Advent International: Mr. Juan Díaz Laviada (Managing-Director of the Madrid Office and Member of the Board of the Spanish Association of Private Equity)

- Venture Capital Round Table => from 19h15 to 20h15
Topic: “Raising Capital for a Technological Company”
Participants:
Agnitio, Mr. Emilio Martínez (Co-Founder, Entrepreneur)
Netspira, Mr. José López (Founder, Entrepreneur)
Berggi, Mr. Jorge Mata (Founder of MyAlert.com and Berg Networks, Entrepreneur)
Moderator: Bullnet Capital: Mr. Javier Ulecia (Co-founder, Venture Capitalist)

· Networking cocktail => from 20h15 to 21h00

HOW TO REGISTER: (Click on More...)

If you ONLY wish to participate in the Workshop, please send a “confirmation e-mail” to finance.club@ie.edu with YES WORKSHOP.

If you ONLY wish to participate in the Round Tables, please send a “confirmation e-mail” to finance.club@ie.edu with YES ROUND TABLES.

If you wish to participate in BOTH Workshop and Round Tables, please send a “confirmation e-mail” to finance.club@ie.edu with YES WORKSHOP & ROUND TABLES.

Places will be exclusively assigned on a first-come first-serve basis!

BUSINESS ATTIRE IS COMPULSORY!

WARNING!!!
We kindly remind you that once registered, attendance is mandatory! Please refrain from registering if you believe you will not be able to attend! Other students will benefit from your seat!

We also remind you that this is not a recruiting event. Please do not bring any resumes.

FINANCE CLUB

IE Finance Club has the honor of welcoming Professor Peter Gómez, Chairman of the Board of SWX Swiss Exchange Group and Chairman of the Board of EUREX Zurich/Frankfurt Derivatives Exchange.

It is a privilege and a unique opportunity to meet one of the most prominent business leaders in the European financial marketplace.
Download file Prof. Gomer C.V.

Prof. Gómez will be holding the conference, "European Stock Exchanges in Turbulent Times" on Monday, October 15th, at 17.30 in Serrano 99-101, classroom S-301.

TO REGISTER, please send an email to finance.club@ie.edu

Places are limited and will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis.

The Finance Club & IMBA program offer you a 3-Days Workshop about: "ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS & HEDGE FUNDS".

The aim of the 3-Days Workshop is that all participants have a good overview and understanding of the Hedge Funds industry. The workshop will be divided in 3 Sessions with the following main objectives:

SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION TO HEDGE FUNDS - (17 October 2007, Serrano 99, classroom S-301, from 15h to 16h)
SESSION 2: HEDGE FUNDS STRATEGIES EXPLAINED - (24 October 2007, Serrano 99, classroom S-301, from 15h to 16h)
SESSION 3: MULTISTRATEGY HEDGE FUND PORTFOLIO - (30 October 2007, Serrano 99, classroom S-301, from 15h to 16h)

The seminar will be conducted by Mr. Ivan Poza, Country Head Vontobel & Managing Director Harcourt.

For additional information and registration, click on "MORE"...

Harcourt Investment Consulting AG is a leading global provider of customized alternative investments solutions to institutional investors. Founded in 1997, the firm is headquartered in Zurich, with offices in New York, Stockholm, Madrid, Geneva, Cayman Islands and Hong Kong. With a staff of over 70 people and assets under management exceeding USD 4.6 bn, Harcourt focuses exclusively on multi-hedge fund and commodity portfolios and has an excellent track record of superior risk-adjusted returns.

For more detailed information, please check this syllabus Download file.

What has been said about Hedge Funds:

"The mandate is tough: preserve capital on the down side while obtaining sustained target returns over the medium term. This requirement combines two concepts that appear contradictory: preserve capital & obtain returns. This is why we keep repeating to ourselves – to make money, first we must not lose it". Hedge Fund Manager dixit.

"Hedge Funds are active investors and risk intermediaries in all current (and future) financial and non-financial markets". Allan Greespan – ex-Chairman of FED.

If you wish to participate, please send a “confirmation e-mail” to Ana Virtudes at AnaVirtudes.Ruiz@ie.edu Places are limited so first-come first-served!

Please do consider that once registered, attendance is mandatory.

FINANCE CLUB & IMBA PROGRAM

THE IE’S FINANCE CLUB CONTINUES ITS PROLIFIC STREAK OF HIGH VALUE EVENTS WITH THIS YEAR’S HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL INVESTMENT BANKING DAY

The Dean opens the session moderated by Arpad Von Lazar and the other speakers:Friedrich-Wilhelm Göbel, Roger Ramos, Ignacio de la Torre and Agustín Mariani

Fortis and the IE Finance Club offer students the unique opportunity to discover the realities and current trends in the world of Investment Banking and Corporate Finance through the expert opinion of some of Europe’s most reputable bankers.

Madrid, Spain (June 25th, 2007) – With an agenda packed with activities ranging from area specific workshops to networking opportunities, this year’s Investment Banking Day brought together some of the best investment bankers Europe has to offer, with a large number of investment banking hopefuls from the IE’s master degree programs for what some called – the best Finance Club event so far.

Damián Rubianes in his workshop, and in the cocktail with Friedrich-Wilhelm Göbel

Adding to their already prolific list of events conducted during the 2007 academic year, the Finance Club’s Investment Banking Day started off with three separate workshop sessions covering the topics of Structures Credit Sales, the M&A Process and Private Placements (an alternative to an IPO). Once the group reconvened at the IE’s Aula Magna, the panel of reputable investment bankers participating in the event conducted a conference highlighted by insightful discussions on trends involving M&A boutiques and the corporate derivatives market, issues dealing with China, credit cycles and implied risks reflected in the financial markets, as well as matters concerning the consolidation of the European financial system. Professor Arpad Von Lazar, member of the International Advisory Board of the Instituto de Empresa, moderated this part of the event.

The event’s main sponsor for the third year in a row was Fortis, one of Europe’s top 20 financial institutions. Representing Fortis in the event were Roger Ramos (Head of Merchant Banking in Spain) and Damián Rubianes (Cum Laude alumni of Instituto de Empresa and Associate Director of Fortis Investment Banking). Mr. Ramos’ valuable contributions to the event were backed by his excellent experience in M&A transactions that have reached a collective value of €30 billion. To the same extent, the contributions made by Mr. Rubianes, who boasts an impressive track record with tenures at JP Morgan and senior roles at Ernst & Young’s Corporate Finance M&A Advisory and Valuation group, were of great value for the participants. Present at the event were other experts in the field of investment banking from leading institutions such as ABN Amro, Bank of America, Santander, UBS and Viscardi Group.

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Only one year ago Denis Francis was here organising the IBD. Today he is coming from London with the Bank of America to share knowlege and to recruit

After the event, the representatives from Fortis provided the following comments – “We are delighted to sponsor the Investment Banking Day of IE's Finance Club. These bold and self-motivated students have shaped a challenging initiative into a long-established event that gathers future business leaders with top global investment banks in a thought-provoking atmosphere."

The organizers of the event were Miroslav Toshkin, Sandy Samaan, Federico María Giraldi, Svetlana Lenivkina and Joaquín Ruiz Tarré, all IMBA07 and coordinators of the Finance Club. They both were tremendously grateful to Fortis for their sponsorship and support, which were key to making the event possible. Moreover, they were both elated at the feedback provided by some audience members who approached them with nothing but positive comments about the event.

Almost all members of the Finance club co-ordination team with Damián Rubianes

About the IE Finance Club
The IE Finance Club is a student run organization that aims to help IE students learn about careers within the finance industry. The club hosts a number of events throughout the academic year, which are conceptualized and organized by its more than 45 members who are divided into several teams (e.g. education session, private equity, private banking, investment banking and stock market competition).

About Instituto de Empresa
IE Business School is a leading business school recognized as being among the top 15 business schools worldwide, oriented to training entrepreneurs and company directors through its masters and executive education programs. IE Business School is characterized by its global approach, its spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, the development of applied research projects, and the promotion of socially responsible initiatives. Instituto de Empresa currently has a network of 35,000 alumni that hold management positions in 85 countries.

Club Contact:
Finance.Club@ie.edu
Press Contact:
MediaComm.Club@ie.edu

Communicated by:
MediaComm

6 Billion Euros changing hands in 5 minutes; Bloomberg, BBC and TV1 making their finishing speech at the Bolsas y Mercados Españoles were among the few things that the Finance Club of Instituto de Empresa experienced on their June 18th visit to the BME.

Our group received a warm welcome from Mr. José Antonio Pérez and his team followed by a guided tour of the trading floor, the ceiling of which in the artistic sense represents all industries of Spain. “Although most of our days’ trading is done electronically a morning presential session takes place every working day” as explained by Jose with further comprehensive ratification of the functions of the different trading pits.

Our group then moved towards the state of the art conference room where Mr. Pérez gave us a presentation on the “closing auction” this is where we also witnessed 6 billion euros changing hands during the last 5 minutes of closing of the markets.

We walked out of BME having the practical knowledge on how the stock market and the electronic exchange works.

Here are some of the quotes that present shared:
Samarth Sheth: "Amazing practical knowledge; “closing auction” was only theory before we actually witnessed it at BME".

Miroslav Toshkin: "The visit was thrilling, and at the same time interesting, because I worked on the stock exchange in Bulgaria and with this visit I could get in touch with the latest technological achievements and functioning of one of the most advanced trading platforms in Europe. I think we should turn this cooperation into tradition, so that the next class of finance enthusiasts at Instituto de Empresa could benefit from the good relation and reception, we received at BME".

Joaquín A. Ruiz Tarré: "We were impressed by the amount of transactions that take place in a few seconds and the importance of the SIBE system (i.e. sistema de interconexión bursátil español) in today’s global finance world".

About the IE Finance Club
The IE Finance Club is a student run organization that aims to help IE students learn about careers within the finance industry. The club hosts a number of events throughout the academic year, which are conceptualized and organized by its more than 45 members who are divided into several teams (e.g. education session, private equity, private banking, investment banking and stock market competition).

Rok, Leonardo, Borja y Borislav

Un equipo de alumnos del Master in Financial Management del Instituto de Empresa ha ganado el 1er premio en la competición CFA-Banco Santander que han organizado CFA Spain y Bolsa de Madrid, con la colaboración de Banco Santander y el diario El Economista. El equipo ganador estuvo integrado por el alumno búlgaro Borislav Koev; el español Borja Alba Celemín; el brasileño Leonardo Camozzato, y el esloveno Rok Ster, que desarrollaron análisis bursátil del Grupo Santander y realizaron una recomendación de inversión, ante un jurado integrado por directivos de CFA, Banco Santander y el diario El Economista.

La valoración incluyó los métodos más habituales relativos a entidades financiera: suma de las partes y múltiplos, así como descuento de dividendos. Pero este año fue especialmente complicado porque cuando estábamos desarrollando este trabajo surgió la noticia de la oferta de compra de ABN Amro por parte del consorcio Santander-Fortis-RBS, en respuesta a la oferta original planteada por Barclays. Este hecho implicó un esfuerzo adicional en la valoración, al tener que valorar los efectos de dicha propuesta”, señala Borja Alba, uno de los miembros del equipo ganador.

El Master in Financial Management (MFM) del Instituto de Empresa está orientado a jóvenes que quieran desarrollar su carrera profesional en empresas relacionadas con el capital de riesgo, mercados financieros, gestión de inversiones, consultoría financiera y auditoria, así como las finanzas públicas, el mundo de las finanzas corporativas o la asesoría financiera independiente. Se trata de un master de 10 meses de duración, que se imparte en inglés y proporciona conocimientos profundos de gestión en el área financiera. El programa consta de un periodo de formación en management seguido de una etapa de especialización en Corporate Finance, Mercados Financieros, Banca y Seguros, Investment Management y Habilidades Directivas. Los participantes deben presentar, además, un trabajo de investigación y un trabajo práctico sobre valoración de empresas. Y, de manera opcional, pueden preparar el primer examen para el Chartered Financial Advisor (CFA®).

Dear IE students,
The Finance club offers you next Tuesday 10th of July at 18h, Serrano 99 in S-101 a seminar about: "Warrants valuation and risk parameters".

This seminar presents one of the most liquid instruments in the Spanish equity derivatives market.
The aim of the conference is to provide a comprehensive background of warrants and its usefulness to set an investment or a hedging strategy.
The seminar will be conducted by Rodrigo Manero, Head of Santander Warrants Desk.

The event will last about one hour and the places are limited! Don’t forget to register at finance.club@ie.edu indicating Warrants!!!
Please do it before Friday, 6th of May so that you can book your place!

What Investopedia says about Warrants:

A derivative security that gives the holder the right to purchase securities (usually equity) from the issuer at a specific price within a certain time frame. Warrants are often included in a new debt issue as a "sweetener" to entice investors.

The main difference between warrants and call options is that warrants are issued and guaranteed by the company, whereas options are exchange instruments and are not issued by the company. Also, the lifetime of a warrant is often measured in years, while the lifetime of a typical option is measured in months.

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/warrant.asp

We wish to see you all there.

The Finance club

Dear IE community,
For those of you who are passionate about careers in finance as well for those who are still investigating the opportunity, the IE Finance Club and the Dean present:

INVESTMENT BANKING DAY 2007 Sponsored by

When? June 25th (Monday), 16.30 (workshops), 18.00 (conference)
Where? Workshops – IE, Castellón de la Plana
Conference - IE, Serrano 105
Who? ABN-Amro, Banco Santander, Fortis, Bank of America, UBS, Viscardi Group

Send "INVEST" to finance.club@ie.edu to register!!!!
You will be able to select only 1 option for the workshop, please indicate in the e-mail your first and second choice so that we still could meet your interests in case all the places for your first-choice workshop are already assigned !!!
Places are limited, assigned on a first come-first served basis

We do it for you,
IE Finance Club

Workshops:
Mergers&Acquisitions Process / ABN Amro
Structured Credit Sales / Bank of America
Private placements: an alternative to an IPO (Business case) / Fortis
Conference:
M&A boutique / Viscardi Group
China, Credit cycles and implied risks reflected in financial markets / UBS
Corporate Derivatives Market in Spain / Banco Santander
Consolidation in the European financial system / Fortis
…Followed by networking cocktail …

Invest 3-4 hours of your time to know more about working in finance. Right career choice will pay you back…

The Finance Club invited Mr. José Antonio Pérez Rodríguez, an experienced professional in the field of Market Quality in the Spanish Stock Exchange (Download file to read his CV), to conduct the Seminar.

Download file TO READ THE PRESS RELEASE

If you are into finance, then mark your calendar because on Wednesday 23rd of May, the Finance Club organizes the “Private Equity Day”

Agenda
- Panel discussion (17h30-19h30) / Aula Magna / María de Molina 11
A group of 6 Private Equity funds will discuss the following topics:
- “Private Equity- the years ahead; Opportunities and Threats” (Analyze Emerging Sectors & Markets, their attractiveness, Renewable Energy Resources Changing regulations, perception, impact of PE going Public: e.g. Blackstone)
- “What makes a company choose Private Equity over other forms of funding?”

- Cocktail (19h30) / Aula Magna

SPONSORED BY

>>>> REGISTRATION starts today Thursday 17 of May.
Send “PEDay” to finance.club@ie.edu to register!!!!
First come first served!

The Finance club offers you next Tuesday 8th of May at 19h, Serrano 99 in S-201 a discussion about:

“Spanish Stock Exchange market, Institutions and Organisation" (i.e. how it works and the basics of a stock exchange)
The discussion will be conducted by Mr. José Antonio Pérez from the Spanish Stock Exchange / BMEX
Download file to see his CV

The event will last about one hour and the places are limited! Don’t forget to register at finance.club@ie.edu indicating Stock exchange!!!

Please do it by today, Friday 4 of May so that you can book your place!

Joaquín Ruiz Tarré (IMBA07)- President of the Finance Club- opened the session,
followed by the presentation of CIMA (event´s sponsor), conducted by Thierry Iovane, Regional Director for Europe

Almost 100 participants, among students, alumni and guests, attended the Educational Session

Pictures taken by Otmar Winterleitner (IMBA07), coordinator of the Photography Club

Download file TO READ THE PRESS RELEASE

Sponsored by CIMA the Chartered Institute for Management Accountants

Dear ie Students,

Have you dreamt of making a career change into Finance?
Would any of the following Finance positions interest you?
- Private Equity
- Investment Banking
- Transaction Services (Mergers & Acquisitions)
- Private Banking
- Alternative Investments (Hedge funds)
Professionals from these areas will introduce the basics of their daily activity as well as how to get into these jobs (career tips)!!!

If you'd like to know how they made it => come on Monday 12th of March to Aula Magna!!!
From 18h30 to 20h30, followed by a Networking cocktail!!!

Registration is compulsory!!! Email “iES” to finance.club@ie.edu (limited number of places)

Participants:

IE Finance
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Do you know what a HEDGE FUND is? Would you like to know more about?

The IE Finance club is pleased to invite you next Monday 19th of February @ 19h to a Hedge Fund discussion with:
Professor Bruno R. Gerard. Director of Currency Strategies @ Mellon Capital

Agenda:

(19h - 19h40) -> Hedge Fund topics
- Introduction on Hedge Funds
- Compare Quantitative to Discretionary Hedge Funds
- Insights about Mellon Capital Global Alpha Macro Hedge Fund, with some emphasis on Risk Management

(19h40 - 20h) -> Q&A

Room => AULA MAGNA in María de Molina, 15

Reservation => places are limited!!! and will be reserved on a first come first served basis.
Please reply to finance.club@ie.edu and confirm your attendance as soon as possible.

Professor Bruno professional background:Download file

IEFinance
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Dear IE Students Community,
If you have any interest in FINANCE - BANKING and you were not able to attend the 1ST MEETING of the IE Finance club, in which we covered the following topics:
1. Presentation of the Finance club and its activities
2. Discuss the workshops to be prepared during the year, including => Education session / Private equity day / Investment banking day / Stock market simulation (among others)
3. Participation as an active member in the Finance club / formation of teams for the preparation of all the above workshops
4. Election of the Coordinator and second Coordinator

Please join us:
TUESDAY 9th of January from 6pm to 8pm in room P-212 (Pinar 18).
In this 2ND MEETING, we will:
1. Close the teams;
2. Set the assignments/roles of each of the teams;
If you have any question, please send an e-mail to Finance.Club@ie.edu

We hope to see you many...
IEFinance
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IEFinance
c l u b

Dear IE Students Community,

Do you like Finance?
Do you want to know more about the Banking sector?
Are you planning to make a career move into the Finance Industry after graduation?

=> If you have any interest in FINANCE - BANKING and would like to be Actively Involved as a Team Member in organising events and sharing your experience/ inputs on Finance related subjects, please join us:

Tomorrow TUESDAY 19th of December from 4pm to 6pm in room B-305 (Maria de Molina 13).

If you have any question about this first meeting, please send an e-mail to jaruiz.imba2007@alumno.ie.edu
We hope to see you many...
IEFinance
c l u b
INSTITUTO DE EMPRESA
Business School

CLUB COORDINATOR: JOAQUIN ALEXANDRE RUIZ TARRE
International MBA candidate 2006-07
Phone n°: +34 6000 350 33
E-mail: jaruiz.imba2007@alumno.ie.edu

The members of the Finance Club have put together the II edition of the Investment Banking Day at Instituto de Empresa. Rodrigo Loureiro Teixeira lead the organization of this event together with Cyril Mazeau, António Rus, Michele Fioretto, Judit Csikasz, Nino Gonjilashvili, Pierluigi Giverso and Andrew de la Mare. Guillaume Delacour from the Careers Management Center, was also a valuable resource in the organization.
This event is the 3rd one organized by the Finance Club in 2006, and will be followed by other interesting ones to be announced.

This year the Finance Club has decided to do minor changes in the event format. In order to develop a closer relationship with the Investment Banking community that was present in last year’s event, these banks were given preference, before new ones were invited. In order to maximize attendance at the workshops, this year only two were held with a very successful audience.

The IBDay was opened by Prof. David Bach, who highlighted his views on the Panel Discussion topic, making a bridge with the concepts that most students had seen in his Country Economic Analysis.

Then two interesting Workshops were held:

"Acquisition process and Acquisition Finance" by Fortis Bank; lectured by Enrique Dermit and Damián Rubianes.

In this workshop students had the possibility to fully understand how M&A transactions are structured and financed. During approximately 1 hour, Enrique and Damián engaged a very interesting dynamic with the audience, where the presentation was halted by questions and answers.

"Gas Natural and Endesa deal" by UBS, Jaime Vigón.

Jaime is an Associate Director of the UBS office in Madrid, and has been part of the team that has supported Gas Natural in this process. During the presentation, Jaime build-up the story why it made sense for both companies to merge, and explained in detail the financials that lay behind the deal. Judging from the questions the audience was making, this was clearly a very interesting and updated topic to discuss an International Business School, such as Instituto de Empresa

The discussion panel started after a 30 minutes coffee-break that was kindly sponsored by the invited banks, and where students had the opportunity to discuss the lectures on the workshops as well as network with the invited guests.

Santiago Iñiguez, dean of IE, welcomed the panelists and the moderator, Prof. Arpad von Lazar.

The panel discussion was constituted by:

- Roger Ramos, Fortis
- Ignacio Muñoz-Alonso, Rothschild
- Jorge Vasallo, ABN Amro
- Iñigo Pañeda, Lehman Bothers
- Antonio Álvarez, UBS

The topic for discussion was not an easy one, although it gathered the interest of all the panelists. After a brief and humorous introduction of Prof. Arpad on the current state of the investment banking, each participant gave his own view on the effects that National Protectionism might have in their own business.

The most frequently mentioned cases were the Spanish Endesa / E.ON, Abertis / Autostrate, Pespi / Danone. There was a general consensus that in all cases, the protectionism might be understood up to a certain extent, although the global society will not benefit from such barriers. Regarding the impact that this might have in the Investment Banking business, the participants agreed that these types of deals were still responsible for fee generation, and they were typically long deals, which dissolved any existing idea, that Investment Banks would be severely affected.

The Q&A session was very interesting, with students trying to explore also the political side of the protectionism as well as adding other examples and industries that were facing the same issues.

This was clearly a very successful event, where students had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge on the Corporate Finance world, more specifically Mergers and Acquisitions, and be update with the views and opinions of industry experts, on such a relevant and actual topic.

Madrid, 1st February 2006

Educational Session: What are the career opportunities in the banking and finance industry?

Today, the Finance Club and its members, Rodrigo Loureiro Teixeira, Cyril Mazeau, António Rus, Liam Hennigan, Deepanjan Mukherjee, Michele Fioretto, Judit Csikasz, Nino Gonjilashvili, Pierluigi Giverso, Andrew de la Mare and Nicolas Zapata (all from the IMBA2006 except António from Master on Financial Management) have held a "very successful educational event" according to the hundred of participants present. This second event organized in collaboration with the Careers Management Center was following the presentation of Mr.Roman Edelman, VP from Clariden Bank, the 23rd of January, on the careers in M&A and Private Banking.

The objectives of the education session were mainly to provide students from all programmes with a clear view of the different career opportunities that the banking industry has to offer.

To illustrate these differences, the Finance Club invited top-notch professionals from different and most representative areas of the finance industry:
* Oscar Martinez-Cubells, Managing Director of SES Iberia Private Equity (Private Equity)
* Gonzalo Azcoitia, Managing Director of Merrill Lynch Financial Managers (Fund Management)
* Joaquín Casasús Olea, Managing Director of Abante Asesores (Private Banking)
* Carlos Robles, Associate at Merrill Lynch (Top tier M&A deals)

These experienced panelists, with the help of the moderator Tomás Gutierrez, Professor at IE and Director at One to One Capital Partners, brought a very interesting insight over their professional experiences and answered a very complete set of questions that kept the debate very dynamic and interactive. Above all, they pointed out clearly what are the set of skills that an IE student needs to be qualified in the finance marketplace: past professional experience, business oriented, outstanding analytical capabilities especially for M&A and a strong set of interpersonal skills which reflect the flexibility to adapt to different situations on a day to day basis.

During the closing speech, Rodrigo Loureiro Teixeira thanked all the participants for their precious time and announced the future events of the Club, such as the Workshop with a Manager from a Social Responsibility Fund from an International bank, the Private Equity Day or the already famous Investment Banking Day.

The members of the Finance Club joined the speakers for a family picture

"Future challenges in investment banking" was the theme of the first edition of the Investment Banking Day on 8 June. Duarte Gaia dos Santos, Franka Schäffler, Harald Wilke, Ignacio Martínez Sánchez, Jerónimo Eduardo del Villar Zamacona, Laurence Van Lancker, Marc Clapasson, Manfred Hick, Sergio Iardella, Susan Luff and Rita Valerio, all IMBA 2005 members of the Instituto de Empresa Finance Club, organised this highly successful event with the support of our Careers Management Centre.

The Investment Banking Day was a major opportunity for students and alumni to meet top executives of leading investment banks, gain a better understanding of investment careers, and discuss current industry trends and short-term perspectives. The initiative enjoyed great success, bringing together more than 150 attendees for a series of extremely participative and interactive seminars and workshops, as well as for two panel discussions introduced and moderated by IE faculty members.

Offered by the participating banks, different workshops covered topics such as "Public to Private (P2P) operations" and "Maximizing the value in an IPO process with independent advisors", as well as discussions about real cases. All attendees gained a privileged insight into various interesting industry features.

Jorge Vasallo, Joaquín Valencia and Alfredo Fernández, Managing Directors of, respectively, ABN Amro, JP Morgan and UBS Investment Bank, joined José Mario Álvarez de Novales, Associate General Director of Instituto de Empresa, in an open discussion panel. Francisco J. López Lubián, Director of the Finance Department of Instituto de Empresa, moderated the debate.

The speakers underlined that the best candidates for careers in the industry should have both a global understanding and local technical knowledge to help select the best investment strategy for a client. Furthermore, they pointed out that having impeccable social skills is another key to success.

The second panel discussion, "Future challenges of the investment banking sector", was presented and conducted by Gonzalo Chávez Negrete, Professor of Finance at Instituto de Empresa. It brought together Roger Ramos, Ignacio Álvarez-Rendueles, Juan Gich -respective Managing Directors of Fortis Bank, Goldman Sachs Spain and Lehman Brothers -, Ignacio Muñoz Alonso, Chief Executive Officer of Rothschild Spain, and José Mario Álvarez de Novales.