Marissa Torres

Seeing the bigger picture in banking

Having deep understanding of how investment officers make their decisions is key to my role as Senior Investment Compliance Officer with the Bangko Sentral in the Philippines.

For this reason I chose to take the Fixed Income: Markets, Securities and Institutions programme at LSE. My principal responsibility in my current role is to enforce rules, so I was looking to gain a more comprehensive view of what leads our investment teams to choose one opportunity over another, and to really appreciate the dynamics at play and to understand the nuances of the investment process. This is of critical importance, both in really getting to grips in how investors ensure their investments are safe, liquid and will produce the best yield for the bank, and also in determining how compliant these investments are.

Choosing LSE was really very easy. The school has a worldwide reputation for academic rigour and excellence, and within my own network there are many senior executives who have taken programme s at LSE and benefitted hugely from the experience. So I was sure I would have a world-class learning experience. The focus of the programme was also absolutely on point in terms of my needs.

Coming to LSE I was expecting there to be a high degree of academic and theoretical content to explore. The curriculum certainly delivered. Faculty expertise ranged from banking computations through to hands-on experience with the Fed which was of real relevance to me given the parallels with Bangko Sentral. But while it was rigorously academic, the programme was also just as much about hands-on training and the kind of experiential learning that translates into real-world impact back in the workplace. A highlight for me was a simulation, where I got to play the role of an investment officer and make real-time decisions about what to purchase.

I also really appreciated the chance to learn with peers from really different backgrounds – in my cohort we hailed from geographies as diverse as Russia and Spain – who had a shared expertise and interest in unpacking the big issues in banking. It was hugely invigorating interacting on topics that we could all relate to - from the banking crisis to the evolving regulatory environment - with other professionals with different perspectives but who were nonetheless on the same wavelength.

I would not hesitate to recommend LSE and the Fixed Income programme to anyone in my field, whether they are specifically looking after the safety of investments or working in a related area. I have, in fact, recommended the programme to our training management and suggested that colleagues from other teams get the opportunity to take it too. Not only for the tangible benefits of the programme itself, but also to enjoy the LSE experience of meeting participants from other programmes, sharing ideas, and broadening perspectives with leaders from all over the world.