In case you missed it, read last week’s issue here
🗞️This Week in Finance - September 22nd 2025
Why it matters: The mid-cap space is one of the most active dealmaking arenas, especially in M&A and capital markets. JPMorgan’s expansion signals growing demand for bankers who can cover middle-market companies, a segment where future analysts and associates often get more hands-on experience earlier in their careers.
UBS Leadership Shake-UP
UBS announced a major reorganization of its investment banking leadership, appointing Marco Valla as head of global banking and introducing new co-heads across EMEA and APAC. The bank also created a hybrid role that combines oversight of digital assets with global banking strategy. These moves come as UBS continues integrating Credit Suisse and reshaping its investment banking arm to compete more aggressively with Wall Street peers. The restructuring signals UBS’s intent to modernize its platform, strengthen regional deal coverage, and invest in areas like tech and digital finance that are expected to drive client demand in the next decade.
Student Takeaway: This shows how leadership changes can quickly shift a bank’s strategic priorities, from regional growth to digital assets. For us students, this means staying aware of industry pivots is crucial—if you can speak to how banks are repositioning themselves in areas like digital finance or cross-border M&A, you’ll show recruiters you understand the bigger picture and where the future opportunities lie.
🏦Term of The Week: Cost of Capital
Definition: The cost of capital is the required return a company must earn to justify the cost of funding its operations, typically a blend of the cost of debt and the cost of equity. It represents the minimum return investors expect for providing capital.
Formula (WACC – Weighted Average Cost of Capital):
WACC = E/V × Re + D/V × Rd × (1−Tc)
E = Market value of equity
D = Market value of debt
V = Total value (E + D)
Re = Cost of equity
Rd = Cost of debt
Tc = Corporate tax rate
Example: If a company funds itself 60% with equity (at 10% cost) and 40% with debt (at 5% cost), with a 25% tax rate, its WACC = (0.6 × 0.10) + (0.4 × 0.05 × (1 – 0.25)) = 7.5%.
Why It Matters: Cost of capital is a benchmark for investment decisions. If a project or acquisition can’t generate returns above WACC, it destroys value instead of creating it.
Student Takeaway: Knowing cost of capital helps you understand how companies decide whether to invest, acquire, or expand. In interviews, linking WACC to valuation or project analysis shows strong financial intuition.
💬 Common Interview Mistake of the Week
Mistake: Too much jargon, too little clarity
A frequent mistake candidates make in finance interviews is overloading their answers with technical jargon without truly demonstrating understanding. Throwing around terms like “EBITDA multiples,” “synergies,” or “leveraged buyouts” can sound impressive at first, but if you can’t break them down clearly when pressed, it quickly undermines your credibility. Interviewers aren’t testing how many buzzwords you know—they want to see if you grasp the underlying concepts and can apply them to real-world situations.
For example, if you mention “synergies” when discussing M&A, you should be ready to explain what kinds of synergies exist (cost vs. revenue), why they matter in valuation, and maybe even provide a simple example of how a merger could reduce overhead costs. The strongest candidates use plain, structured language: define the concept, connect it to a deal or scenario, and then explain why it matters.
Student Takeaway: Clarity beats complexity. You don’t need to sound like a textbook; you need to sound like someone who understands the concept well enough to teach it. Practice explaining technical terms in simple, concrete ways—because that’s exactly what interviewers remember.
🚀Finance Career Tip: Track Leadership Roles
Watching who’s getting promoted or shifted in major banks, consulting firms, PE houses, or accounting networks gives early clues about where opportunities may arise. For example, UBS’s leadership restructuring or JPMorgan’s hiring of senior mid-cap bankers suggest talent demand in those areas.
In almost every issue of Campus Capital, I try to fit in some news about a big leadership change within top investment banks. Keeping track of these changes could help you to know and recognize the names of people that will be talked about in conversations around then industry. Bringing up a recent and important leadership role change during a coffee chat or conversation with someone of importance, shows them that you are aware of whats happening in the industry.
Why It Helps: If you know a region or sector is being prioritized (say EMEA, digital assets, or mid-cap deals), you can position your networking, case prep, and skill development to match that trend. Being aligned with what’s growing makes you more compelling to recruiters.
🏆 Campus Capital’s Top Ten
The Top 10 MBA Programs Across the U.S
1. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
2. Harvard Business School
3. Stanford Graduate Business School
4. MIT Sloan School of Management
5. University of Chicago Booth School of Business
6. Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management
7. Columbia Business School
8. Duke University Fuqua School of Business
9. University of Michigan Ross School of Business
10. New York University Stern Schoo of Business
Schools like Wharton, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and Booth consistently top rankings due to strong reputations globally, large alumni networks, and high visibility among recruiters. These programs often deliver excellent post-MBA salaries, strong job placement (especially in consulting, investment banking, tech, and private equity), and solid return-on-investment metrics (factoring in tuition, opportunity cost, etc.). The more selective programs tend to attract students with strong GPAs, test scores, and meaningful professional experience. That in turn raises class conversations, peer learning, and post-MBA opportunities.
🤝Final Word
In finance—and really in any career—talent alone rarely sets people apart. There will always be someone smarter, quicker with mental math, or more naturally gifted at analysis. What makes the real difference is obsession: the drive to go deeper, prepare harder, and stay curious when others stop. The students who read 10-Ks for fun, who ask follow-up questions after guest lectures, who grind through extra case studies—not because they have to, but because they want to, are the ones who build lasting edges. Obsession fuels consistency, and consistency compounds into expertise. Talent gets you noticed, but obsession is what keeps you rising.
Obsession beats talent any day of the week.
I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
Welcome to Campus Capital. Each week, we’ll break down the finance world in 5 minutes or less.
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About Me
My name is Braunsen Bax, I’m a honors finance and accounting student-athlete at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois (45 mins outside of Chicago). I graduated from Walton High School in Marietta Georgia. Outside of the classroom I compete in the throws events for the Track & Field team, 35 time NCAA DIII national champions. I’ve had a love of finance and the business world since my sophomore year of high school and started Campus Capital to share that love with my community and like minded individuals in a similar position, with similar goals. My mission is to help people like me shape their futures to ensure they reach their goals while being up to date and educated in the Finance industry.
