The Wall Street Lab

Most of you are familiar with the CFA designation – the one that makes you lose at least 3 Springs of your life (if you are lucky), your friendships and sometimes your partner. The one that makes you, according to CFA Institute’s statistics, read 8,914 pages of material, study 3,865 equations and take 18 hours of examinations. It is true that studying for it can be a very daunting and time consuming task. But if you are really interested in it (and I am not here trying to convince you to become a CFA charterholder – although I think it is a great thing to do if you are passionate about finance), I think you are going to get a lot out of this episode. For the full show notes go to: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/  I have been asked many times over the years about tips and tricks on how to improve your chances of passing the CFA exams. So, in this special episode in which we decided to be the ones doing all the talking, Luke and I put together a list 18 points that may improve your chances of being more succes

Ian Morgan is a former Managing Director at Société Générale who, after over 20 years as an investment banker, decided to become an entrepreneur in order to follow his passion. He is now an  executive coach who provides a tailored coaching service designed specifically for finance industry professionals, in the fields of leadership, career management and interviewing. He is passionate about helping individuals reach new levels of achievement and performance. for the full show notes go to: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/  If the interview was valuable to you, make sure to take a few seconds to leave us a 5-Star review on iTunes.   [5:00] Ian’s background and all the projects he is involved with at the moment [6:30] What made Ian quit his job as a Managing Director at a large Investment Bank to start running his own business. [8:45] Ian describes his experience in resigning from his position as an MD and what the first day of running his own business felt like. [11:15] What do successful candidates do that uns

Alexander Doll is the CEO of Barclays Germany and the Head of Banking for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Prior to his role at Barclays, Mr. Doll served as a Managing Director of Financial Advisory Business at Lazard.  Mr. Doll joined Lazard after eight years with UBS. His previous experience also includes working for Lehman Brothers in New York and Frankfurt. For the full show notes please go to: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/ Have you asked yourself what the best-case scenario for your career would be? I mean, if everything goes extremely well – you get along with your colleagues, you become a well-known and recognized expert in your field, you are being nicely rewarded financially for what you do - what would that look like for you? Will you be a CEO of a company? Or perhaps a successful investor or run your own business? Regardless of what your answer is, there is one thing we can agree on - to get there, you are going to work extremely hard at it. You must master multiple skills, not only on the tech

Dr. Thomas Bloch is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Vaamo, a leading German Robo-Advisory platform. Prior to founding an asset management fintech Dr. Bloch has worked in investment banking for J.P. Morgan for almost 9 years. This unique set of experiences makes our today’s guest an amazing conversation partner as he shares valuable insights as seen from both sides of the table. In our conversation, we jump from topic as we discuss the history of Vaamo as well as the current fintech environment and the struggles of founding a financial startup. We also get very deep into the way a Robo-advisor company operates and what is required to succeed in this field. For anyone who is planning on founding a financial startup this is a must-listen. For the full show notes and to sign up for our newsletter go to: www.thewallstreetlab.com  And now to the show notes: 2:00 How does Dr. Bloch explain what he does 3:00 Professional background and the story of Vaamo 06:50 How did the idea for Vaamo come along? 09:00 How was the sw

  Steven Gerbel is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer at Chicago Capital Management, a US-based merger arbitrage hedge fund. Steven has over 20 years of experience in hedge funds focused on merger arbitrage and convertible arbitrage markets. Prior to founding Chicago Capital Management, Steven was a general partner at First Capital Management LP, a Chicago-based hedge fund focused on merger and convertible arbitrage, value investing, and distressed markets. Prior to this, Steven traded commodities on the Mid-American Commodities Exchange at the Chicago Board of Trade. He holds a bachelor of science in economics degree from DePaul University. For the full Show notes go to: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/episode-07-steven-gerbel-merger-arbitrage-hedge-fund-investing/ In this wide ranging conversation, Steve shares some valuable information for those who aspire to become a hedge fund manager. We touched on a variety of topics, such as the current state of the merger arbitrage industry in the US. Here is h

Dr. Nelson Lacey, CFA is a professor of finance at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts. He earned his PhD in finance from the Pennsylvania State University and he also holds the CFA charter. Professor Lacey has been at CAIA since its inception. He has been active in working on the program’s curriculum and examination and became a Director of Exams in 2004. Professor Lacey’s academic work has led to over 50 publications in finance and economics. He is also the co-author of the book Modern Corporate Finance: Theory and Practice. For the full show notes go to: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/ The love for knowledge is really one of the main reasons why we started this project. We truly believe that education is not an end in itself, but a continuous journey. As Albert Einstein said, “Intellectual growth should commence at birth and cease only at death”. With that in mind, if you look at the financial services world, there are really dozens of exams you can take in order to learn

Richard Lucas is an angel investor who is currently involved with close to 20 different companies across a variety of industries. He has made many investments into world-class startups over the years, including deals with startups backed by the likes of Y Combinator. For example, Richard was an early investor in the company Estimote, which won the 2013 Tech Crunch disrupt in the Hardware category. Part of the reason why Richard is such a fascinating person to talk to, is that he is involved in a variety of projects outside of his main work. He is the founder of Cambentrepreneurs, an alumni network for the graduates of Cambridge University and others focusing on entrepreneurship. He is also the license holder of Tedx Kazimierz, which is an independently organized Ted event in Krakow, Poland. Show notes and links: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/episode-05-richard-lucas-angel-investing/ Our interview with Richard is jam-packed with really great and practical insights into the mind of someone who, in his own wor

Brian Tomlinson, CMT is currently a Global Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at Allianz Global Investors. Prior to joining AllianzGI, he spent 7 years at Pimco as a Portfolio Manager. He also worked at other companies well known to most of us, such as Merrill Lynch, Citi Bank, Dresdner Bank and IBM. for the full shownotes and more go: to: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/episode-04-brian-tomlinson-cmt-fixed-income-investing-with-a-global-portfolio-manager/  If you are one of those who think fixed income is boing, I can almost guarantee you that you will change your mind after listening to our conversation with Brian. Not only is he extremely good at what he does – and you will hear that when he walks us through the thought process that lead him to position his portfolio to take advantage of both a possible Brexit vote and the Trump election – but he is also very good at making seemingly difficult concepts, such as the effect of negative interest rates in society, very accessible to everyone. “If you really want t

Marcus Storr is the Head of Hedge Funds at FERI Trust, a German asset management company and one of the largest investors in Alternative Assets in Germany. Marcus has held various positions in the investment industry over the years, including being a Vice-President for Global Equities at Robert Flemings in London, which is now part of JP Morgan, and a Director of Global Equities at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein. For the full show notes and to subscribe go to:http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/episode-03-marcus-storr-hedge-fund-investing/  Let me tell you: you are in for a real treat! As you will notice very quickly, not only did Marcus provide us with great insights about the hedge fund industry, but he is also very entertaining and humorous. During our interview, we touch on a range of topics including different hedge fund strategies, the current state of the hedge fund industry, how to improve your chances of getting hired by a hedge fund manager, and many other very interesting topics. And now, to the show n

Oliver Schebela, CFA is the Head of Private Equity Solutions of Bethmann Bank, a traditional German private bank, wholly owned by ABN AMRO. Prior to this, he spent 7 years at FERI Trust, where he started as a Private Equity Manager and worked his way up to Head of Private Equity. In his earlier days (he is still very young), he worked at Credit Suisse and at Commerzbank. For the full show notes and to subscribe go to: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/episode-02-oliver-schebela-cfa-private-equity-fund-investing/  This is a special episode for us. Not necessarily for the great conversation we had with Oliver, but for what it means to this journey Luke and I have embarked on. Back in the day when starting The Wall Street Lab was just an idea, we used to grab coffee and talk about who could potentially be guests on the podcast. Oliver was really the first person we thought about! So having the opportunity to actually interview him serves as validation that our idea was really worth pursuing. As you will notice fro

  Simon Hirst has spent the majority of is live in various leadership positions within the M&A and Private Equity industries, including 12 years at Lehman Brothers. He also served as a Global Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisitions at Commerzbank and as the CEO of a London Stock Exchange listed company. In addition Simon is a co-founder and a managing partner of Tri-Artizan Partners a boutique merchant bank. He is also a visiting professor at some of the top European business schools, such as the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, Cass Business School, as well as IE.  For the full show notes and to subscribe go to: http://www.thewallstreetlab.com/episode-01-mape-simon-hirst/  Before this interview, The Wall Street Lab was all but an idea. What changed? Luke decided to e-mail Simon Hirst, without really expecting to receive a positive response. After all, he is a very busy man. Besides, “what is The Wall Street Lab anyway?”, he must have thought. To our surprise, Simon Hirst was very gracious in agree

  Welcome to The Wall Street Lab!!! That’s it! After months of preparation, including getting used to listening to the recording of our own voices, The Wall Street Lab is finally live! Luke and I are really excited about starting this journey with all of you. We really believe we have put together something special that will hopefully add some value to your careers in finance. So what are we all about? We started The Wall Street Lab to provide you with exclusive insights into the world of finance. We strive to offer you access to practical information that cannot be found in books or articles. In order to do that, we interview top finance experts in the areas of hedge funds, private equity, investment banking, asset management, management consulting, to name a few. To give you a taste of what is to come, we put together a “Trailer” of Season One. We hope you enjoy it and stick around for future episodes!  Feel free to give us some feedback in the comments below! And last but not least, make sure to rate us on