Three teams spent a day at Morgan Stanley’s offices in London where they presented their investment cases
Two groups of MBA candidates from Saïd Business School were announced as winners of the Morgan Stanley / Oxford Finance Lab Investment Banking Challenge.
The first group won the Best Analysis Category and the second group won the overall competition.
The challenge, which was open to students registered in the Oxford Saïd Finance Lab, presented a real-life investment situation by asking students to select a British publicly listed company (excluding the financial sector) with a market capitalisation between £3Bn-5Bn for a leveraged buyout.
Teams of three to five were asked to use publicly available information to justify the case for the buyout and present the case to executives from the bank.
The win afforded the students access to mentoring and networking opportunities at an award ceremony held at the investment banks' European headquarters in London.
Kate Shanahan, Josh Starkey, Matthew Lepahe and Matthew Shields took home the overall award for their presentation for leverage buyouts and described their elation at having the opportunity to work as a team and gain hands-on experience.
‘The practical nature of the Finance Lab prepares you to handle varied cases not just in class, but in a real-world setting,’ said Josh Starkey. A sentiment echoed by his teammates who applauded Finance Lab Director John Gilligan and his team for the great work in crafting the curriculum and cases.
‘While Saïd Business School emphasises purpose-driven leadership, the Oxford MBA brings a diverse cohort of students,’ said Matthew Shields. ‘Certainly our win - just like all other awards the finance lab has received - demonstrates our strength in financial services and investments which are something any prospective applicant should look forward to.’
John Gilligan stated: ‘Thanks to Thomas Perry (Managing Director at Morgan Stanley), Jonathan Chapman (Technology Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley) and all of their colleagues for hosting us and providing our students with a first-class experience and challenge.’
Written by Diana Wangari, 2019/20 MBA candidate