SMBC Europe Ltd 

Since 2001 I have been working for Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), one of Japan’s largest international banks. Most of my professional life has been spent in the City financing major projects in the energy sector with the exception of a few years working for a London based US energy company developing projects in the EMEA region. I also spent five years with Price Waterhouse where I qualified as a chartered accountant (ACA). I have an academic background in engineering and hold a BEng in Chemical Engineering and an MSc in Petroleum Refining.
 
As Head of Oil, Gas and Petrochemicals at SMBC I am involved in the financing of multi-billion dollar projects in the EMEA region. Over the past few years I have worked on the financing of an integrated offshore oil and gas project in Russia, several petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants in the Middle East and oil field development projects in West Africa.

In 2007, as part of an initiative to develop its relationship with top business schools, SMBC became a partner of Saïd Business School. At this point I started to think seriously about doing an Executive MBA. My career had become very focused and I wanted to broaden my outlook and gain a more strategic perspective of business. Oxford’s new business school, with its growing reputation for entrepreneurship and strategy, was the perfect fit.

The strategic and entrepreneurial focus of the Oxford Executive MBA was very important to me, especially when applied to the course project work. Entrepreneurship is often seen as more relevant to start-ups and small businesses but I have learned from the Executive MBA that entrepreneurship is equally important for big organisations. Management roles can become too bureaucratic and lacking in the active search for new opportunities. Another highlight of my time at Oxford was mixing with other students from a variety of management backgrounds and industries and particularly those with entrepreneurial backgrounds.

SMBC has benefited from my Executive MBA experiences. The most important thing – part of the bank’s wider business schools initiative – has been to create strong links with Saïd Business School. We’ve subsequently hired graduates of the school and have sponsored the SMBC Al Mustaqbal MBA scholarship. It’s been very stimulating for the bank, providing us with a different view on the world.