2. At Wharton, the Learning Team, which consists of approximately five first-year students, is often assigned group projects and class presentations. Imagine that, one year from now, your Learning Team has a marketing class assignment due at 9:00 a.m. on Monday morning. It is now 10:00 p.m. on Sunday night; time is short, tension builds and your team has reached an impasse. What role would you take in such a situation? How would you enable the team to meet your deadline? Feel free to draw on previous experiences, if applicable, in order to illustrate your approach. 3. Describe a personal achievement that has had a significant impact on your life. In addition to recounting this achievement, please analyze how the event has changed your understanding and how you perceived the world around you. 1. No achievement can quench my thirst for self- improvement. My personal credo is to always “ go farther” --to find innovative ways to accomplish goals, and to realize my full potential in every aspect of my professional career. While my plans have evolved over the years, this personal objective remains the same. My career began in 1993,when I obtained an Honors degree in Physics at Yerevan State University in Armenia. At that point, my dream was to be a scientist. That same year, however, my family moved to Moscow, where exciting new opportunities presented themselves. Russia’ s market economy was springing to life, and such novel words as "privatization, " "broker, " "exchange, " and "securities" hovered in the air. I was immediately offered a position with the Moscow-based "Troika Dialog." This Russian investment company is at the vanguard of its field, and was awarded "Best Domestic Securities Firm in Russia" by Euro money in both 1996 and 1997. Although I learned much during my time there, I felt an urgent need to diversify my knowledge and investigate new directions of growth. After three years of work in positions that ranged from Trader Assistant to Manager of Investment Banking, I decided to explore new business opportunities on my own. An exciting opening arose when the Russian government passed several regulations governing mutual fund operations, facilitating the existence of such institutions. In April of 1996,a colleague and I organized one of the first asset management companies in Russia. I knew that the growth of the business would be greatly increased if we could find a Western partner to provide the practical management experience that our new venture lacked. I began to actively search for such a partner, with fruitful results. In June of 1996,my company joined with the US-based "Lexington Management Corp." to launch the first US SEC-registered mutual fund, "Lexington Troika Dialog Russia Fund." The Fund provides a forum for American investors to explore opportunities in Russia. To this date, it remains the only US SEC-registered, open-ended mutual fund that focuses on Russia equities. Over the years, the Fund’s assets have grown more than 20 times, reaching $250 million by the
end of 1997. It was named the "best-performing" fund of 1997” among all of the open-ended funds registered by US SEC. In 1997,we launched two domestic mutual funds that targeted Russian investors. Starting from back-office, accounting, and trading operations, I soon transferred to the Portfolio Management division, where I honed my analytical skills as an Assistant Portfolio Manager. After the registration of the domestic equity fund "Dobrynia Nikitich, " I was appointed its principal Portfolio Manager. The Russian Capital markets are currently in financial turmoil. The future of economic reform in Russia depends on young, qualified people who are dedicated to upholding and accelerating innovative processes. I believe that the growth of conservative, low-risk investment vehicles is crucial today for Russian pension funds, insurance companies, and institutional investors. My principal goal is to organize and manage a vehicle for Russian investment in the United States and other developed capital markets. In order to achieve this, I need relevant financial education that will expand my knowledge of developed capital markets. I also feel a pressing need to develop marketing skills with which to promote and successfully place the new funds that I intend to launch. The Wharton School has a multitude of courses that would enable me to contribute to the creation of a Russian market economy. I would also learn to manage investments for US citizens more effectively, which is another goal of my professional career. I believe my unique experience with the inception of the Russian market will be of interest to my colleagues throughout the world; I have experienced all stages of Russia’ s financial emergence--ranging from bull to bear phases. With a curriculum designed specifically to meet the changing demands of a global marketplace and evolving technology, Wharton is the ideal forum for complementing my practical experience with deeper academic
knowledge and broadened perspectives. 2. I always seize any opportunity to lead a team. The situation described requires concerted motivation tactics. I would begin by instilling within team members a strong sense of unity and commonality of purpose. I would also convince them of their responsibility toward the project; education is the key to success, and the time and effort poured into earning an MBA should be put to effective use. In short, I would impress upon them that we were the best team to win the competition, and must not allow this opportunity to pass us by. The main thrust of my efforts, however, would be action. Leadership by examples ways team members to mobilization; they are more apt to accept a leader whose own acts exceed his demands of others. Such a person is a natural leader, and will gain his team’ s respect. I would therefore develop my own ideas and attend to my own tasks while emphasizing the need for each team member to do the same. This would create among the group a sense of individual responsibility for the accomplishment of collective goal. To illustrate this approach, I shall relate my previous experience. Three years ago, I was in the United States with a group of securities industry specialists, selected by Russian Federal Securities Commission and USAID to establish and develop Russia’ s mutual fund industry. Each group member was a promising specialist in business or government. We spent a month in the United States, taking a variety of courses and visiting several companies involved in the mutual fund industry. At the program’ s close, the large group was divided into small teams. Each developed a strategy and business plan for establishing a mutual fund, and had to present this before a jury composed of professors and representatives from different corporations. The jury would then award prizes to the three best presentations. My team was in a similar situation to the one described; we had very little time to prepare our presentation. I saw the need for strong leadership, and took action immediately. I convinced my team members that we were uniquely qualified to win the competition, and could do so if we were willing to work. I then launched a collective push to develop ideas, in which each team member was encouraged to participate.
We soon developed a viable business plan, which I presented to the jury. I am proud to say that we won first prize--due to the initiative and effort of all the team members.
3. My most significant achievement to this date is the creation of one of the first asset management companies in Russia. This experience with key to my growth; it enabled me to broaden my views and acquire a multitude of managerial skills. The knowledge I gained in this endeavor can be applied to the management of any financial company. I have thus had the unique chance to create and run a business in a real-life situation.
Launching an asset management company at that point in Russia’s development required the active creation of all of the business’ s functional comments, for Russia lacked the infrastructure to support the industry. I therefore developed many elements that were innovative to Russia, including custodians and registrars that would provide security of assets and protect shareholder rights. I was also responsible for the organization of operations, accounting, and trading departments. Although I had no substantial experience or education in this area, I succeeded because of my business intuition, my creative and analytical abilities, and my personal determination. After developing a viable set of departments, I joined the portfolio management team. I quickly moved from Assistant Portfolio Manager of the “ Lexington Troika Dialog
Russia Fund" to the role of Principal Manager of Domestic Mutual Funds. Through this variety of positions, I earned invaluable knowledge of all aspects of a company’ s inception. I also gained increased confidence in my abilities and abroadened business perspective. This achievement has taught me that I can solve any problem and accomplish any goal through hard work and creativity.