An Interview with James Hayden, President of the University of New South Wales Finance & Banking Society
1. What are the goals of the Finance & Banking Society and can you tell me how the organization got started?
A few years ago, we found that there really weren’t that many opportunities for students to connect with employers outside of the interview process. That all-important step between university life and the working world was looking more and more of a leap. On the one hand, we had employers who were having a hard time getting information to their prospective recruits. On the other, we had students who didn’t really know what to expect when walking into their first interview. Half the time they didn’t even know what role they were applying for – they’d simply choose M&A investment banking because it sounded impressive.
That’s where we come in. We started off at UNSW in 2007 as the Investment Banking & Capital Markets Society (IBSOC), before rebranding in 2008 following a merger with the Sydney University Finance Society into the inter-collegiate Finance & Banking Society (FINSOC) that you see today.
FINSOC acts as an intermediary between our members (mostly current university students, although we don’t restrict membership on this basis) and their future employers. Ultimately, we aim to give our members as much information as possible about the many and varied career options within the finance industry, in order to make the transition between university and work as smooth as possible.
2. James, how did you get involved with the organization and get promoted to President?
I was a co-founder of IBSOC back in 2007, and served as Social Director in 2008, coordinating our first Orientation Week at UNSW and organising many of our first events throughout the year. In 2008-9, I served as Vice-President, during which time I was involved in the USYD merger, and oversaw the transition from a member-pays to a sponsor-funded model for the Society. Membership is now 100% free for all members, and we are primarily funded through our sponsors, all of whom are active employers within the finance industry. I was recently elected as Co-President alongside Vaughan Rouesnel for 2009-10, with Damian Fox chairing our USYD Branch.
3. What type of events does FINSOC run during the year?
Everything from informal BBQs on campus, cocktail evenings and our recent end-of-year wrap-party, through to information seminars hosted by investment banks and other financial services firms. All of our events have representatives from sponsor firms in attendance, giving our members a unique opportunity to get to know more about working in the industry, as well as making those all-important connections before they’ve even left university. In 2010 we’re hoping to make these events even more personal, with initiatives such as social sporting events between firms and members.
4. How is banking different in Australia than in the rest of the world?
It isn’t overly different to most Western countries. Being a constitutional monarchy, and still a member of the Commonwealth, our legal system is almost identical to that of the United Kingdom. Australians have been historically poor savers, however the (relatively) recent advent of compulsory superannuation in 1994 increased the national savings pool dramatically.
We do have slightly more regulation versus the rest of the world. The financial market reforms brought in by the then-Howard Government, introducing APRA and a host of other regulatory reforms within the finance sector simplified these somewhat. But given Australia’s resilience to the GFC, this higher level of oversight looks to be a necessary (and fruit-bearing) evil.
5. What does the future hold for the Australian economy?
Unlike the US and almost every part of the developed world, we never actually had a textbook recession. In fact, the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) just released their unemployment data, putting our official rate at 5.8% - just over half of the current US figure. Whilst this figure is slightly higher than the previous quarter’s, it’s hardly alarming given the lagging nature of the indicator. With interest rates trending upward, it looks like the worst is over for the Australian economy.
With GDP growth in developing economies such as Brazil, India and China starting to regain lost momentum, alongside strengthening commodities prices, a fairly rosy outlook for the Australian economy emerges.
6. Where can students go to get more information about the Finance & Banking Society or to reach out to you?
You’ve got plenty of options here. Check out our website ( http://www.finsoc.org.au), join our Facebook group, or send me an e-mail directly ( james.hayden@finsoc.org.au). You can even sign up as a member simply by filling out the online form on our website!
