HUGO DI FAZIO

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: REACHING FOR HIS CAREER GOALS

I did my 6-month internship in the Support department of the Capital Markets Structured Credit Sales team of an Italian Investment Bank in London. The application process was quite tough: I had to do four interviews prior to getting in, including two with the HR department and two with the members of the team. I learned a lot, from VBA coding to Excel modelling. I also performed daily business and performance analyses. I strengthened my problem solving and IT skills and perfected my teamwork approach. This internship is the first step to reaching my career goal in investment banking. It definitely strengthened my interest in this field.

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NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, SINGAPORE: NEW COUNTRY, NEW CULTURE, NEW LIFE

My first impressions of Singapore are quite positive. It is a completely new environment and very different from what I have experienced up until now. The city-state is astonishingly green despite the big number of skyscrapers that shape the streets. The city is very fast moving and evolving. This ultra-modernity contrasts with the more traditional side of Singapore with its multitude of genuine hawkers’ centres dispatched at every corner of the streets. I am really looking forward to living this Singaporean experience.

THE FIRST DAYS AT NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

We received a warm and rigorously organized welcome at our arrival.

First, we went to a cocktail at the EDHEC Research Center event jointly held by EDHEC Business School, Nanyang Technological University, and the French consulate. That is where we met our NTU dedicated points of contact for the first time. The Consul of France and French attaché of the Ministry of Home Affairs gave us advice on how to behave and what to do and not do in Singapore.

We then took part in Orientation Day. We learned more about the classes we were going to take and what we could expect from studying at NTU. We also visited the campus, which is two times bigger than UCLA’s!

Finally, we met with companies such as Air France, HSBC, Société Générale and promising start-ups like R.E.D. and SoftGrid at a special networking event. The main goal of this event was to find a sponsor company for our Bachelor thesis. We had the great honour to welcome the Ambassador of France during the following dinner. This was also the opportunity to understand the global stakes and partnerships between France and Singapore.

Overall, these events triggered quite a lot of excitement and expectations for this new academic year to come.

A STEP FORWARD IN HIS ACADEMIC JOURNEY

Nanyang Technological University is very different from UCLA Extension and EDHEC Business School because the educational systems are drastically different from each other. In Singapore, we focus on becoming the best in a selected field. However, just like at EDHEC and UCLA Extension we do many group projects.

We have core courses such as International Financial Management, Portfolio Management and Cultural Intelligence. I also chose elective classes: Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management and Digital Marketing. Our professors are all Doctors who perfectly master their subject and have quite a big international background.  The Economist elected one of our professors Best Teacher of the World in 2013: Prof. Vijay Sethi. 

I expect to deepen my financial knowledge. I really look forward to developing both my IT skills through my excel course and understand how to run a multinational company. I believe I will also learn a lot about how different cultures work and how to adapt to them.

Find Hugo on LinkedIn