PEVC AUT 2013: Curiosity to Intrigue

It all started with MiFFT2013s raving review of the course and their awe of Florin Vasvari and Eli Talmor. Also during my 6 year stint in corporate banking I’ve surely come across discussions on private equity and have always wanted to explore the dynamics of the industry. Since I was doing the 4th term offered to the MiFFTs, curiosity got the better of me as I registered for the course. This one is close to my heart at it possibly is my last course at LBS!

Alternative forms of investment have stolen the limelight in the recent years. Though they were prevalent in the US since 1970s, they spread to other geographies only during the last couple of decades and have since gained immense prominence.

Taking PEVC during the block week is certainly like running a marathon – Monday to Friday, two sessions everyday with case submissions from Tuesday through Friday. The class is always oversubscribed and the Profs commenced the first class with some statistics – that we had made it by beating the 40-odd students on the waiting list!

The sessions were filled with infinite takeaways (from theory and cases), humorous deliveries, perspectives of 4 guest speakers (the best from the industry, including the PE Guru, Mounir Guen), overwhelming class participation and finally a roaring round of applause from the students! Why not?! In just 8 sessions I’ve got a glimpse of the dynamics of over eight sectors across different geographies; the course truly gives an international perspective on private equity, justifying the title of the book authored by Eli Talmor and Florin Vasvari.

It is not surprising that this is the only course at school that has my full attendance  I’m totally intrigued by the industry, and fervently hope I’d have something big to do with it sometime in the near future.

MiFFT2013’s 3 peak challenge!

There was Ben Nevis and Snowdon, but no Scafall. Why not? Read on, you will understand why not while also living through our hiking experience in England and the fun we had!

Six of us – Julia (leader of the pack), Kirill (calmest of the pack, a born survivor), Cathy (ever the sport!), Ryan Kruger (director of the pack), Jwo Ru (cheetah of the pack!) and myself (hmmmm…..left to the reader to form an opinion J), met at the bus stop at Baker Street to board a bus to London Luton.

Our adventure started even before the hiking commenced – our flight was delayed by 2 hours! Since 7 am at the bus stop was a massive effort for most of us, we were all curled up on the seats right before the departure gates.

Venkat (the most daring of the pack), for he kept awake through the previous night to take an early flight to Inverness, reaching four hours earlier than us and almost believing that we were playing a prank on him – he had just begun to grow leaves when we collected him from the airport!

With our rental car, we set out to stock food and fill our stomachs with carbohydrates to prepare us for the first stage of hiking – Ben Nevis, Scotland. Ben Nevis was gorgeous to say the least – sunshine as we started our ascent, lush greenery all around, small puddles of water everywhere, rains throughout the hike, a small waterfall half way through and a stunning snow-capped peak. The trail was quite straight forward. However, finishing the round-trip in 6 hours pushed our physical boundaries.

I’ve done more challenging trails during my hiking experiences with ‘Chennai Trekking Club’ however my clear lack of stamina was evident from the way I was breathing hard. Julia was the one merrily giving us stories to keep the spirits up particularly when muscles unknown to us were screaming for relief. Ryan kept pace with her while Jwo Ru effortlessly marched along. Finally at the peak of Ben Nevis, all seven of us – happy to have made it through the snow!!

It was amusing to note that while I was struggling through the ascent of Ben Nevis, I was leading the team during our descent, more like a possessed soul! Even Ryan mentioned this as something he wouldn’t forget about the hike. This madness was the result of feeling extremely ashamed with myself for allowing my once-admired stamina deteriorate in a matter of months.

Ryan, Kirill and Venkat alternated as drivers – a commendable effort! Ben Nevis took us 6 hours including a 15 minute break. A diversion on the highway took 2 hours off us, which is when we decided to alter the plan, albeit just a bit. We decided to make it a comfortable 2 peak conquest in 24 hours rather than the 3 peak challenge. We unanimously decided it was Snowdon at Wales. Venkat and I decided to take it easy and we stayed back. While Kirill & Cathy made it up to 80% of the peak, it was Ryan, Julia and Jwo Ru who made it to Snowdon’s peak. The surprise cake-cutting for Julia’s birthday happened mid-way to Snowdon’s peak – all smiles!

Well, it was certainly a refreshing and an exhilarating trip that gave us major insights into the planning and training required for such a challenge. We are ready to take on the 3 peak challenge sometime soon and look forward to the same