Joshua Zwick
Director, Financial Markets Advisory, BlackRock
On choosing Oliver Wyman:
As I entered my senior year in college, I barely knew how to spell “consulting” much less had any idea what a consultant did. It wasn’t until Alex Oliver came to speak about the firm he co-founded and the ype of work it did, that I knew I had found what I was looking for. Oliver Wyman stood out for several reasons: its commitment to fostering careers vs. churning out analysts; emphasis on quantitative (some would say overly geeky) analysis; singular focus on the financial services industry; and a commitment to maintaining a better work-life balance. I can remember one of my interviewers telling me: “We like to hire interesting people. If all they do is work, then they quickly become uninteresting.” That statement resonated with me in a way that no other glossy recruiting brochure or “it’s-all-about-our-people” platitudes ever could.
On the benefits of bouncing around:
In my over seven years at the firm, I did everything from optimizing pricing at a grocery store using elasticity-based pricing models (true story), to devising an e-private banking strategy, to developing operational risk frameworks, to advising global life insurance companies on their investment portfolios, to developing economic capital models at P&C insurers, to building a model to optimize the number of entry-level offers OW needed to make (again, true story). Despite the ostensible lack of continuity, I credit the breadth of these experiences in building the expansive knowledge base, broad perspective, core communication, project management, writing, and analytical skills which have allowed me to prosper in my current role and- I hope- well beyond.
On what he’s doing now:
I am a Director in the Financial Markets Advisory (FMA) practice at BlackRock focusing on business development, project execution and client relationship management. FMA provides risk and strategic advisory, loss and valuation assessment, and distressed asset disposition services to the world’s largest banks, insurers and investment managers. As the team has been (often very publicly) at the center of helping government and private institutions navigate the financial crisis, I have had the tremendous opportunity of experiencing the dramatic events regarding the economy and financial services industry firsthand. The intensity of these experiences and the lessons I learned will stay with me long after the crisis subsides.
On “eating your own dog food”:
On several occasions I have been sought for counsel by my colleagues in charge of implementing BlackRock’s risk and trading platforms to help them understand how to help a client operationalize a framework which Oliver Wyman developed. The experience of seeing my old firm’s (and in several cases, pieces of my own) handiwork is highly satisfying because it reminds me of the profound impact that OW ideas can have. At the same time, it is also eye-opening because it makes me appreciate the complexity and operational challenges that firms face in implementing cutting-edge thinking of the type OW propounds. As a consultant/advisor for many years now, there is nothing quite like tasting your own dog food to remind you of the indigestion your clients must overcome before they can enjoy the benefits of your ideas. I’d encourage everyone to take a taste from time to time.
