The Wall Street Skinny

by Kristen and Jen

This podcast is a smart and entertaining peek into the world of investment banking, sales & trading, private equity, hedge funds and more. Hosted by two lifelong friends with a passion for teaching, and over two decades of experience on Wall Street. Discover the basics, ranging from “what is investment banking?” to “what moves markets?". Learn about different roles and exit opportunities, and get tips on how to land the job. Our mission is to make the world of Wall Street accessible to everyone, while keeping things relatable and fun.

Whether your goal is to work on Wall Street, or if you have NO idea what any of those things are and just want to learn some basics, this podcast is for you.

Episodes

23. Quant Trading, AI, and More feat. Dr. Harry Mamaysky

1h 4m · Published 26 Aug 11:00

Wall Street's analytics and technology are evolving at a record pace. What are the roles of quantitative models, and AI in the financial services industry today? What does it mean to be a "quant", what is a "quant fund", and what quantitative skills are required for someone starting their career on Wall Street today? Will AI and algorithms help us become smarter, or send the best and brightest to the sidelines? We explore these questions and more with Professor Harry Mamaysky of Columbia University who is the co-founder of Quant Street.

Dr. Harry Mamaysky is a partner at QuantStreet Capital, which offers investing and portfolio management services to individuals, family offices, and businesses. Harry is also a Professor at Columbia Business School, where he is the Director of the Program for Financial Studies. Harry’s research focuses on the application of natural language processing and machine learning techniques to investing. Harry is a frequent industry and academic speaker. Prior to his time at Columbia, Harry spent many years in finance practice, rising to the position of senior portfolio manager at Citigroup, where he also served on the firm’s Risk Executive Committee. Harry was a professor at the Yale School of Management, which he joined after earning his PhD in Finance from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He holds BS and MS degrees in computer science and a BA in economics from Brown University.

If you have been inspired by this episode and want to follow Harry or learn more, you can find him at the links below.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/harry-mamaysky/ (LinkedIn)
www.quantstreetcapital.com (the firm website)
https://quantstreet.substack.com/ (Substack finance blog)
business.columbia.edu/faculty/people/harry-mamaysky ( Columbia page)
https://twitter.com/HMamaysky (Twitter or X)

22. How to Become a Markets Guru: Understanding the Investment Banking Clients

1h 2m · Published 19 Aug 11:00

What is best kept secret for understanding market dynamics and being good in investment banking? You must understand: WHO are the firm’s clients and WHY they need you? We arm you with the intel to ace any banking interview — either on the IBD corporate advisory side, or on the Sales, Trading, and Research side of the bank — by explaining a select few clients’ motivating factors. We talk about hedgers vs. speculators in the markets, and strategic vs. financial buyers in the world of acquisitions. In this episode, we also explain duration and convexity hedging through the lens of GSEs, bank portfolios, mortgage servicers, pension funds, and insurance companies. By the end of the hour, you’ll understand giant forces moving global markets in new ways. Plus, you’ll now be able to tell all your friends that you learned how convexity works by watching Barbie.

21. Q&A! Prop Trading, DCF vs. LBO, Beta, Consulting vs. Banking and More!

58m · Published 12 Aug 11:00

We tackle these listener questions and more in our latest Q&A episode!

1. What is the difference is between prop trading and the trading you hear about in the sales & trading division of an investment bank? And how does a prop shop differ from a hedge fund?

2. When running a DCF and choosing your beta for CAPM, when do you use the industry average beta vs. when do you use the company beta? We also get into predicted betas vs. historicals, levering and unlevering betas, if R squared is useful in making decisions about your beta, why banks purposefully don't use what the academics say to use and more.

3. What are these mysterious Greek letters that people in finance toss around like delta, beta, and gamma?

4. Why would some industries like natural resources not use LBOs and instead only use a DCF, like for example when constructing a toll road.

5. How do you choose between a career in banking or consulting?

If you want us to answer YOUR questions in our next Q&A, please write to [email protected].

20. Interview Horror Story, FIG Banking, Meme Stocks and More! Feat. Anish Mitra

1h 2m · Published 05 Aug 11:00

When you hear talking heads yelling at you or see a crazy meme on the internet telling to buy or sell a stock, how do you know if they are right or wrong? Today we sit down with Anish Mitra, host of the hilarious podcast Laughing Stocks to discuss his journey through FIG Banking, investing in Goldman Sachs' reinsurance group (now Global Atlantic, part of KKR), and talent development at Goldman Sachs before venturing into the world of comedy and content creation. Anish explains how FIG banking differs from traditional banking (hint it doesn't really), how the foundational training on Wall Street gives you a toolkit with which to analyze companies and form investment theses, and we hear some crazy stories from back in the day when Kristen actually interviewed Anish for a job at Morgan Stanley Sales and Trading. Spoiler alert: it didn't go well.

Anish graduated from Brown in 2010, worked in FIG banking at Barclays then moved to a buyside role at Goldman Sachs (now Global Atlantic, part of KKR), then to talent management at Goldman Sachs when he finally left the finance world to pursue a career in comedy. He now combines all his interests: finance, education and comedy as a content creator. You can find him on Instagram and TikTok at anishkmitra and on LinkedIn, and his podcast Laughing Stocks on your favorite podcasting platform.

19. Private Equity vs. Hedge Funds: What it Takes to Land the Most Lucrative Finance Careers

1h 6m · Published 29 Jul 11:00

Two of the most high profile exit opportunities from the sell side are Private Equity and Hedge Funds. In today's uber-competitive environment, recruiting for some of these exits starts BEFORE you've even begun your career on the sell side. We discuss why these jobs are so competitive and attractive to many young people entering world of finance. What really is the difference between them? Is one more lucrative than the other? And, most importantly, WHAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU....if either???

18. Leaving Wall Street: Now What? Feat. Susie Korb

1h 1m · Published 22 Jul 11:00

In this episode, we are joined by Susie Lee Korb, Head of finance at Chord Commerce. Susie leveraged a successful career of over a decade on Wall Street to catapult herself into a senior role in the tech startup world. We discuss various elements of finance at a startup, such as the role of seed & venture capital, venture DEBT, the lifecycle of taking a company from genesis to IPO, and how Susie's knowledge of the markets helped her company avert disaster during the collapse of SVB. We also learn valuable lessons from Susie's career working at an investment bank, such as: what is municipal finance? How can you break into corporate strategy or corporate treasury? And how do you balance parenthood in the fast paced lifestyle of a sales career?

Susie Korb graduated from MIT with a business degree. She spent her early career at Morgan Stanley, where she worked in municipal finance, interest rate sales, corporate strategy and corporate treasury. She is now the VP of finance for Chord, and currently resides in Massachusetts with her husband and three children.

17. How to Level Up in Your Career Feat. Helen Dayen

57m · Published 15 Jul 12:00

How do you level up in your career --- or even just not get fired when sh*t hits the fan?!? We sit down with CEO and career coach Helen Dayen to understand the psychology, mindset, skills, and creativity required to advance in the financial services industry and beyond. Helen also shares her own stories from the cutthroat environment on the trading floor, "The Devil Wears Prada of Finance" so to speak, how she was able to pivot and make her self invaluable when she knew she was on the chopping block, and how she forged an entrepreneurial path for personal & professional fulfillment.

Helen Dayen is CEO and coach at The Dayen Group, where she has over 15 years of experience in sales, relationship management, business development and executive coaching. She works with professionals in high stress/high demand industries such as finance, technology, and law.

To learn more about The Dayen Group, you can find their website here:
https://www.dayengroup.com/
Follow The Dayen Group on Instagram @dayengroup

16. Q&A! Indexes 101, Financial Modeling, the WACC & More!

48m · Published 08 Jul 12:00

Answering questions we've received from listeners via Instagram, TikTok and email! This week's topics include:

1. Can you explain the different indices? SPX, FTSE, DAX, NASDAQ, Barclays AGG…as an investor, why would you look at indices? What do they mean/represent, and why do we have them?

2. I’m building my first model, and trying to figure out how to connect the Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance Sheet. Is there a particular order these should go in??

3. Two similar questions: a) is there any mobility into hedge funds or banks if you’re 10+ years into a career in tech/startups? And b) What about any insights on how JD grads can break into the financial services industry?

4. Does and incremental increase in debt increase or lower the WACC?

5. Why wouldn’t EVERYONE use interest rate swaps to hedge risk?

To have your question featured on our next Q&A episode, please email us at [email protected] or follow us on Instagram and send us a DM!

15. Equity Research 101 Feat. Steve Haggerty

1h 7m · Published 01 Jul 11:00

Today we are joined by Steve Haggerty, the former Head of Research in both New York and Hong Kong at Bank of America Merrill Lynch before making the move to the Buy-Side, to answer all your questions about Equity Research including:

What is Equity Research? What does a day in the life look like? What is the difference between Buy-Side and Sell-Side Research? How does the skill set differ between Buy-Side and Sell-Side Research? What exit opportunities are there out of Sell-Side Research? and much much more.

Steve Haggerty was Head of Research in both New York and Hong Kong at Bank of America Merrill Lynch before making the move to the Buy-Side, and becoming Head of Research at Moon Capital. Prior to that he worked at General Motors and Schroders Securitues in London before joining Merrill Lynch as an equity analyst in New York and then becoming a research manager.

He retired in 2021 and is now an advisor at Columbia Business School as well as the founder of Interior Lines Research where he helps Sell-Side Researchers learn to be more influential with Buyside clients. He also is working in venture capital in the agtech space and is a hobby farmer in the Hudson Valley.

14. Moving Markets Feat. Mosheh Oinounou of Mo News!

56m · Published 24 Jun 15:00

The global financial markets and the news are inextricably linked. News stories move the financial markets, and the financial markets make the news. Today we sit down with Mosheh Oinounou of Mo News, an Emmy-award winning journalist who has worked at Bloomberg, CBS, and FOX News in the past. Mosheh has now created his own news service primarily distributed across social media platforms, where he is a trusted source for hundreds of thousands of followers.

We discuss how Mosheh distills critical intel from the vast array of global news, explore the complexities of bias and mistrust in the news media, and debate the role of journalism in a post-AI environment. We swap stories from opposite sides of the newswire during major market-moving events like the financial collapse of 2008 and Fukushima in 2011. And we learn how Mosheh is preparing for his next exciting role as a father!

You can watch Mosheh's TedEx talk referenced at the link below, can subscribe to his news letter or become a Mo News premium subscriber on his website or follow him for. your daily dose of news on Instagram or TikTok.

Mosheh TedEx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBZdjaIR4w8
Mo News Website: https://www.mo.news/
Follow Mosheh on TikTok and Instagram at @mosheh

The Wall Street Skinny has 73 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 64:39:31. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on December 24th 2023. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on June 1st, 2024 16:41.