A vice president (VP) in Deutsche Bank’s global banking division, Joanna is part of a sector team dealing with clients in the consumer, leisure, and healthcare sectors. Joanna has been at Deutsche for five years, and a VP for two-and-a-half. A graduate in Jurisprudence from Oxford University, Joanna originally trained as an accountant with Arthur Andersen.
Q: What does your role involve?
There are two main elements to the job: marketing and origination, and execution.
1) For marketing and origination we spend our time amassing information on companies that clients might be interested in buying. Or, if a client’s selling, we try to present the division (or entire company) for sale in a favourable light to attract potential suitors.
2) Execution is about project management. You need to make sure everything’s in place for the purchase or disposal to happen. It can be gruelling – in the weeks surrounding the actual transaction it’s not unusual to work 18-hour days, plus weekends. But it’s also exciting: I get a real buzz from working on something that’s about to hit the national press.
Q: What’s the most exciting deal you’ve worked on?
Last year I spent four months acting for Baugur, the Icelandic retail consortium, when it bought the Big Food Group. We separated the business into its three constituent parts (Booker, Iceland and the property portfolio) and arranged financing against the properties and operating businesses to fund the acquisition.
Q: What skills do you need to get ahead in corporate finance?
Enormous attention to detail – when you’re doing a transaction, the smallest mistake can be fatal. This is also a demanding job, so if you’re not enthusiastic and committed, it can be pretty hard going. You also need to be a team player – when you’re on a transaction, you’ll be working closely with a small group of people. You need to be able to cover them when they need help, and laugh at the irony of the photocopier breaking down at 3am!
Joanna’s tips- Get as much background info on the sort of deals you’ll be working on, so that you are familiar with some of the jargon before you begin.
- Make sure you’re happy with the team you’re joining and that you can work well together.
- Speak to as many people as you can before you join to get a true feel of what the job entails.
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