“The demand for smart guys able to make a difference in Russia’s finance sector will only be growing”
ICEF Career Services held an expert meeting as part of a series of career guidance events timed to ICEF’s 25th anniversary. Its topic titled “Finance Career in Russia: Advice from ICEF graduates”, the meeting focused on discussing the current situation in the financial market and giving recommendations on further career guidance training. Acting as guest speakers were Anatoly Potashov, ex-VP for Investment at RT-Business Development; Artem Gudov, Investment Director at Ozon; and Yaroslav Kadilov, VP for Mergers and Acquisitions at SBER.
Why we need to be prepared to readjust
Yaroslav:
The financial crises of 2008 and 2014 had led to a series of downsizings, giving rise also to opportunities. In 2014, shortly before graduating from ICEF with a master’s degree, I accepted the offer from SBER. My job involved dealing with Eurobonds, and when it closed I switched to banking. I soon realized that changing a career field was mostly about being able to adapt and readjust. I could watch things happen from inside the bank. I was able to explore the businesses my bank was issuing credits to, and I can confirm that it is the value of money that matters most. While earlier I dealt mostly with investing, my current job roles involve refinancing and running business salvage – a highly popular activity of financial management, though not a routine one.
What IT has in store for finance industry
Yaroslav:
As fresh graduates with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, we dreamed of working in consulting. It wasn’t easy to get hired for consulting industry already had a lot of smart guys working in it. I made a discovery while working at SBER: Russia’s IB industry was capitalizing more on debt instruments than on investment transactions. In this sense, 2014 was the year when banks started to turn to debt investments. True, we are having a hard time now, but one thing is for sure: we shouldn’t get upset because this time will eventually give rise to even more opportunities, specifically in Fintech and IT.
Artem:
Previously, hard skills mattered more in our field than soft skills, but it’s also true that jobs with hard skill dominance will be taken over by machines, the latter being undoubtedly faster performers of routine, repetitive tasks. At the same time, the finance industry remains soft-skill-intensive, requiring one to be a good analyst, negotiator, and creative thinker and evaluator. Being an active participant plays a big role. And although neural networks can’t but alter the financial sector, they won’t be able to replace human workers.
Creative approach and outside-the-box thinking are going to go up in value
In finance industry, nearly all solutions pertinent to IB can be described as unconventional. One should, indeed, be able to find a common language with investors and know the terminology, but when it comes to negotiating the focus shifts to how you interact with people. These aren’t robots you are transacting with, and, given the need to achieve a win-win situation, emotional intelligence and flexibility become especially important.
Even if AI is to assume accounting, there will still be a lot of tasks in finance that will require creativity as a way towards the best solutions as to making a transaction most reflective of current realities. It is the university that cultivates the soft skills of this level. That said, digital skills will be in demand everywhere, and we must do our best to catch up with them.
About the jobs in finance and the future
Artem:
The demand for classical knowledge of finance is as high as earlier. What did change obviously is the potential for further interaction with the Western capital markets and investors. From the perspective of financial transactions, there is a vibrant reorientation towards Asian suppliers.
Anatoly:
While mergers and acquisitions will remain a core part of the investment banking, the sanctions can be expected to cause equity markets to shrink to local placements. At the same time, we are in for heyday of credit financing and arrival of a whole new range of banking products. One particularly promising area to be pursued by the Russian market is project financing, with large infrastructure projects tied to providing support to banks – and, particularly, funds as they experience rapid distribution of assets within Russia.
Saving a falling business is always a wiser choice than letting it fall. The role of a public investor is that of adjusting the processes, which is always a good thing, leading to increased state ownership and jobs in government-owned banks. This may seem somewhat peculiar, but no investor can be able to freeze their funds for 10 to 20 years ahead without the participation of the state.
In Russia, portfolio management will constitute a major part of algorithmic trading. Those who have good skills in this area and advanced knowledge of machine learning might find it a highly promising field to build careers in, as it’s still international.
Artem:
Advancing will be also blockchain industry, since settlement payments will continue to be maintained by countries. Overall, the greater the instability in the world, the better for the cryptocurrency market. There is, of course, the risk of regulator trying to strangle these assets and consolidate the money supply, but at least now the crypto experts won’t be left jobless.
The right way to start a career
Yaroslav:
Job seekers can be secure in the knowledge that employers will have vacancies. I’m just between jobs right now and I must say I have offers to choose from. The recent calamities have even doubled the amount of work – for example, there are many transactions going on the market on change of ownership and assets. My advice to fresh graduates is join larger funds and gain experience in Russian investment banking.
Graduates and students should make a mature decision as early as possible about where they want to work and in which capacity
Artem:
Unlike earlier when transfers between companies and countries were easy, the current situation requires us to make our mind early enough as to where we want to work and gain experience – in Russia or in the West. The same is true about choosing a master’s. Career and master’s degree are now perceived as two tracks to be pursued in parallel.
The demand for smart guys able to make a difference in Russia’s finance sector will only be growing. It might be wise to join a large Russian bank and start specializing in debt capital as there will be a growing demand in DCM experts. Their solid teams can help you level up your skills and teach you how to manage transactions-related projects. At banks, training unfolds on a case-by-case basis, which has proven quite effective, since banks seek better training for their employees. If you opt to go straight into the industry, choose companies with rapid development record, such as IT companies or brands like Ozon. You will learn a lot while working for them and you will learn fast.
Anatoly:
There will be jobs at state-owned companies – Rostech, Rosatom, Rostelecom – a trend from the perspective of investment. Many businesses will fall under the government’s wing. Joining them can offer some interesting experience, too, although it cannot be denied they will be suffering from excessive bureaucracy. There is an extensive job market wide open to the students of today; it’s just that they should hurry up with their choices.
Ways to use foreign experience in Russia
Anatoly:
Those with experience of working abroad might find it difficult to readjust because investment business is not without sectoral specificities. However, working abroad during the first three years of your career is always an asset. Then, you have to decide for yourself where you want to be in ten years’ time, and if it’s Russian banking come back and learn to understand the Russian investors as soon as possible to build your network.
It was a normal practice to first earn an MBA abroad and then start job search. Now, your colleagues, who toiled away at the Russian cases while you were studying, are most definitely at an advantage. Experience is only going to go up in value.
Yaroslav:
A career in finance is always geographically determined. When you choose a particular market, you build your professional life and pursue personal goals depending on its rules.
Anatoly:
I have years of experience in working with the Japanese and the Chinese, as my job involved dealing with assets in the Far Eastern market. I have travelled the East back and forth, and I can say that establishing relations with the local businesses is challenging. The best option would be to stay there for some years and use a stepwise approach to building communication. Learning the local culture and the language is essential. Eastern markets may soon be booming, so starting a career in Asia does make sense. Although it is by no means easy, those who opt to go for it should start as early as possible, along with studying the culture. I really think it’s wise to visit Asia more often as a way to internalize cultural expectations and win the trust of local investors.