I originally started my career in Bangalore, India where I grew up and where my family still lives – unlike a lot of Indian students, I decided to forgo the conventional career path of engineering or medicine and instead take my chances at completing the daunting ACA course. As part of this course, I trained at PwC and spent 3 years primarily focusing on audit and tax. Despite the unbelievably long hours, I was determined to build a career in finance and not just anywhere – it had to be in the financial centre of the world, London.
After a long and arduous application process, I finally got my foot into London’s elusive financial door when I was accepted at the LSE to pursue a Master’s degree in Finance. After working at a large corporate for many years and having bolstered my educational foundation at LSE, I knew that joining a big bank or consultancy firm wasn’t for me. Instead, I wanted to join a place where I could not only exponentially learn and grow, but also where my contributions to the organisation would be meaningful and impactful.
It was this approach to building a career that eventually led me to OakNorth Bank – at the time, it was still a fairly new challenger bank which had only recently received a banking license. It was run by two inspiring and successful founders and had already closed over £1Bn of new transactions – this felt like the perfect opportunity to fulfil my career aspirations.
When I arrived at OakNorth’s offices in Soho in 2019 for my first interview, it became very clear very quickly that OakNorth isn’t like other banks. Firstly, because my interview was with Ben Barbanel, OakNorth’s Head of Debt Finance, and Joel Perlman, the Co-Founder – it is quite rare in banking for a junior Associate to speak to the business owner and department head in the first round of interviews. Secondly, because both were dressed in jeans and trainers – I instantly regretted my decision to wear a three-piece suit and tie(!) as one would for an interview at a bank. I could immediately sense through their words and unorthodox demeanour that this team was attempting to bring in the long-overdue revolutionary changes to banking, and I knew this was the right fit for me!
I think it’s fair to say that getting a role at OakNorth is very competitive, especially on the debt finance team. If you’re lucky enough to be offered a position, you’re given autonomy and trusted to interact with customers from day one. No one really cares how old (or young) you are or what your job title is. I’d been used to working in a large organisation where there was so much hierarchy, only those in senior positions could deal with customers, and your age and job title often defined how seriously you would be taken and who within the company you’d get exposure to. So, OakNorth Bank was honestly a breath of fresh air.
At OakNorth, transactions are typically led by two team members which is very different to other organisations where there may be 10 or so people working on a deal. What this means is there’s a lot more responsibility, things move faster, and your learning experience is massively accelerated as you’re thrown directly into the deep end from your first day. It goes without saying that client exposure and speaking at meetings comes with a lot of practice and learning from your mistakes – but at OakNorth, you get the confidence to do so as you’re not just left to learn how to swim on your own. All your teammates are there, swimming alongside you as there’s a culture in the business of supporting and teaching the less experienced to bring them up to the next level. And if you can learn to master the tide, you will operate faster, make smarter decisions, and be more confident in those decisions.
Several people think that what’s required in a debt finance front office junior role is exceptional modelling and technical skills. These are of course important at OakNorth, but what really helps you stand out is the ability to communicate and delight the customer throughout. While number crunching and analysis is still part of the day job and trust me, you really have to know your numbers, the majority of my time is spent working with clients, understanding their requirements and structuring transactions to fit their needs.
About a year after joining OakNorth, I had the opportunity to put everything I’d learned over the previous 12 months into practice. To counter the challenges businesses were facing from COVID-19, the government announced the launch of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) which OakNorth became part of. I saw an opening with this and reached out to pretty much every business in my network to see if they needed support. Of course, many never responded, and others simply said they didn’t need it, but a handful replied and within a few months, I successfully managed to close the first transaction I had independently originated. I still remember going into Credit Committee, sitting with the client, presenting to Ben, Neil Evans (our Head of Credit Risk) and Rishi Khosla (our Co-Founder and CEO), and sweating bricks!
But after the transaction was approved at committee, I had the confidence to keep going and over the last 20 months, I’ve closed nearly £175m of structured debt transactions which I’ve independently originated, eventually earning me a promotion to Associate Director.
These aren’t numbers I ever thought I’d be quoting in my late 20s, and especially this early in my career, but the accelerated learning experience, autonomy, and trust you’re given at OakNorth has made it possible. I have many friends my age in banking and their MDs and department heads would never have bothered to listen to a new deal originated by an Associate. Whereas at OakNorth, my superiors not only gave me the time of day but also actively helped tweak, improve, and finesse my deals and this really gave me more confidence and a solid platform to succeed.
It’s been relentless at times, but it’s been an incredible few years, which I’d highly recommend to others who may be at large corporations and yearning for an opportunity to prove themselves – it’s not everywhere that a junior team member would get the opportunity to present their work directly to the CEO! After a few years of working in the same place, especially if it’s early on in your career, there can be a tendency to start thinking the grass is greener elsewhere, but what I’ve found is that I’m still learning every day and can see a clear career progression path of what I need to achieve to get to the next level.
Wanting to accelerate your career in finance just like Ani? With roles in Product and Engineering to Marketing, Legal and Compliance, we’re on the hunt for the brightest and best people to join the team at OakNorth. You can find our open positions on our careers page.
by Anirudh Kare, Associate Director, Debt Finance at OakNorth Bank
