“…cutthroat corporate politics, soft skills, and the art of saying “no”…”
Here we go! Season 1 Episode 1!
We start things off with a bang with our first guest: Dennis!
We’ll be chatting WORK in episode 1, and REST & PLAY in episode 2.
At a Glance:
- Occupation: Internal Risk Advisory for a Major Bank (Associate Director)
- Relevant Industries: Corporate World, Finance, Risk Management, Actuary
- Experience: 14yrs +
- Studied:
- Bachelor of Commerce (Major: Actuarial Studies and Information Systems)
- Masters of Commerce (Major: Finance)
In Summary:
For WORK, Dennis currently works in a division which could be described as “Internal Risk Advisory” for a Bank, and has a very specialised role where there are only two of him in the entire Bank! He has also worked at a consultancy and an investments firm and has a wealth of knowledge and sage advice for those who work, or are looking to work in the corporate/financial world.
His no bull, straight up answers give us an insight into things like:
- The potentially cutthroat nature of the Corporate Financial Industry
- Currency risk, interest rate risk, and commodity risk
- The importance of soft skills
- The art/skill of saying “no”
- Corporate Politics
- Actuarial Studies and what it is
- And much more!
I hope that has wet your appetite, so here we go!….. I hope you’re ready for some fun .. Onto episode 1!
Podcast Content and Show Notes:
Please note that I have no affiliation with any products or companies which are referenced in the show notes / hyperlinks. They have been provided for reference purposes.
Also, timestamps may differ slightly by a few seconds.
| 00:05:10 | What does Dennis do on a day to day basis? |
| 00:05:44 | What’s currency risk, interest rate risk, and commodity risk? |
| 00:06:51 | Hard commodities VS Soft commodities. |
| 00:11:32 | How the different types of risk are relevant in a typical transaction. |
| 00:16:14 | External Risk Advisory (Consultancy) vs Internal Risk Advisory |
| 00:17:32 | Working as a Risk Manager in “investments”, specifically, for a “fund of hedge funds” (What the? You say?) |
| 00:20:27 | The role of risk management and the GFC, and the different types of risk such as: market risk, portfolio risk, operational risk, etc. |
| 00:23:03 | Specialising VS Broadening Skillset, and moving between different areas within the industry. |
| 00:25:32 | When talking with our mates, we wouldn’t normally go into this level of detail |
| 00:26:42 | What are you actually doing when doing Risk Analysis? |
| 00:25:51 | Soft skills vs technical skills |
| 00:30:44 | The cutthroat and political side of banking, and the need for emotional resilience. |
| 00:33:24 | What do you mean by the word “political” in the corporate world? |
| 00:35:29 | What is a typical day for you? |
| 00:36:46 | Work-life balance, setting expectations, knowing what you are offering (value add) in your work, and learning to say “No” |
| 00:42:41 | The art of saying no, without saying no |
| 00:47:07 | Back to Dennis’ typical work day (time management) |
| 00:50:55 | Brainstorming at work |
| 00:52:37 | Things to do before leaving the office |
| 00:53:47 | What would make your day a crappy day? |
| 00:57:46 | What would turn your day into a really good day? (challenging work, social contact, not bringing bad stuff home) |
| 00:58:52 | An uneventful day = a good day. |
| 00:59:40 | What do you love about your job? |
| 01:00:27 | What do you not like about your job? |
| 01:02:24 | Setting your own deadlines, and working with conflicting priorities |
| 01:06:03 | How did you decided to go into Financial industry (Actuarial studies) |
| 01:06:32 | What is Actuarial Studies? |
| 01:08:19 | High academic credentials required for your type of work? |
| 01:11:13 | Main piece of advice for those wanting to pursue a career in this industry? (importance of soft skills) |
| 01:12:56 | How to improve soft skills? |
| 01:13:50 | If you could do it all over again, would you have chosen the same occupation? |
I must apologise for not coming back to the “hedge funds” topic. I hope to go over this in a future episode, but in the meantime, for those who are interested, there is a great 2min video which gives a quick summary of what they’re about here. A written summary here, was also relatively easier to understand.