Clarence Nahan

Graduated with a Masters In Management from ESCP Europe, 2009
Currently: Associate, Equity Capital Markets Team

I joined Nomura in 2009 after being an intern for 10 months at Lehman Brothers in 2007. In fact I did four internships during my Masters and my gap year. So when I started at Nomura I had 22 months' experience and a lot of knowledge of investment banking.

I'm part of the Southern Europe Equity Capital Markets team, based in London. We focus on Nomura's largest corporate clients, providing advisory and execution capabilities on cash-equity-related products including: IPOs, rights issues, ABBs (strategic or financial stake divestment) and a range of other strategic dialogues, like stake building, dividend policy and capital structure.

I've also recently been interviewing a lot of graduates, so I've a good idea of the skills and qualities you'll need to be a success here. Yes, we look for people with strong analytical and interpersonal skills, plus a keen interest in markets and equities. But more importantly, Nomura at the moment is still comparatively small. We want candidates with the energy and the maturity to step up to quite senior positions quickly. You need to be bright, full of energy and have a long-term view. This is the main difference between Nomura and other banks: other banks will hire you as a resource - you'll be one of a large number of ‘lookalikes'. Nomura gives you the chance to be part of a new story in investment banking.

I'm very excited about my future here. While some of our competitors are still trying to recover ground, we are concentrating on our strengths with the goal of coming out ahead. At Nomura, we have no reputational issues - instead we're concentrating on building our franchise. Our move to our brand new landmark offices in the City is a symbol of this commitment to Europe and a pre-eminent position on the global markets.