As Chief Investment Officer for MMG Bank in Panama, Juan Surgeon, is continuously looking for new methods to gain competitive advantage in the investment industry. He attended the Investment Management Workshop to learn just that, but what he took away from the program was much more and included a 360 degree view of the global financial and investment industry.
A distinct feature of the IMW is the structure of the program with a focus on diversity, both regarding the issues that are covered as well as the participants involved. On one hand, the cases touched upon essential topics from corporate governance to key trends that are changing the banking industry. On the other hand, participants came to the program from various professional and geographical backgrounds. As a result, this created a great opportunity to have a 360-degree view of the global financial industry. Being a business executive in a rapidly growing financial institution, I have been involved both in the investment process and the business strategy, so this was truly a chance to fine tune those critical skills that combine to grow a successful and sustainable business in what I consider an increasingly globalized and commoditized industry.
For starters, our pre-class discussions, more than sharpening my preparation, taught me topics well beyond the cases. I was fortunate enough to collaborate with a group of incredibly bright professionals—this collaboration was truly a classroom outside the classroom.
The cases practically came to life as we studied them in class. The environment was energizing as the professors vigorously yet elegantly guided the discussion, transitioning among topics smoothly and in a way that sparked curiosity and incited us all to share both interpretations of the case as well as our own life experiences. The class became an environment of learning, and the cases became just one of its many inputs.
There was a moment during the BlackRock case discussion that really struck me. Upon debating the many strategic decisions that made them the world's largest asset manager, I was commenting on their Aladdin strategy, and suddenly, I looked to my left and there was Rob Kapito, BlackRock’s cofounder, simply sitting and listening to our viewpoints. Later, he discussed his perspectives with us over dinner. You can't put a price on that.
I was impressed by the frequency of times we were involved in triple loop learning, reverse engineering potential, and actual outcomes from a case to the corresponding what, how, and why. We questioned the existence of many singularities we frequently take as constants, from equity risk premia in investing to the evolving expectation of investors and the competitive challenges we face as an industry in continuing to create value.
Lastly, from both a historical and forward-looking perspective, I truly enjoyed participating in the discussion of the private equity research paper by Professor Erik Stafford. Having the opportunity to provide input on such a high-profile analysis was sincerely unique.
