2# Women’s Finance Insight Programme – “My dreams and ambitions have grown”

Julie Rieland Hansen, CBS, Denmark

What have you been doing in the last sessions?

So far, three out of six sessions have been completed, and all of them have been very interesting. I have been introduced to Debt Capital Markets (DCM), Sustainable Finance Advisory, Debt Solutions & Loans (DSL), and Debt Syndicate. And, of course, Nordea's Diversity & Inclusion team. During the sessions, each unit has presented their business area, and what a day in their position looks like. After each presentation, we conclude with case training, making the sessions both theoretical and practical.

Any eye-openers? Impressed with Nordea’s ESG approach

It has been enriching to see how Nordea actively works with the financial and economic concepts, I learn at university. I have learned how Nordea calculates, assesses, and advises within, e.g., bonds, credit ratings, capital structures, and distribution and marketing of debt. In addition, how to advise in relation to present and forecasted market trends.

One eye-opener, which I am very positive about, is how focused and dedicated Nordea is within its ESG implementations. I knew that ESG was an important part of Nordea, but I am impressed with Nordea's approach and their skillset. It goes across all departments, and in everything they do, even though ESG is a relatively new and rapidly changing market area.

Likewise, it has been incredibly insightful to see real-world cases the various units work with. For example, we worked with a case which the Debt Syndicate team had worked on earlier in the week.

I knew Nordea would provide a unique insight into their business, but I am thrilled that it has been so close to reality.

Most interesting - most challenging? Case training

All units have captured my interest in their own way. But if I had to point out something that has been particularly interesting, it is how the ESG across all units plays a role in financing due to its relatively new but important inputs, e.g., the valuation and pricing of bonds. The most challenging has probably been the case training, meant in a positive way. I enjoy putting my knowledge to the test when trying to solve the cases.

Has your view about a career in finance changed? Ambitions have only grown

I have been considering a career in investment banking for a long time, but I have doubted whether I would fit into that world. With this program, my ambitions and dreams have only grown, for which I can thank Nordea. I thus want to improve my skills in the various parts of finance, for which I will now actively seek role models and knowledge outside the university.

Ormia Abdullah, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

What have you been doing? Many good discussions

I've met with the teams of Equity Research, Sustainable Finance Advisory, Leveraged Finance and DCM and been introduced to what the teams are working with. We've also done some practical tasks – for instance we’ve done some quick analyses on companies and evaluated different approaches of the tasks, varying from how each unit is working. We have, of course, also had many good discussions and exchanged thoughts and ideas.

Any learnings - eye openers? How to buy and sell bonds, and much more

I've definitely learned a lot in the last few sessions, especially how to approach a task depending on the goal and the outlook of it. I’ve also gained technical learnings e.g. how to buy and sell bonds. Lots of focus have also been on the areas which are important to explore when doing an environmental, social and corporate governance analysis of a company, and much, much more. It has been a real eye opener on how many different units there are, and how differently you can work with finance and banking.

The most interesting - most challenging? ESG analyses

The most interesting part has been pricing of options and how to issue bonds. I have done some mathematical calculations of these topics in my schoolwork, but how you go about it practically, is quite different to how you approach it in real life. One of the more challenging areas has been ESG analyses. I've not done anything similar before, but it was super interesting to learn about, as well as the growing importance of those analyses in the world today.

What do you look forward to in the next sessions?

In groups of three, we were assigned a task to perform an analysis on a newly listed company and evaluate it We'll present the case provided at session two, Equity Research and ESG. It will be very interesting to see what the professionals think of our conclusion, and how they would perform their evaluation of the given company.

Elise Naalsund, NHH, Norway

Which units have you met?

We had sessions with Equity Sales & Research, Sustainable Finance Advisory, and Corporate Finance and ECM. The different units have presented their workday, what they do in their position, and we have had walkthrough from real cases.

The most interesting - most challenging? Keeping track

I think it’s been interesting to see how engaged the participants, and the representatives from Nordea are. The most challenging part is keeping track of all the different units, and what they do, and there are many new terminologies which I haven’t heard off before. 

Have your view about a career in finance changed? Yes

Yes, finance has exceeded my expectations. The sessions have given me a great insight into the many different career opportunities there are here.

Essi Helminen, Aalto University, Finland

What have you been doing?

We’ve met Corporate Finance and ECM, Debt-side and Leveraged Finance, as well as Equity Sales & Equity Research. We have learned the key functions of these units, and got to hear what analysts really do, and looked at various real-life cases. The sessions have also provided a relaxed environment to ask anything from Nordea’s professionals.

Any learnings - eye openers? The true scope of investment banking activities

It has been eye-opening to discover the true scope of investment banking activities. I find that students are most familiar with corporate finance and ECM since those kinds of transactions get a lot of media coverage. Therefore, many might mistakenly assume that investment banks only advise companies on e.g. M&A and IPOs. In fact, I have enjoyed hearing about other career paths that investment banking offers. I have especially gained new insights into leveraged finance. 

The most interesting - most challenging? Taking on practitioner’s perspective

It has been super interesting to see how concepts and methods, I have studied in theory at university, are used in practice. For example, since I am currently taking a course in valuation, it was cool to hear how Nordea assesses the value of a firm. The programme has functioned as a great starting point to shift my thinking and view on finance from a practitioner’s perspective rather than an academic perspective. This has maybe been the most challenging part as well.