A Day in the Life of an EBRD Banker

In this week's 'A Day in the Life of' interview, Celine shares more about her role as an Analyst Banker at EBRD.

Please introduce yourself, your role at your company, and how you got there.

Hello! My name is Celine and I am an Analyst Banker in the Infrastructure EMEA team, within the Sustainable Infrastructure Group at EBRD. We focus on impact investing within emerging economies in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. My team provides both debt and equity financing to public and private clients across a variety of infrastructure assets.

Ultimately, through our investments, we aim to improve the quality of life in these regions, and support the market economy in the regions we invest in. With regards to infrastructure, we specifically try to maximize the positive impact of infrastructure to achieve sustainable growth and development, integrate environmental and social consideration in our investments, build resilience against natural disasters and strengthen infrastructure governance. For instance, my team has recently been involved in facilitating innovative energy efficiency home renovation loans, and investing in electrical vehicle charging infrastructure.

As an analyst, my role includes assisting with due diligence during the investment process, creating financial models, performing financial analysis, and preparing investment memos for relevant committees in order to ensure we are making responsible investments that advance our development goals.

I joined EBRD via the International Professionals Programme, which is the EBRD’s flagship young professionals recruitment scheme (similar to the YPP at the World Bank). Young professionals are given the opportunity to rotate through different divisions and countries to learn more about the Bank, and the broader mandate for international financial institutions. It’s an extremely unique way to join the Bank, as it allows professionals to join at a relatively early time in their careers. During the application process, I submitted a cover letter and resume, answered application questions, completed psychometric tests, and participated in online as well as in-person interviews.

What does a typical day look like for you? 

I’ve described it above – my day primarily consists of working through tasks related to ongoing deals, which involves participating in various meetings but also quiet, focused work. I also participate in personal development activities, such as various technical trainings offered by the Bank and the CFA programme. In addition, I am part of the leadership committee for EBRDConnect, the largest staff network at the Bank. We assist staff by hosting a wide variety of events that provide opportunities for development, fostering valuable connections, and facilitating member success through business growth. I organise initiatives that contribute to this with a wide variety of diversity networks and stakeholders across the Bank.

What part of your role do you enjoy the most? 

The most exciting part of my role is being able to contribute to genuine impact within our countries of operation. As a development bank, this is a primary focus for us, and we try to estimate and track the impact that we have – whether that be through the reduction of greenhouse gases, improvement of the cost-efficiency of infrastructure, hiring of women and minorities in under-represented roles, development of training programmes… the list goes on! Additionally, I enjoy the variety of projects I get to work on: banking teams handle a wide variety of financial products (capital markets, debt financing and equity financing) , interact with a wide variety of staff within the Bank, work with both sovereign and non-sovereign clients, and finance projects across numerous countries. Finally, on a personal level, living and working in different contexts is a dream of mine. At EBRD, we often have the opportunity to work across our countries of operation, and accordingly, I will shortly be moving to North Africa as a part of my role.

Which top three skills are vital for this role and why?  

Communication, attention to detail and relationship management. These are key to serving both internal stakeholders and clients.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your role? 

I tend to enjoy a faster pace of work; however, the pace can be slower than in traditional investment banks. In part, this is a feature of the markets that we are working in – they are relatively under-developed, thus adding a layer of complexity. Moreover, being an international organization operating to extremely high standards, there are many processes in place at EBRD which can sometimes extend project timeframes.

How do you help others feel like they belong in your team/promote inclusion? 

Leading EBRDconnect is a key part of promoting inclusion for me, alongside participating in the diversity and inclusion community of different networks. I believe these contribute to fostering a sense of belonging, and hosting regular events and initiatives genuinely help in creating bonds.

Which podcast/YouTube series would you recommend to someone interested in pursuing a career in this area? 

I really enjoy and would recommend the Economist Intelligence. Other good podcasts include the FT Morning Briefing and The World in Brief from the Economist. Additionally, supplementing your financial news with some degree of immersion in the world of development – there are numerous relevant LSE lectures online! Any university’s lectures will do though – are a great way to get a feel for the work we do here. Basically, if you enjoy reading the news (especially with a focus outside of US/UK), care about international development and like to keep up with markets, you’ll enjoy this role!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Hopefully continuing to work in an impactful, international role that challenges me!