Martin Browne, Senior Marketing Manager, Aergo Capital

Degree subject BA Economics and Business, Trinity College Dublin (2013); MSC Economics and Strategy, Imperial College London (2014) DCU, 2014
Job title Senior Marketing Manager
Employer Aergo Capital

Could you tell us how you decided on
your career path?

From a young age and during later
school years I enjoyed reading financial
markets and financial news. At
undergraduate level I participated in
the Trinity Student managed Fund,
studied finance and economics
overseas in Shanghai for 6 months and
developed an interest in the mechanics
of how companies finance their
activities. Postgraduate level really
progressed my understanding of
capital markets and led to the pursuit
of a career in finance.

How did you degree contribute to you
working with Aergo Capital, and what
was involved in the selection process for
the programme?

Both degrees involved a large chunk of
financial analysis and required a high
level of numerical skill. This along with
my presentation and negotiation
experience gained during countless
team projects and reports with
international students from many
different cultures gave me an edge. The
aircraft leasing company I joined had
just been acquired by an American
Private Equity Fund so my level of
education and ability to learn fast was
a decisive factor.

What does your daily role involve, and
what’s been one of the biggest
challenges so far and what did it teach
you about yourself?

The role can involve anything from
modelling complex cash flows to derive
financial specifics of a potential
acquisition and comparing this with our
internal hurdle rates, to negotiating a
term sheet for a lease agreement on a
multi-million dollar aircraft. A high level
of concentration and awareness of
technical information pertaining to the
assets is critical when marking up such
a proposal. One of the biggest
challenges is the pace of activity in the
company and the quantity of potential
transactions that we have to appraise –
managing expectations and presenting
accurate findings has helped me fine
tune my ability to manage multiple
projects effectively.

What’s exciting about working in aircraft
leasing?

It is incredibly dynamic. There is no ‘clock
in, clock out’ routine based work in the
aircraft leasing industry. I could be
working closely with our legal
department on adjusting language in a
100+ page lease agreement, reviewing a
detailed technical specification of an
aircraft to determine where the value lies
in its component parts or travelling
overseas to visit a potential client and
negotiate the finer points of a
transaction term sheet.

What advice would you have for others
seeking a career in the industry?

Become familiar with the industry and
network. There is plenty of literature
available on all niche financial markets
that can be accessed online. Learning
about the more specific aspects
regarding the underlying asset will
provide a significant advantage when
discussing why the student will add
value to an organisation. Networking is
important as most of the more focused
financial industries (such as aircraft
leasing) are controlled by a relatively
small amount of companies. Attending a
conference or an industry event via one
of the various foundations or student
outreach programmes and introducing
yourself will provide an advantage.

How do you hope to see your career
developing over the next few years?

Ideally toward a more client-facing deal
origination/business development
aspect of my current role. I’m on course
to achieve this, but having a deep
understanding of the numbers and
technical relating to the assets has been
essential in my progression.