MiF Blog
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What Holidays?
Posted by Sekhar Kanuri on 20 December 2009
Indeed, what holidays? The next 2 weeks is the only time I have before I'm deep in the water with 3 very interesting and time-consuming electives, along with an exciting & challenging project work to complete. So I better cover some ground the little of this year that's left. It's going to one heck of a ride till July 2010 which is when my program completes. I am really not looking forward to July as much as I am looking forward to making my MiF project/thesis a grand success. It's no exaggeration to state that the project is a consummation of the whole program with my future career goals. Right now, time is the most valuable commodity (so, stop blogging and get some work done, will ya!) ;-)
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GCMC
Posted by Sekhar Kanuri on 01 December 2009
Should Britain join the European Monetary Union (EMU)? Would we have better weathered the crisis, if we were part of the EMU? Is the EMU at the risk of a break-up? Would Greece breaking out of the Euro be a big deal? Is the next major crises a sovereign debt crisis? Can regulation do anything to contain the financial excess that led to the recent crisis? Why is the Big Mac much cheaper in Mumbai than in London? Is a weakening dollar the perfect recipe for U.S. economic recovery? How long will the present carry trade continue? Can the Chinese Yuan/Renminbi be one of the global reserve currencies in the next decade? How can Britian manage its huge current account deficit, and does it affect our international competitiveness?
If any of these questions intrigue you, you might find yourself at home in Professor Richard Portes and Helene Rey's classes as part of the Global Capital Markets & Currencies (GCMC) elective.
I would refrain from being apologetic about my blogs being monotonous of late - all of them singing praises of my professors and the electives, but it's my duty to be honest and share my great experience with readers. This elective has greatly contributed to my understanding of these topics, and who better than professor Portes and Rey! I am privileged to have been their student. We have had guest speakers from the BBC, Financial Times, UK govt and a couple of investment banks. The final session gave us the opportunity to speak to the current deputy governor of the Central Bank of Turkey, and ask him some topical questions! The session was very involved and informative.
Highly recommend this elective to finance and MBA students alike. It's a lot of fun and learning!
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Options & Futures
Posted by Sekhar Kanuri on 24 November 2009
Why aren't the Turks comfortable studying the subject of Options & Futures? It's because they have to study the "Greeks"! Jokes aside, this elective has truly been a rewarding experience for me. I have heard laurels of several quant finance professors at our school, but I cannot think of anyone better than Lucie Tepla, who could have taken me through this subject and with the greatest ease. Lucie knows the subject inside out, and the slides presented in class were so succinct yet comprehensive! The weekly homework contained topical (and challenging) questions, which I hope have equipped us to price, replicate, hedge, and arbitrage options & futures in our banking roles, now or in the future. The elective ends this week with a review of all chapters in advance of the final exam next week, and I have to thank Lucie for her eternal patience and enthusiasm in clarifying my queries, in an enlightening fashion many a time. Highly recommend this elective to prospective MBAs and MiFs.
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International Finance
Posted by Sekhar Kanuri on 15 September 2009
I have few words to describe my amazement at Dr. Raman Uppal's International Finance elective classes. It's been 2 days and we have 3 more days to finish this block week. Whilst I am disappointed that I hadn't signed up for the 10 week course instead, I'm happy that I'm taking the block week atleast. The professor's depth of knowledge, in not just international finance, but almost in every other subject in finance surrounding capital markets, is astounding. His ability to recall from memory literally hundreds of valuable articles, authors and papers, and the variety of reading he has done is very impressive! His teaching syle shows supreme confidence and modesty at the same time, and it's hard to find a single student (as far as I've observed) with his/her doubts not clarified. Everything in finance appears to neatly fit into one piece like a jigsaw in Raman's class! Of course, it will take me some time & effort to grasp everything that is taught, but that's natural as I'm still learning. In any case, I very strongly recommend this elective for any MBA/MiF at London Business School and to exchange students from abroad. Happy to be at LBS :-)Permalink | Posted in
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Back to school ...
Posted by Sekhar Kanuri on 13 September 2009
"Holidays" are over and it's back to school again. It's going to be even more challenging now with the wife back to work and our little one still settling in at the nursery ... but as they say we "pay now and play later" and I am upbeat and optimistic about the future!! Regardless, nothing can beat the excitement of being in the school amidst upwardly mobile people and some of the sharpest minds, and the thought of a steep learning curve with some amazing electives in the next few months. "International Finance" has been a very popular elective and everyone has sung praises for the professor and the syllabus, so I am happy and eager to be attending the block week starting tomorrow. The most exciting part of the program (for me) is my MiF project of course, which I feel if done well, can greatly help me in my career goals in coming years. Bon chance to my fellow students and have fun! Cheers.
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