EN – WM Advisory

Beata Szparaga-Waśniewska EN

12 questions to: Beata Szparaga-Waśniewska, CFA, Investment Advisor Beata, I am very happy that you agreed to participate in 12on12! Time flies so quickly. I remember interviewing you for an equity analyst position at a brokerage firm. It has been a decade and you are one of the most respected sell-side equity analysts. You were determined to work at the capital market already in your student years. What attracted you to the market? When I went to university, I knew that my future job had to be a decision-making position, requiring analytical skills and continuous learning. Therefore, in my second year of Management at the University of Gdansk, I chose specialisation in investments and wrote my bachelor’s thesis on valuation of Lotos. I enjoyed this exercise and became interested in the stock market. Unfortunately, there were not many job opportunities related to the capital market in Tricity, so I started working in controlling at a real estate developer, but soon realized that I needed a more dynamic environment. I moved to the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH) for my Master’s studies, started looking for a job and preparing for the Investment Advisor exam. I then found an ad for a junior position at ING Securities and that is how we met. You are an equity analyst – please tell us what this job involves and how an average day looks like for an analyst working in a brokerage house? The analyst’s working day starts quite early, sometimes even before 7:00 a.m. At the beginning of the day we prepare the daily bulletin and news comments concerning e.g. quarterly results. Later, we have a meeting with sales traders, where we discuss and quantify newsflow in our sectors. Further in the day, we attend meetings with companies, prepare recommendations and present investment ideas to clients. You have mentioned a lot of interesting aspects – let’s start with the quarterly results comments. What key aspects of these results should an analyst take into account? When can we say that the financial results were good or bad? It very much depends on the sector. It is important to what extent the results differ from our expectations, what the implications for the following quarters are and what the quality of the results is. We also adjust the results for any non-cash events, non-recurring items or creative accounting. A great deal of knowledge and experience is needed to analyse financial statements, particularly if this is done under time pressure – as is the case during the results season (the period of time during which listed companies publish interim results). Is it common to find creative accounting in financial statements? Very common. Unfortunately, accounting standards allow a high degree of flexibility, and even audited financial statements sometimes do not show the true picture of a company’s financial standing. An example of this is the GetBack case. I also know some examples of companies which had significant off-balance-sheet liabilities which they did not disclose because auditors did not require them to do so. Companies also often change their accounting policies and restate historical data. Sometimes the amount of cash is the only reliable number, although there are ways to „boost” this item as well. In addition to financial statements, companies also publish a management report on operations, which is, in simple terms, a form of summary and commentary made by the board on results achieved. What good practices in these materials would you highlight and which should become a thing of the past? It is good practice to provide additional data in order to allow a better understanding of the company’s business and outlook for the coming quarters, such as volumes, market share, backlog or plans for the following quarters. Sometimes however a management board’s report includes just a simple description of numbers in the financial statement and there is no added value in it. You have already mentioned that part of an analyst’s job is to create reports and recommendations for listed companies. What do they contain? How long does it take to produce such a report? Recommendations usually include analysis of the company’s business model and strategy, market analysis, as well as forecasts and valuation. The risk section is also very important. It can take more than a month to initiate on a new company, especially in case of an IPO (Initial Public Offering) report. We already know that part of the report is the valuation of the company. What valuation methods are most commonly used on the Polish market and what are their characteristics? If an analyst issues a “buy” or “sell” recommendation, do prices react immediately? The most commonly used valuation methods are the DCF model, which involves discounting cash flows projected for subsequent years and peer comparison, which shows value of a company in relation to the market valuation of other companies in the sector. The fact that a valuation implies an upside or downside potential does not mean that shares of the company will fall or rise once the recommendation is issued. The analyst’s scenario has to materialize or the market has to realise that the scenario is not yet discounted in the share price. An equity analyst’s job is not only to work with reports and valuation models, but also with people. You have to maintain relations with investors and with companies. Let us focus on the latter – how do management boards react to “buy” recommendations and “sell” recommendations? I once heard unkind comments from a CEO of a company on which I had a 'sell’ recommendation, and for a while I was not invited to their quarterly conferences. In most cases, however, the reaction of management boards is more balanced – they say, for example, that they will try to surprise me positively or convince me to change my mind. In the case of „buy” recommendations, they often express surprise that the growth potential is not higher. On the other hand, there were few cases when the management

Katarzyna Piasecki EN

12 questions to: Katarzyna Piasecki Kasia, it’s a real pleasure to have you on my 12on12 project! Let’s start at the beginning ☺e. with your surname. How is it that you do not use the feminine ending of your surname (as typically in Polish language) but the masculine one? What is the reason? Haha. My surname is indeed controversial at times. People even correct me, suggesting that I don’t know what my name is ☺. I spent half my life in Germany and have dual citizenship. When I got married I had to choose a surname without a feminine ending, otherwise I wouldn’t be married to my husband in Germany. And as you know, that can cause a lot of paperwork problems in this country. To be honest, I love Germany for this order and clarity. Exactly, Germany … you left your home town to study economics in Bonn. What drew you to another country? The trip to Germany was a complete coincidence. Having failed to get into my dream university, SGH (Warsaw School of Economics), I fulfilled my father’s dream of pushing me to study abroad. You have to remember that at that time going abroad was not an obvious choice. Poland was not a member of the European Union and very few people decided to study abroad. Everything was expensive, inaccessible and mentally very difficult. We had friends who were in control of that process and jumping into the deep was the only alternative. The jump was really a big one because my knowledge of the language was at a very low level. But, as it happens, such extreme actions imprint a mark and teach a lot about courage. You have been incredibly successful in Germany, working for institutions such as UniCredit, Lazard, Rothschild and Berenberg, mainly in the financial capital of Germany, Frankfurt am Main (FFM). How did you approach the recruitment process? Which of your strengths did you use to get to the top? During my studies I intensively searched for my place in business. I have always been interested in running a business, entrepreneurship, trends. When I came across people from investment banking, I immediately knew that this was where I belonged. I was attracted to agility, persistence, courage and teamwork, the incredible ability to build relationships, anticipate moves, come up with strategies. And I think these qualities that I liked so much were my key to success both in recruitment and later in the industry. Many people dream of working at FFM. What advantages do you see compared to London. Is it a diverse working environment? The working environment is certainly not as diverse and multicultural as in London. The transactions are also generally a bit smaller and less recognisable and less covered on the front pages of newspapers. Sometimes you definitely get the impression that the big world is there in the UK. But you have to appreciate the German economy and all the „hidden champions”, amazing family businesses with long traditions. In terms of living conditions: London is always fascinating, I love going there, but Frankfurt is easier to live in – it is smaller and cosier, which I think is an advantage when working in a bank. Having achieved great success abroad, you returned to your home country, to Warsaw. Was it an easy decision to leave such an important financial centre? It was not an easy decision, but at one point I was fixated on opening my own business. At the time, Poland seemed like a land of opportunities. As The Economist wrote, the country was on the threshold of the second golden age of the Jagiellonians. There are many start-ups here, not everything has been achieved, Poles believe in the possibility of achieving spectacular success, some things are easier. Besides, my vision for life is to be a citizen of the world and live and be active professionally and privately in several countries. It is not easy and I am still building this position, but nevertheless it is rewarding and gives great satisfaction. When you came back to Poland you fulfilled the dream of many women, that is, you started your own apparel brand. What pushed you to become an entrepreneur? Where did the idea for the apparel brand come from? I have always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I was attracted to the prospect of creating, building something from scratch, dealing with challenges. This was also one of the main motivators for choosing the M&A department, i.e. answering the question „What makes the company tick”. The idea for my apparel brand came purely from identifying a problem on the market. Despite the huge amount of clothes in the shops, I believed that there was nothing for women in business to wear. I noticed a growing group of female customers totally ignored by designers and fashion brands. I wanted to create clothes that would be reliable, comfortable, in which women would feel confident throughout even the longest day. I thought about my daily routine and the different life roles and activities. Travelling. Going out for drinks. Men, colleagues always look comfortable, appropriately dressed, whatever the situation, in their suits. And that’s the idea that guides me to this day. It has to be comfortable, fresh and at the same time emphasise our competence and say „I mean business”. Please give us a glimpse behind the scenes of creating a retail brand. Is it a simple job or is it the opposite? How many elements of the supply chain do you have to think through and bring together to make a blouse or dress? Making clothes, seemingly simple, is very complicated. Especially if you are committed to uncompromised quality. It all starts with sourcing the material. For us, apart from the fact that the material has to be comfortable to wear (i.e. not restricting the freedom of movement, breathing, not creasing), it has to be long-lasting and meet the highest standards in terms of sustainable production and environmental protection.

Katarzyna Drewnowska EN

12 questions to: Katarzyna Drewnowska Kasia, thank you so much for taking part in 12on12 project. You run your own publishing house and publish books. Like me, you love reading and are up to date when it comes to reading novelties. Tell us how you got the idea to publish books? Here the answer will not be surprising – the idea came from passion, love for good literature and roots. I grew up in a house full of books. My parents, mathematicians by education, loved books and effectively passed this love on to me. So successfully, in fact, that I was the only one in my family who did not pursue a career in mathematics, but focused on literature. However, I didn’t immediately set up my own publishing house and make a career out of it. For several years I worked in large corporations and dealt with investor relations and public relations. In 2006, parallel to my work in „corpo”, I founded Filo Publishing House, but I treated it more as a hobby, publishing one book a year. I loved working in public relations, the contact with people and constant changes. On the other hand, publishing was taking up more and more of my time and I finally had to make a choice: a stable and well-liked corporate job or working on my own – full of uncertainty, in an unstable market with low readership rates, but driven by passion and true love. Despite appearances, the choice was simple. Since 2014, I have only been involved in book publishing, although I still draw on my corporate experience in my day-to-day activities. How does readership look like in Poland? Do Poles really not read books? Has the pandemic changed anything? Unfortunately, readership surveys leave no illusions. Poles do not read books. But, very romantically, they are starting up lots of new publishing houses. Such a paradox. Has the pandemic changed anything? I can say from my own perspective. I specialise in publishing culinary and guide books. The pandemic has certainly made Poles more willing to buy books online. In the initial period of constant lockdowns, the interest in good culinary books certainly increased. Buying such books by Filo as „Jerusalem”, „Palestine” or „Cook yourself happy”, you could go on a culinary journey without getting up from the table. This is what I want to give to the readers of my books – not only great, tasty recipes, but also open the door to the world, to other cultures or interesting history. And through food you can do it brilliantly. „Palestine. A Cookbook” was chosen as one of the most important books published during the pandemic, precisely for this reason. You have such hits as Nigella or Perfect Housewife on your account. Which books sell best in Poland? Books by domestic writers, especially crime fiction, are still the best sellers, but there has definitely been an increased interest in guide or culinary books in recent years. When I started in 2006 with my first book „Nigella bites”, hardly any publishing house was interested in culinary literature by foreign authors. It was the year when Pascal Brodnicki book „Pascal just cook” triumphed. On the bookstore shelves, you could find either Pascal or my Nigella, as well as classics such as „Polish Cuisine”. Over the years, the situation has changed dramatically. Now, almost every publishing house offers culinary titles. Every month, a few cookbooks are published, and now, during the pre-Christmas period, there will be several a week. On the one hand, I am glad that in Poland you can buy so many culinary books published all over the world, but on the other hand, unfortunately, I have to say that many of them are of poor quality because of the translation, so the market is flooded with mediocre publications. The Polish reader, however, is becoming more and more sophisticated in the field of culinary literature and can also choose valuable titles. You have already mentioned that your publishing house Filo has a very interesting niche – you specialize in culinary books and guides for women. Why such a choice? Filo is a small boutique publishing house. We publish 4 or 5 books a year, but we prepare them very carefully. We spend a lot of time on translation, editing, working with the text. We choose the highest quality paper – all this so that the reader, when he or she picks up a Filo book, is sure that he or she has a work of the highest quality. I like to compare Filo books to a box of chocolates – beautiful on the outside, tasty on the inside. Also, and I think this is the most important thing, I choose my titles very carefully. There is a story behind each book. Nigella in 2006 was a kind of phenomenon, not culinary but cultural. The fact that you could be a „domestic goddess ” and turn cooking into an art while fully accepting your non-ideal body was something groundbreaking – let’s remember that we’re talking about something that took place 15 years ago. „Jerusalem” by Yotam Ottolenghi tamed Poles with Middle Eastern cuisine, and did it through amazing stories connected with this city. Nigel Slater’s books, apart from recipes, provide very valuable literature – the author is erudite, and his autobiographical book is the basis of a play performed in London’s West End. Our advice books, on the other hand, also carry something more. For example, the first book dealing with the subject of ‘self-care’ was published by Filo. Not to mention Filo’s biggest publishing success, 'The Perfect Housewife’, which readers took very seriously, based on the assumption that if we clean our house we bring order into our lives. The ordinary reader comes to a bookshop or buys a book in an online shop. He/she does not realise how long and complicated the process of publishing a book is. So let’s start from the very beginning. Where do you get ideas for

Joanna Ałasa EN

12 questions to: Joanna Ałasa, ACCA, CFA, Investment Advisor Asia, thank you so much for agreeing to participate in the 12on12 project! Looking at the impressive number of titles you hold, it’s impossible not to start the conversation with you on personal development. What have the various certifications you hold given you and who would you recommend them to? Each of them was useful in my professional work and I managed to obtain both the Investment Advisor and CFA certificates while still at university. With license number 281, I was among the first ten women to hold this title on the Polish capital market over the nearly 20 years of its existence. This shows how masculinized this environment is. Most importantly, however, these certifications gave me the knowledge to start working independently as an analyst at a brokerage house and also opened the door for me to work at a mutual fund, where I still work today. You deal with investments on a daily basis. Do Poles prefer to invest on the stock exchange by themselves or do more people use the offer of investment funds? Is Warsaw Stock Exchange dominated by institutional or individual investors? According to available statistics, Poles are afraid to invest in risky assets and they perceive investment funds as a product for the wealthy. If they do invest, they often choose products perceived as relatively safe, e.g. bond funds, which, along with a drop in interest rates on savings accounts, have gained in popularity. The last several months have seen a significant increase in the number of brokerage accounts opened, which means that some Poles are trying to make money on the stock market on their own account, looking for alternatives to investing their savings. In 2020 individual investors accounted for a quarter of trading on the Main Market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange, which is the best result since 2009. On Newconnect (an alternative trading system with fewer formal requirements) the share of individual investors in turnover was as high as 92%. You work at a mutual fund as an equity analyst. What does working on buy-side mean? What is the role of the equity analyst versus the role of fund manager? A buy-side job is a job with an asset (capital) management company, such as an investment or pension fund. These companies invest the capital raised from clients on the stock market in order to multiply it. An analyst’s job is to evaluate a company’s financial condition, assess its competitiveness and attractiveness and as a result recommend the purchase or sale of shares in the analyzed company. Typically, analysts are responsible for particular sectors and within those sectors they make selections of companies for portfolios. The fund manager is the person who decides on the final shape of the portfolio, i.e. what securities (company shares, treasury or corporate bonds) or other financial instruments will be included in the portfolio. It is probably worth mentioning that in some companies the division into analysts and managers may not be applied, and the analyst’s work is performed by the manager. If you can, describe for us how investment decisions are made by institutional investors? How are portfolio companies selected? Is there a lengthy process or rather quick decisions? Every decision made by fund managers must be documented. One element of this recommendation is security valuation and analysis of financial and non-financial data (so-called ESG analysis) performed by analysts working for a given asset management company. These valuations have certain assumptions sewn into them regarding price, volume or cost developments in a given company. The purpose of these analyses is to identify stocks with the greatest potential for building value. Alternatively, to select those that should be removed from the portfolio. If as a result of receiving new information, for example obtained through the analysis of published financial reports of a competitor, expectations concerning future results and financial flows change, the decision to buy or sell shares may be taken quickly. It is important to draw conclusions from observations of what is happening in the macroeconomic environment, not only in Poland but also globally. This allows us to identify investment opportunities before other market participants do. Exactly, you have just mentioned incorporating ESG elements into capital market decision making. What does this acronym stand for and how can you incorporate these elements into your investment decisions? Incorporating ESG (E- environment, S- social, G – governance) elements into decision making actually means increasing the amount of information we obtain and analyze about a company. In addition to analyzing financial data, we analyze non-financial data, i.e. environmental, social, and corporate governance data, i.e. the way in which companies are managed and supervised. This information includes, for example, whether the company aims to reduce its CO2 emissions or water consumption, whether it cooperates with local communities, how it cares for its employees, and what its policy is on ethics and anti-corruption. We then use the data obtained from these areas to create an internal ESG rating, which, depending on the type of fund and how strongly it integrates ESG elements into its investment process, has a greater or lesser impact on investment decisions. Would you say that any of the ESG letters is more important for institutional investors? Or it depends on the sector in which the company operates? For many years, the ESG element that everyone paid attention to was corporate governance. Its relevance has certainly not diminished, as without adherence to its principles any action in any other area will be worth little. Today, investors are paying more and more attention to environmental and social issues. This comes with increasing pressure from regulators and NGOs to allocate funds in sectors and companies that are perceived to support the sustainable development of economies and the planet. Of course, which element, environmental, social and corporate governance, is more important for a given company is linked to the sector in which it operates. For example, corporate governance in a bank

Sylwia Jaśkiewicz EN

12 questions to: Sylwia Jaśkiewicz, CFA Sylwia, thank very much for your participation in the 12on12 project! You are one of few women on the Polish capital market who is the head of equity research department in a brokerage house. You have over two decades of experience in analysing companies and issuing recommendations. Tell us what the Polish capital market looked like before year 2000 and how it has changed to the present day? At that time, it was not yet known in which direction financial institutions would develop, whether typical investment banks would emerge or whether the universal bank model would prevail. Capital market institutions were emerging. I remember that I used to walk to the KNF (Polish Financial Supervision Authority) on foot for financial statements and reports of companies covered and photocopied them. Now, actually for a year and a half, I have not moved from my desk at home and I have access to everything. On-line meetings are incredibly convenient. In the classic pre-pandemic arrangements, I certainly would not be able to write as many reports as I do now. One of the elements that, in my opinion, has remained unchanged is the low representation of women. Both you and I are used to being the only woman at company meetings. What do you think is the reason for this? Do you see the progress? Meetings with one of the industrial companies come to mind in particular, due to high attendance – what happens in that company is often an early indicator for the economy. Maybe out of about 100 persons, only me and a journalist were women, but often I was the only woman. Unfortunately, that has not changed. The job of an equity analyst is extremely time-consuming as well as emotionally and physically demanding. At the same time, it is an individual work. It is very difficult to delegate responsibilities to another person for a certain period of time, which makes it difficult to align with maternity plans, yet it is not impossible. Yet, it needs trust on the side of the employer. Working on the capital market means having everyday meetings with management boards of public companies, analysing presentations of strategies and quarterly results. What do you think makes a company transparent and its investor relations highly or poorly rated? In my opinion, this is a consistent presentation of the same set of data, which does not change over a period of time. Trustworthiness of the corporate representatives and access to the company are also important. What matters is a reasonable strategy and its consistent implementation. Are there industries that are easy to analyze and which are difficult to cover? Do you think the analyst should focus on the industry that he / she is passionate about? Or rather the opposite, lack of personal commitment and own experience is an advantage as it allows you to look more objectively at the sector and companies listed in it? Oh yes, there is a sizeable difference between industries. Nowadays, I often focus on biotechnology projects. This is a very difficult sector, as financial analysis strictly speaking consumes maybe 5% of the working time. The remaining time has to be spent on learning about the therapeutic area and mechanisms of potential therapy. All this must be embedded in global trends. This on top overlaps with probabilities of success, legal regulations, and many other factors. Undoubtedly, this is the most complicated sector among the ones I have analysed, including the automotive, retail (also ecommerce), wholesale and construction materials industries. I believe that it is impossible to be a good analyst without being passionate about your work and the sector analyzed. Knowledge always helps. I am lucky to have such a job, because I can confidently say that it is my hobby. The share price of listed companies is influenced by both fundamental and non-fundamental factors. After years of experience, how do you see the role of an equity analyst? Is it looking for companies whose stock price should increase significantly in the next few months due to the so-called undervaluation or rather concentrate on the so-called triggers and sentiment? I think that all aspects should be taken into account and one should look for undervalued companies with triggers and good sentiment. So what if the analyst is right and the company will profit in the long term if it is possible that its share loses a lot in the meantime (timing matters). This means that the time to buy was not good, because something was missing. Sometimes it seems to me that prices of companies are largely determined by the results of the next quarter. Sometimes I wish it were different. In the dilemma of whether to bet on a horse or a jockey, Warren Buffet says that when a reputable management meets a business with a bad reputation, it is the reputation of the business that wins. What are your observations on this matter? I fully agree. The questions is whether a management with a good reputation would engage in a business with a bad reputation at all? Although we hear more and more about stakeholders on the financial and capital markets, the overriding goal spoken about in Poland is building shareholder value. What is it? What actions of management boards create it and what do they destroy? Stock price increase, dividend in the long term. For this, you need a stable management board, a well-organized development strategy with set directions, often based on new ideas. A shareholder should feel safe and believe that what the management board does, even if it generates costs in the short term, opens the company to new prospects in the long run. The perfect example is Neuca. Lack of a long-term vision, chaos in management, including personal, financing of very risky and inconsistent ventures, creative accounting, shifting everything possible off balance sheet or outside of profit and loss account should cause concern. We have already mentioned that women are a

Małgorzata Kloka EN

12 questions to: Małgorzata Kloka, CFA Gosia, thank you very much for agreeing to take part in the 12on12 project and to tell your inspirational story! We have summer holidays now, so let’s start with your trip around the world – you had a great job and were a well-recognized and respected equity analyst in Poland. One day you decided to go on a trip around the world with your partner. It took a lot of courage. How did it all happen? Actually, I do not know where this idea really came from. At some point, I realized that my life is mainly my job, which – although undoubtedly interesting and intellectually stimulating – suddenly became comfortable and repetitive. Traveling then seemed to me to be something distant, unattainable, a bit romantic, but also out of reach in my typical corpo-life. The need for change began to grow in me and it turned into a need to travel. And I fueled it, reading travel literature, going to various events and dreaming about what would happen if… This shy need turned into a belief that it was the only right way and a natural step. The only thing left was to count the money, hand in my resignation and get a one way ticket…What was your journey like? How long were the preparations? Which countries did you visit first and which regions ended your journey? Preparations related to the practical aspects of this undertaking lasted a few short months and were not overly complicated. They included, among others, picking up the equipment, getting necessary vaccinations and purchasing an airline ticket – one way, of course. However, getting mentally ready, reaching this decision and finding the strength to go beyond the scheme – it took a few years. Our journey lasted 14 months and started in South America, in the capital of Ecuador. We spent the first few months on this continent – exploring the Andes, the Galapagos archipelago and Patagonia; we were on Atacama and Salar de Uyuni. Then we flew to New Zealand – an incredibly diverse country – and Australia, which – with the vastness and wildness of the landscape – stole our hearts. We then spent several months in Southeast Asia. Kyrgyzstan and Nepal were the last points on our travel map. The mountain landscapes of both countries made a great impression on us and gave us many unforgettable memories. One of the outstanding Polish reporters once wrote that the journey „never ends, because the tape of memory continues to spin inside us, even though physically we have not moved from our place for a long time”. This statement is very dear to me, because the memories are still alive, this trip stills seems to be close to me, and the experiences that I gathered influences the way I look at many things today. It is said that travel is the best education – what did this trip teach you and is it an experience for everyone? While traveling, you can learn many things about the world, but also about yourself. In my case, this experience strengthened the appreciation and the need for contact with nature, taught me greater openness – to other cultures, customs, stories, improved my sense of observation and convinced that the journey is often more important and beautiful than the destination. From these more ordinary lessons – 14 months of carrying all my things in the backpack and a limited number of fashion choices, allowed me to discover that smart minimalism is one of the greatest lifestyle trends. Traveling means learning many great things – that people are good and proud of who they are; that they smile a lot and help when the situation calls for it. That animals living in the wild are one of the most touching sights. That food is an important part of sightseeing, and an overnight stay under the sky with a million stars is often a better option than a five-star hotel. But while traveling around the world, one can also experience sad and bitter reflections: the destructive impact of man on the environment or the problem of poverty and social inequality. Of course, these problems are widely known, but experiencing them at your fingertips makes them more tangible, more real. Is traveling for everyone? In my view – yes. There is no one pattern, one strategy. Young people travel and seniors do too, very rich ones but also those not so well-off, those who are obsessive planners and who do not know where their bus is going. I think that everyone can develop their own style that works for them. In addition to travel, you are also passionate about sport – you are an avid cyclist. Where does the passion for this sport come from? I have always loved sports, at school I was involved in all possible activities, later on I played for my university basketball team. I also love skiing and hiking. I started cycling – first a mountain bike, now also a road bike – a few years after starting my professional career. It all began quite randomly, my friend got into cycling, she had a beautiful bike and looked so amazing on it … well … at the beginning it was probably a positive jealousy … Cycling has a lot to offer and I take from it what I need. Sometimes it is contact with nature, tranquility, time with yourself; sometimes an intense training, testing your limits, adrenaline; sometimes the touring and social aspect; sometimes pride in making technical advances; and sometimes, well, just childish, maybe a little silly joy of riding through puddles and scraping mud off your face when you get home. After returning from your trip, you got a great job at Benefit Systems, a publicly listed company, where you took the position of head of investor relations. Could you tell our readers what are investor relations and what are its key the tasks? Investor relations is a

Anna Golec EN

12 questions to: Anna Golec, PhD, CFA A woman who builds bridges between the worlds of science and business, who does not give in to stereotypes in her thinking, but rather points them out, and who combines work in Poland and in Sweden. I would like to invite you to a fascinating conversation with Anna Golec, PhD, CFA, who will reveal some secrets about the world of academic research and in a simple way explain such important concepts as the critical mass theory and marzipan layer in relation to the participation of women on boards. The cherry on the top are the great analogies between chess and life! Ania, you have played chess from a very young age. Tell us, what does a child learn while playing chess? Can the knowledge and thinking gained be applied in the adult life? My adventure with chess began quite early, at preschool age, thanks to my grandfather, who probably thought that it would be an interesting way to spend time and an obvious opportunity to develop analytical and planning skills. However, my most important lesson from that time was… confronting with failure, and in fact quite regularly! A five year old’s chances are slim compared to an adult, and there were no head starts given. Chess is an individual game with no space for coincidence, all the moves are the result of the player’s choices and all responsibility for failure falls on him/her. If you lose, it means that you made too many mistakes and your opponent was better. Realizing this is not pleasant at all. It evokes a lot of negative emotions, which you need to be able to re-work constructively, analyse what you can do better, so that next time you can get to a higher level. And analogies with life? I see many, both positive and negative ones. Sometimes, something that looks like an opportunity, such as capturing an important figure, is actually a trap. So you can’t limit yourself to analysing the consequences of one move, but you have to look at consequences in the longer term. I think this is very important in life. From the beginning I was also surprised by the hierarchy imposed in chess – the most important figure is not the agile and versatile queen, but the slow and not very helpful king, whom everyone else must protect. The figures are put into battle and each one is obliged to sacrifice itself if it leads to victory. The king stands aside and is only supposed to survive. Why can’t the queen be the most important figure? Why can’t the king be replaced? Just because! Because someone once defined the rules in this way. Sad, but sometimes very life-like… The extremely beautiful thing is that even an inconspicuous pawn, if it survives the initial games on the chessboard and persistently moves forward, can become a figure that changes the outcome of the game. You attended computer science class and took part in mathematics contests. Research shows that in many countries there are no statistically significant gender differences in math scores, i.e. girls are just as good at math as boys. So why are there fewer girls studying computer science? This question prompted me to have a look at the results of secondary school exams at the extended level from the last 4 years in Poland and it turns out that contrary to the stereotypical thinking, female graduates do better in math, computer science, while male graduates do better in biology or chemistry. Only in physics women win one year and men the next, but the achievements are more or less equal. So it is not true that girls have no aptitude for science. Recently, more and more women are choosing technical studies, but they are still a minority. The question about the reasons for this situation is rather the domain of psychologists and sociologists, so I can only speak about my subjective feelings, which do not have to be representative. The choice of studies or profession is a result of many factors: not only the aptitude and self-confidence, but also what makes someone happy and how someone imagines work in that profession looks like. I had the comfort of choosing any high school I wanted, but I was convinced that computer science was not only IT but also “it”. I liked computers and programming, I was pretty good at it and I wanted to learn more about it. On my first day at the new school when I looked around the classroom, I was quite surprised to see that I was one of four girls and there were 32 boys around us. It was a men’s world filled with male „sensitivity”, where I needed to prove that I can read the school plan correctly and I didn’t get lost looking for my classroom… I should have expected it, but somehow I didn’t think about it before. It also turned out that while it’s fun to sit in front of a computer from time to time, write a simple program and earn some extra pocket money, spending hours in front of a computer screen with little social interaction was not an attractive option for me for many upcoming years of work. So I thought: physics! Something absolutely fascinating, but the job prospects for physicists did not look too rosy at the time, so that also influenced my decision. In the end I chose finance. Finally, there is the question of self-confidence. Many of my talented female colleagues wondered whether they were good enough, whether they would be able to carry through the demanding technical studies. Needlessly. One of the areas you thrive in is science. You are a lecturer – you teach classes in a broad area of economics – do you notice differences in how men and women approach studying economics? Can one generalise or are there statistics available? I work with students in finance and management on a daily basis. It is difficult

Iweta Opolska EN

12 questions to: Iweta Opolska, PhD, CFA Strength is a woman and today you will feel this strength from my wonderful speaker. A woman in a high managerial position, with an international education, a tireless negotiator and author of scientific publications. With Iweta Opolska, PhD, CFA I talk about breaking glass ceilings, female and non-female professions, team management and inspiring women with her own actions. Iweta, thank you very much for the possibility to speak to you! Milena, it is my pleasure. I am honored to be a part of your inspiring project! You have an impressive education – both Warsaw School of Economics, Aarhus Universitet and scholarship at Freie Universitaet Berlin. Can such an international adventure help in development? Thank you! In my student years, I spent two years abroad and it was an amazing time in personal, cultural, linguistic, scientific, professional and even spiritual terms. It is impossible to summarize in a few words the enormity of experience I have been drawing on even today. During such an international adventure you learn to be open to other people because you are among representatives of cultures from different parts of the world. You also learn to appreciate your national identity because the concept of „home / homeland” takes on a nostalgic dimension. My student stay abroad was also a lesson of hard work. To earn my living – like many students from Central and Eastern Europe – I worked part time. However, thanks to this, I gained confidence that little was going to stop me and the sky was my limit. The possibility of studying at other universities also gives a great perspective on how many definitions the term „student” there are and how student status differs across various cultures. For example, in Denmark, I learned that a student is not a subordinate person to the lecturer, but a partner who shows respect by diligent preparation for classes but requires the lecturer to do the same. This is a good representation of what the supervisor-subordinate relationship should look like. Professional loyalty and respect is a two-way relationship. After your internship in Berlin and Munich, you started working at PwC – in the Corporate Finance department. What did you like about working in an international consulting company? Is this where your interest in the energy market, especially gas, in Poland was born? My initial steps in the corporate world were a coincidence. After studying in Denmark, I knew that I wanted to work in corporate finance, but it was the energy industry that chose me, not the other way around. I applied for a financial advisory internship at PwC where I met fantastic people practicing corporate finance for oil and gas companies. They introduced me to the broadly understood energy industry. While I became interested in the energy industry by accident, specialization in the natural gas sector was my deliberate choice. I find the natural gas industry fascinating. From the economist’s point of view, the natural gas sector presents a whole range of issues: we have a homogeneous product, a natural monopoly, oligopolies, the problem of liberalization, but also a number of interdisciplinary puzzles: geopolitics, EU and national regulations, chemical, technical, and even climatic or psychological problems. This industry does not let anyone to be bored and I have been continuously – despite years of experience – on an upsloping learning curve. After almost five years of work in the Big Four, the next door to your career has opened and you started working for PKN Orlen, the largest player on the fuel market in Central and Eastern Europe. What urged you forward to make this change? Did you have any stereotypes in the back of your head that the energy industry is rather not a women’s industry or were you following your passion? I did appreciate my work at PwC and I still believe that a consultancy job gives a unique access to knowledge and a great opportunity to get to know industries, companies and management boards. However, after a few years, I began to experience the „consultant syndrome”. This is my term for the need to create something tangible after a long period of creating reports, spreadsheets, and presentations. I felt the need to dive deep and specialize rather than just getting my feet wet in many fields. I remember watching with other consultants an office building being constructed and joking that those workers at least see the real effect of their work contrary to us. This is one, but not the only, reason for my decision to change and move to the other side to „business”, i.e. PKN ORLEN. I did not immediately notice that the energy industry is so masculine, as my first stop at PKN ORLEN was at the Strategic Project Management Office, where there were … only women. During the decade of your work at PKN Orlen, you were very quickly promoted, from project manager to director of the Gas Trade Office, which you co-established. Share with us tips on how to find your place in large corporations, how to create your own departments and combine passion with work? I was lucky. Luck is what happens when opportunity meets preparation. This is not my quote (attributed to Seneca), but it illustrates the history of my promotion quite well. I think not only mine, but of most promotions. An opportunity is a series of favorable events in which we have only a small influence. Preparation, however, depends entirely on ourselves, on our acquired knowledge and our skills. In my case, the opportunity was the situation in the natural gas market at that time (the beginning of liberalization, the construction of new gas interconnectors, the entry of new players), PKN’s strategy to build the first large gas-fired CHP plants in Włocławek and Płock, and the fact that previously there was no specialized organizational unit at PKN, which would comprehensively deal with natural gas. The preparation was my consulting background and knowledge that I gained during my studies

Agnieszka Oleksyn Wajda EN

Mistrzyni efektywności, założycielka biznesów o milionowych obrotach, a prywatnie spełniona mama. Z Dorotą Puchlew-Grzelak porozmawiam o tym jak ciągle się rozwijać, przekuć swój najgorszy dzień życia w sukces biznesowy i jak ważna jest innowacja w biznesie.

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