At 7 p.m. on December 8, Antoine des Noyers, Executive Director and Head of Alternative Investments ofJ.P. Morgan Private Bank (Singapore), and a distinguished alumnus of Audencia Business School, gave an offline lecture on "Private Equity and Finance" in Lecture Theatre 4, 1F, Huixing Building. Stéphane Coince, Director of the Sino-foreign Cooperative Program of Audencia Business School, presided over the lecture.

Antoine des Noyers graduated from Audencia Business School in 2010 and joinedJ.P. Morganwhere he has been working ever since. He is responsible for alternative investments (which include fund business not in capital markets and listed companies) in Southeast Asia, and mainly invests in private companies - a huge investment area. He said what attracted him most to private equity was to enhance business value and make value investments. In addition to private equity, he is also responsible for private credit and hedge funds.

Antoine and his team believed that the next decade would differ from the last decade and the general trend would change. He cited the energy market as an example: oil used to be a major segment of the equity and debt markets, but now it is harder for oil-related industries to get funds from banks. In his opinion, the biggest risk for private equity is timing risk, and investment managers should be patient and disciplined and make diversified investments.

In the Q&A session, Antoine gave valuable answers based on his rich expertise and industrial experience, providing the students with a broader perspective of the financial industry.

Student: Where is the next investment opportunity for China in the current economic environment?

Antoine: It's true that China's economy is slowing down compared to the past. But years of investment experience have taught me that investing in China seems to be a cool thing to do in the industry and it makes investors feel better. I've met a lot of great entrepreneurs in Shenzhen and Shanghai. If there is a good opportunity, I won't hesitate to invest in China. The main thing I need to do is to precisely position industries and determine investment proportions.

Student: Working in the private equity industry is time and energy consuming, so for aspiring students, what character should we have to be eligible for the job?

Antoine: There is no denying that investment banking talents usually come from top universities and have a lot of internship experiences, and they should have ambitions and unique insights into banking or theoretical economics. At the same time, the division of responsibilities within investment banking can also make it difficult to switch jobs, which requires you to plan your career early, and a right route can create more possibilities for your future career development.

Student: What kinds of internship experiences are more appealing to you when you're sifting through resumes? What tricky problems did applicants come up against in interviews, and how did you address them?

Antoine: For the first question, members of the JP Morgan team are from different countries and have different backgrounds, so the competition is very fierce. In addition to professional skills, they should have high academic qualifications and rich internship experience. The team highly values applicants' soft power and teamwork spirit. For the second question, solutions to some common problems can be searched online, so instead I would ask applicants when they failed at something, what the reasons were and how they responded. I had six interviews before joining JP Morgan and few technical questions were asked in the interviews.

Following the lecture, there was a French-style tea break, during which the students could taste desserts while talking to Antoine. Gu Wei, Ge Rui and Qi Han, Vice-Deans ofShenzhen Audencia Financial Technology Institute (SAFTI);Zhu Zhaobo, Chen Xin, Halis Sak and other teachers of SAFTI, as well as international students of the College of Management of Shenzhen University, enjoyed the tasty food with the students, communicating with Antoine and Stéphane Coince amid a lively atmosphere.