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UWA Business School
Four UWA Business School students recently got a taste of life in investment banking when they were flown to UBS' Sydney offices to compete in the national finals of the UBS Investment Banking Challenge.

Lincoln Tan, Alexandra Clarke, Jonathon Burrows and Andrew Gale performed extraordinarily well, competing against hundreds of other teams for cash prizes and the opportunity to interview for summer internships at UBS.

The competition involved nearly 400 teams around the country being presented with case studies that had been developed by UBS bankers and were based on real-life mergers and acquisitions transactions. With only one week to prepare, the teams then had to deliver a 15-minute presentation to a panel of UBS bankers and academics, and also face the panel's questions.

Twenty-eight UWA teams competed, with the top four teams making it through to the campus final. The winning team - Lincoln, Alexandra, Jonathon and Andrew - then competed in the national finals in Sydney, where they narrowly missed out on placing in the top three teams nationally.

Law/Commerce students Lincoln and Andrew enjoyed the opportunity to get ‘hands-on' experience in investment banking.

Andrew found that the practical element enhanced his understanding of different concepts. ‘I learnt a lot just by doing things: financial modelling, preparing pitch books, sketching out reasons for entering the merger and the options available for negotiation. Having a timeframe to get things done forced you to sit down and learn the skill required or tackle the problem at hand.'

Lincoln adds, ‘The competition isn't called a ‘Challenge' for no reason! The workload is intense and a lot of the tasks we were expected to complete went beyond what is taught in-class.'

Luckily, Lincoln thrived under pressure. ‘A personal highlight was ‘question time' in Sydney where we were grilled by senior bankers who had experience on the transaction we worked on for the competition. It was mildly traumatising!'

Andrew agrees. ‘Answering the questions the judges posed was probably the most enjoyable part of the competition, especially in the National Final. After working on the transaction for three weeks, usually until the early hours of the morning, showing that you know what you're talking about by nailing the questions posed is pretty exhilarating.'

So what was the toughest part of the competition?

Andrew nominates the short presentation time as posing a particular challenge. ‘When you have 10-15 minutes to present reasons for a company to enter a multi-billion dollar transaction you really have to pick what to emphasise carefully and make sure it's the right thing to emphasise.

‘You don't want to deliver a poor presentation by missing a point or by removing a point that you had but thought was irrelevant.'

Jonathon, also a Law/Commerce student, found it hard to balance the competition's workload with regular study. However, he says, this difficulty was outweighed by the practical experience that he gained.

‘The most enjoyable part of the competition was being able to talk with UBS bankers after the final presentation, and hearing their insight on how we approached issues, as well as general discussion on the work involved in the industry.'

Simon Bartulovic, who competed in last year's competition, organised UWA's involvement in the 2010 Challenge. He says that it is an invaluable learning experience for budding investment bankers.

‘The Challenge is a unique opportunity to apply finance theory to a real life transaction and therefore it is a great way for students to learn more about investment banking and the work involved. I think it is also important to note that students have an opportunity to develop relationships with UBS bankers - gaining valuable insight into the industry and the bank.

‘Over the summer, I completed an internship at UBS and I can confidently say that the work involved in the Challenge is very similar to the work that UBS analysts undertake.'

For Andrew, the experience confirmed his desire to work in the industry. ‘Investment banking is a challenging and exciting field of work. It offers many opportunities that other fields of work don't. You can see the work you do impact on the lives of many stakeholders.

'I think it is the visibility of the value created, the direct link between the work an investment banker does and the resulting changes in people's lives, that makes it such a rewarding field.'

Lincoln has a final piece of advice for other students: Take every opportunity available, and never give up.

‘This was the second time I've competed in the Challenge. I guess the lesson here is to learn from your previous mistakes and try and try again!'