The Economic History Department and its alumni proudly present
The LSE Economic History Investment Competition Weekend
Can you convince a hardened city professional to part with their money? Can you make the case for an investment or show how a sector is about to grow – or collapse? Can you uncover the long-run trends and developments that justify serious investment?
The goal over the weekend is to write a recommendation for an investment using your economic history skills and economic/financial abilities. Over one weekend you will be working in groups to develop an investment plan and present it in front of a panel of finance executives. The winning group will receive an opportunity to shadow analysts at a leading asset management and investment firm, Tikehau Capital, for a day. The runners-up and third-placed group will receive incisive books on finance by alumni Christian Dinesen and Thomas F. Huertas.
Making an investment plan and giving a brief presentation about it in front of executives is a task those of you who’d like to make a career in finance will almost inevitably encounter in your first year. Those doing internships in financial companies, including investment banks and private equity, are also likely to participate in investment competitions, and their performance may affect their chances of being offered a full-time position. Having already had a dry run will help you with this, and being placed in the top 3 is something that will be noticed on your CV by hiring executives.
Please register in advance here. Places are limited, so please book now to be sure of a place. The event aims to be live at the LSE, but will switch to online if Covid guidance changes.
Please join the information meeting at 5pm, Tuesday 12 October (CBG 103), where Dr Gerben Bakker of the Economic History Department, and the CEOs of Tikehau Capital and of Dinesen Associates for the LSE Economic History Alumni Board will provide more information and answer any questions.
Brief overview
The weekend will start on the morning of Saturday 13 November, where you will be divided randomly into groups in order to simulate the real business environment as closely as possible. The groups will then be given several parameters, based on which they will each develop an investment plan that they will present to the panel of judges on Sunday afternoon. While the groups are working on their plans, they each also get a feedback session with an industry executive on Saturday afternoon to help them stay on course.
On Saturday morning the groups will receive detailed instructions for the plan. Below we give some general information of what an investment plan involves. On Saturday morning, more specific parameters might be added to the plan, such as, for example, on the type of investment, investment goals or type of industry.
What does an investment memorandum include? It should recommend an investment in a stock, bond, commodity, company, sector, currency, real estate, index or other financial instrument. You may also choose a more macro perspective by investing in particular markets, for example through indices or currencies.
Draw on your skills and knowledge of economic history to inform and motivate your analysis and recommendation: the judges will be looking at how well you use your skills and knowledge as economic historians, as well as your abilities as an analyst. Show us how understanding long-term developments and precedents helps us anticipate opportunities and challenges in the future. Your memorandum should include the following:
(i) The investment recommendation
(ii) The long term development of the sector or other relevant context
(iii) An analysis of the historical performance of the investment you propose against that background
(iv) Prospects for growth with a base case for expected return.
The judges
Christian Dinesen is a director and founder of the independent management consultancy Dinesen Associates Ltd. He is a non-executive director and chairs the board audit committee of Allianz UK. He is also a non-executive director of Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd, the main subsidiary of Legal & General Group Plc. Previously, he was Managing Director, European insurance credit analyst and Head of International Credit Research for Bank of American Merrill Lynch for ten years
Steve Mobbs is a founder partner of Oxford Asset Management. He holds a BA in Maths from the University of Cambridge, and MPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford. He has formerly been Director of Bond Research, and later Director of Trading, both at Credit Suisse First Boston, and Managing Director of Property Trading at Deutsche Bank.
Simon MacAdam is the senior global economist at Capital Economics, one of the leading independent macroeconomic research companies in the world. He joined the company in 2015 and rotated around teams covering the UK, commodity markets and financial markets, before joining the Global Economics team in 2017. He contributes to a portfolio of written publications, ranging from short notes on key data and developments to longer pieces of applied macroeconomic research. His work often draws upon economic history, most recently exemplified by his examination of the key lessons for today from 2000 years of inflation history.
The small print
- This competition is open to students on any Economic History Degree Programme at Undergraduate or Postgraduate Level at LSE.
- Places are limited. Please register asap to increase the likelihood of getting a place.
- Please register here, stating your degree programme.
- The decision by the panel of judges is final.
Second and third prizes will be copies of Christian Dinesen, Absent Management in Banking: How Banks Fail and Cause Financial Crisis (London, Palgrave MacMillan 2020) and Thomas F. Huertas, Safe to Fail: How Resolution Will Revolutionise Banking (London, Palgrave MacMillan 2014).