The competition allows participating students access to leading investment banks and private equity firms. It also includes mentoring from industry professionals, networking opportunities and the chance to work on real-life case scenarios.

The programme culminates in a presentation session in which the two teams put forward investment proposals based on real-life companies to an investment committee of highly experienced industry figures.

Andreas T. Angelopoulos, Associate Fellow and Programme Director of the Finance Lab at Oxford Saïd describes it as a pioneering approach to networking and learning.  It also helps students looking to develop their careers in private equity and investment banking, to broaden their skills and experience besides sharing expertise and learning from the USA and Europe, he says.

“The experience for the students is more than the challenge. It is a unique three day private equity intensive programme that gives students access to the best education and network opportunities in finance and private equity, globally,” 

To participate in the Challenge, which alternates between Chicago and Oxford,  Oxford students must have first taken part in the ‘Bridgepoint Private Equity Challenge’ sponsored and run by Bridgepoint in association with the Private Equity Institute, which involves coming up with the smartest assessment of leveraged buyout opportunities in the UK.

Angelopoulos chose the team of five from more than 200 students that participated in the Bridgepoint Challenge and mentored them for five weeks in the run-up to the Oxford Chicago Global Private Equity Challenge.

Oxford’s team included Arber Gjoka (MBA 2017), Niclas Huck (MBA 2017), Artem Katilov (MFE 2017), Maximilian Müller (MFE 2017) and Felix Tan (2016 BA Economics and Management).

This year’s investment committee were Humphrey Battcock, formerly managing partner at Advent International, and a board member at Cambridge Innovation Capital Cambridge Innovation Capital, Blair Jacobson of Ares Management, Alexos Nicholas of Dentsply Sirona Plc (former Managing Director of Madison Dearborn Partners), Khaled Said of Capital Generation Partners and Daniel Wagener of Bridgepoint.

Chicago Booth’s participants were Mary Beth Brosnihan, Timothy Hildebrand, Robert Kaplan, Taylor Malone and Aakash Tulsan, who based their proposal on thermal systems manufacturer Gentherm.

The Oxford team started out by extensively researching the target company – low-cost fitness provider The Gym Group – as well as the sector it operates in, Niclas Huck, one of the participating students said.

“To develop our investment thesis for this asset, we constantly challenged each other’s core arguments to make our proposal bulletproof. The different professional backgrounds and experiences in our team were extremely helpful to that process. The mentoring we received from Andreas Angelopoulos and Jeff Henriksen, as well as the prior experience we gained during the Bridgepoint Private Equity Challenge, were also critical factors in our success,” he added.

The pitching competition took place in a lecture theatre at Saïd Business School in front of a packed audience of students, faculty and practitioners, as well as delegates from Chicago Booth. Both teams gave confident presentations and backed up their statements with slide shows of painstakingly researched data.

“The investment committee had decades of experience and they were looking for an objective recommendation, not a sales pitch,” Felix Tan, another participant student, said.

“So while we needed to defend our chosen company from the different risks that the investment committee would bring up, we also needed to take a step back and acknowledge when the risks were real. This careful balance is incredibly difficult to strike,” he added.

After each team finished their presentation, they faced a gruelling 40 minutes of questioning from the investment committee. “The judges had an average of 20-30 years of experience in the industry so we were expecting the questions to be intense,” said Arber, the third participant.

“I believe our strength was to handle the questions in a structured way and use the opportunity to confirm our confidence in our recommendation,” he added.

The Chicago Booth team had arrived in Oxford having completed three prior rounds at Booth, as well as a presentation to Madison Dearborn Partners and Water Street. “With all the work we had put in, we discussed remaining positive on our stance yet not becoming defensive or showing any frustration,” Tim Hildebrand said.

Ultimately, the Oxford team won the competition and the announcement was made during an evening dinner at Exeter College.

“The experience for the students is more than the challenge. It is a unique three day private equity intensive programme that gives students access to the best education and network opportunities in finance and private equity, globally,” Angelopoulos said.

“Students attended a Private Equity seminar, competed in the PE Challenge in front of an Investment Committee, attended the Private Equity Forum and went on a London trek networking or learning from Oxford and Chicago alumni,” he added.

“By partnering with Chicago Booth, we are able to offer students from both schools the opportunity to connect our students and alumni with professionals from leading private equity firms, investment banks, and faculty in Europe and USA,” he said.

Chicago Booth team member Robert Kaplan said, “Not only do you get the opportunity to work through deep due diligence and modelling necessary in the private equity world, but you get the opportunity to compete in a live setting with extremely reputable professionals pushing you on your assumptions.”

Investment committee member Blair Jacobson said, “Success in the investing business is partly based on seeing and evaluating as many opportunities as possible and the competition gave the participants a real-life opportunity to put their skills to work. I think the participants are all qualified to have careers in the private equity sector and their future is indeed bright.”

The post Oxford Saïd Wins The Oxford Chicago Global Private Equity Challenge appeared first on OneYearMBA.co.in.

In terms of the number of nations represented, there was another fall from 58 in the previous year to 51, though the current class has 60 nationalities. International students form 92% of the class.

The Class of 2018 has an average GMAT score of 685 and the median at 690, lower than the 692 average and 700 median of the previous batch. The average age is 28 years. The students have an average 5 years work experience.

North Americans form the largest chunk at 28% with only 12% from Western Europe. Other regions with a double-digit presence in the class are East Asia (13%), Africa (11%), and South Asia (10%). The rest comprise Southeast Asia (9%), Australia & New Zealand (6%) and Latin America & the Caribbean (5%).

The Class of 2018 has an average GMAT score of 685 and the median at 690, lower than the 692 average and 700 median of the previous batch. The average age is 28 years. The students have an average 5 years work experience.

In the professional background, 21% of the class come from Diversified Industries followed by Finance 20%, Consulting 18% and Technology 6% to name a few.

Apart from the statistics, it is the diversity of students in the class that makes it a happening place. There is Yogan Appalsamy, who grew up in South Africa in the 1990s, at a time when the repressive apartheid regime was replaced by a fledgeling democracy. He says he has managed, to embark on a career in investment banking, working career at top international banks and travelling all over the world before enrolling in the MBA program.

Eva Hoffmann, who graduated from Stanford says that she is a ‘sustainability-obsessed designer’ who dreams of poverty eradication. Her achievements as a design director include developing the A1 solar lamp, that costs just $5 aimed at saving poor families in rural areas up to 20% of their annual incomes.

Barati Mahloele wants to specialise in Finance and then go back to Africa to introduce disruptive business models to increase access, opportunities and social mobility for the people.  Another student, Sidhya Senani, is the founder of a children’s school based on egalitarian decision-making.

The post Class of 2018 at Oxford Said Gets Highest Female Representation at 41% appeared first on OneYearMBA.co.in.

The stage 2 application deadline is January 5, 2018, interview decisions will be announced by January 26 and final decision by March 9, 2018.

Applicants who are offered and accept a place on the course will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of £7,800 which will be offset against their course fee.

The stage 3 application deadline is March 16, interview decision will be announced by April 6 and the final decision will be by May 4.

The stage 4 application deadline will be on May 11, interview decision will be announced by May 25 and the final decision by June 15.

Eligibility Requirements

You should possess and an undergraduate degree, relevant professional experience, GMAT or GRE score, English test (if required) and two professional/academic References.

You should have a minimum 2.1 (3.5 GPA) or its equivalent. If you were not awarded a minimum of 2.1 you may still be considered provided you have a very strong employment record demonstrating a high degree of responsibility.

Regarding work experience, you should have at least two years of full-time work experience. The current class has on average six years full-time work experience.

The School does not look for experience in any specific sector. The students come from a variety of backgrounds, from engineering and finance to academia, armed forces and non-profit.

Evidence of career progression and international exposure in the candidate’s resume is taken into consideration. You should also be able to work as part of a team, as well as be able to show leadership potential.

As evidence, you will be asked to upload all your University degree academic transcripts/mark-sheets to the online application form.

These must outline the subjects studied or grades obtained from each academic year. If your original transcripts are not in English you must also supply an official translation.

If you are invited to attend an interview after submitting your application we will ask you to bring or send us original copies of your transcripts.

You should also submit two mandatory essays on the following topics: Consider a statistic or trend that shocks you. Why it is important to you and how could it be changed for the better? (Maximum 500 words). The second essay will be on ‘Is there anything not covered in the application form which you would like the Admissions Committee to know about you? ’(Maximum 250 words).

The completed online application form is to be submitted along with a £150 application fee.

Class Profile

The current class profile (2017-18) would give you an idea about the diversity and other aspects. The class has 336 students with an average age of 28. With 92% international students, the class has 60 nationalities represented.

The proportion of female students have been going up and the current class has 41%. The median GMAT score is 690. The average work experience is 5 years.

Fees & Funding

The fee for the MBA programme 2018-19 will be £55,000. It includes the Course fee, College fee and life-long Oxford Union membership.

Applicants who are offered and accept a place on the course will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit of £7,800 which will be offset against their course fee.

In addition, the living costs based on a single, full-time student, with no dependents, would be around £12,168 – £18,655.(Image Source: geograph.com)

The post Admissions Open for Oxford MBA Class of 2018-19 appeared first on OneYearMBA.co.in.

A post about Haykuni in the Oxford MBA blog quotes her as saying that when the diagnosis came, she asked the doctors just two questions. “What are my chances of survival? Secondly, can you treat me within two months? Because I have to go to Oxford.”

However, she and her family confronted the challenge by staying positive. “We did not cry, and none of us felt scared, which was amazing. I have always enjoyed solving problems, and I have viewed cancer as just another problem to be solved,” she says.

She found that people were often unwilling to talk about the disease and with several negative stereotypes about cancer, they felt scared. “These reactions often make cancer patients feel ashamed, and I believe this can adversely affect their treatment. My story has helped to combat these stereotypes, and so more Armenians are now talking openly about their battle,”

Having managed to get her place at Oxford deferred by one year, she made preparations for the treatment. While she faced huge medical costs in Armenia which has limited facilities for treatment, her friends pitched in to start a fundraising page and soon, the campaign went national.

Haykuni was approached by Armenian TV channels and other news organisations who wanted to share her story with the country. ‘It was the first time cancer had been discussed at that level, and I received hundreds of emails and letters from people in similar situations. It was as if my battle was their battle – we were fighting cancer together,’ she says.

She found that people were often unwilling to talk about the disease and with several negative stereotypes about cancer, they felt scared. “These reactions often make cancer patients feel ashamed, and I believe this can adversely affect their treatment. My story has helped to combat these stereotypes, and so more Armenians are now talking openly about their battle,” she adds.

It was this realisation that she had helped to change lives that led her to set up the Ani Haykuni Cancer Treatment Support Foundation. It provides financial and psychological support for cancer patients in Armenia.

For her MBA entrepreneurship project at Oxford Haykuni, along with four other students worked for the Foundation and were successful in framing the financial and marketing strategies. “The MBA program also gave me the opportunity to present the foundation to international organisations in the UK and US,” she says.

When she began her MBA, Ani was still undergoing intensive treatment and would often find herself running from lectures to doctors’ appointments. “The School helped by recording some lectures for me when there was a chance I might have to miss them, so I could catch up in the evenings. They have been really supportive of me throughout this time,” she says.

On her experiences, Ani says she had ‘never felt a moment of unhappiness’ during her treatment. “But the way I approach life has changed…I always look for the best in people, and I understand that it is very important to let negative things go. What matters is how you live, and I am so grateful that I have been given a second chance to help people in the future.”

Following her MBA, Ani plans to build upon her passion for innovation using the tools and knowledge she has gained during the program. “I was really inspired by the impact investment module, and I hope to work within that field. However, for me it is not just about the career, it is this question: are you going to make a positive difference to people’s lives, or not? Whatever I do, I want to be a change maker.”

The post Surviving Cancer and Attending MBA at Oxford: Ani Haykuni’s Story appeared first on OneYearMBA.co.in.