Lawrence Ding ‘19 is currently an Investment Banking Associate at Morgan Stanley. He began his career at Credit Suisse Investment Bank in Hong Kong. Recently, Lawrence joined us for an Alumni Speaker Series event and shared insights on his industry, role and background. Below are some key takeaways!
What we discussed with Lawrence
During this event, Lawrence spoke about his role and gave a high-level synopsis of what banking is and what it entails, the knowledge he gained trying to break into the industry, and his experiences on the job. He also answered various questions that fellow students had to help them navigate a career path in investment banking.
What we learned!
Breaking into Investment Banking may be very challenging; however, there are specific tools and skills one can develop for success in this arena. Firstly, attend networking events, info sessions and informational interviews with different banks. This also helps because, to quote Lawrence, “banking is a very people-oriented job, the ability to be personable is a game-changer.” Thus, to excel in the above-stated events, one needs to develop the ability to be personable and easygoing.
Day-to-day work as a banker includes working on different transactions such as IPOs, mergers & acquisitions, and equity transactions, drafting presentations to meet investors, and internal workstreams (KYC, compliance, legal, committees and due diligence).
Our chat with Lawrence certainly helped me understand why I would want to pursue a career in Investment Banking. The key lies in the points discussed above, i.e., getting exposure to different industries & sectors, products, and the dynamic, fast-paced environment.
Why is this important?
It’s undoubtedly exciting to imbibe knowledge from different speakers, who followed a similar route as the one you may be interested in pursuing, through the CSE Alumni Speaker Series. This certainly helps make the road easier to navigate pursuing a challenging career path such as Investment Banking.
To learn more about our chat with Lawrence Ding ’19, check out the CSE’s Recorded Events library to watch the full recording of this and other events! Use this resource to rewatch a variety of events hosted by the CSE, or click here for direct access to Alumni Speaker Series: Investment Banking with Lawrence Ding ’19.
