I am a second-year MBA student at Columbia Business School. Prior to CBS, I was in the French telecom sector where I worked as a market research analyst and then project manager for the Strategy department of SFR, France’s 2nd largest telecom operator.
Prior to CBS, I also devoted time and passion to Mon Nickel, the nonprofit organization I founded in early 2013. The nonprofit’s primary mission is to advocate for transparent and non-partisan communication about the Mining & Metals industry of my home territory New Caledonia, a South Pacific French Collectivity, where I was born and raised. Among other facts, New Caledonia is one of the world’s top exporters of nickel ore as well as a biodiversity hotspot. My interest in sustainability is therefore primarily tied to these origins.
An engineer by background, I came to CBS to leverage my analytical experience to pursue a career in financial services, and explore ways to further develop my nonprofit organization. With that in mind, I focused my academic engagement mostly in Finance and Sustainable Development — classes taken in the latter area include Social Entrepreneurship, Impact Investing, and Effective Philanthropy in Urban Communities, where I concentrate on K-12 education issues in the NYC metro area. In addition to that, I am part of the Nonprofit Board Leadership program and the MIINT (MBA Impact Investing Network & Training) competition.
The Sustainable Investing Fellowship was the perfect opportunity for me to both fast-track my career transition and understand how large financial institutions can contribute to solving the world’s most pressing challenges.
For my first project at Morgan Stanley, I performed environmental, social, governance (ESG) analysis on a selection of stocks of the Apparel and Footwear industry. Throughout this project, I assessed the impact of ESG factors on firms’ financials and compared those firms based on their relative ESG performance and related financial risk. This project allowed me to understand the mechanics of ESG integration into mainstream Equity Research, and better appreciate the growing appetite for ESG analyses, from analysts to investors.
For my second project, I produced an investor-focused research paper on the United Nations' seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, highlighting pivotal sectors and key investment implications for each goal. This project gave me insights into how the priorities set forward by the United Nations may translate into risks and opportunities across sectors.
Beyond the knowledge acquired throughout the summer, the fellowship was also an invaluable human experience for me. From the discussions I had with top executives at the firm, to conferences, client calls, and visits of nonprofits, I further understood how people inside the firm contributed to its long-term commitment to sustainability.