Eighth Week at Thomson Reuters

In my eighth week here at Thomson Reuters I finalized my work on Thomson’s internal company database (a project which as I explained last week, cannot be discussed).

Moreover,  during the week me and the rest of the Tamid Group met with Avi Ifergan, Head of Financial Institutions Unit at Bank Leumi. We all met at Goshen – a small exclusive restaurant in Tel-Aviv where Mr. Ifergan introduced and discussed with us Israel’s unique economy both in its historic aspect as well as when compared to other developed markets. The meeting itself I must say was very interesting as I personally felt as if I learned a lot about Israel’s economy in the sense of just how unique it is at this day and age.

Seventh Week at Thomson Reuters

In my seventh week here at Thomson Reuters I simply continued working on updating Thomson’s internal company database (a project which as I explained last week, cannot be discussed).

Moreover, during the week me and the rest of the Tamid Group attended several meetings. On Tuesday we all had lunch at Moshava 54 in Jerusalem where we met with Aharon Horwitz, the Director of PresenTense. PresenTense is mainly a volunteer-run “community of innovators and entrepreneurs”,  that work together in order to “revitalize the established Jewish community”. On Friday we had dinner with David Sidman, Nate’s brother and on Saturday afternoon we had lunch with Lisa Barkan and her family. Lisa Barkan is the CEO of digital shtick (marketing/public relations company). At each one of these gatherings/ meeting we all had the opportunity to promote and  discuss many of Tamid’s goals and aspirations.

Sixth Week at Thomson Reuters

In my sixth week here at Thomson Reuters I finalized a project which I started working on last week regarding the retrieval of information about Israeli companies’ initial public offering (IPO). To those who have not followed me from last week, IPO can also be referred to as an “offering” made by the company that issues common stock or shares to the public for the first time. In addition, IPOs are usually issued by small or young companies that are in need of capital in order to expand, in addition to large privately-owned companies that wish to become publicly traded.

In addition, I also started this week to update Thomson’s internal company database (a project which I cannot discuss).

Moreover, later during the week, me and the rest of the Tamid Group here in Israel decided to attend Layla Lavan (Whit Night) Festival, which celebrates 100 years of culinary tradition in Tel Aviv. Unfortunately due to my unexpected encounter with the police as a result of a faulty headlight in my car, I ended up having to pay a fine and decided to return back home so that I could wake up early and take care of ticket.

Fifth Week at Thomson Reuters

In my fifth week here at Thomson Reuters I worked on retrieving information regarding Israeli companies’ initial public offering (IPO), which can also be referred to as an “offering” made by the company that issues common stock or shares to the public for the first time. For those who don’e know, IPOs are usually issued by small or young companies that are in need of capital in order to expand, in addition to large privately-owned companies that wish to become publicly traded.

In addition, this week I had to go back and add a few additional entries to the original list of companies for which I had to conduct research on at the beginning of my fellowship, regarding the financial reporting and analysis methods used by Israeli companies. This finalized list is now going to be embedded into Thomson Reuters’ online data base.

Moreover, later during the week me and the rest of the Tamid Group here in Israel attended a business dinner at the rooftop outdoor restaurant of the Mamilla Hotel in Jeruslaem. At the dinner we had the pleasure to meet with Mr. Elie Wurtman – General Partner of Benchmark Capital together with his associate Judith Phillips and GreenRoad’s Founder & Chief of Safety, Mr. Hod Fleishman. The dinner itself went great, and much like the dinner we had with Mr. Jonathan Medved and his family, we once again, had the opportunity to promote and  discuss many of Tamid’s goals and aspirations.

Later on that night, we decided to once again enjoy the pub/club scene in Jerusalem and ended up in several spots across town.

Fourth Week at Thomson Reuters

In my fourth week here at Thomson Reuters I finalized my research that involved portfolio managers from around the world. As I have discussed last week, my research involved these five basic questions:

1. What are your thoughts about investing in the Israeli equities markets? (banking, chemicals, high-tech, bio-tech & telecom)
2. With the recent MSCI upgrade to developed market status, are you now doing due-diligences on Israeli equities?
3. What are the biggest challenges/obstacles for investing in Israeli equities?
4. Are you focused on companies that have a majority of their Revenue in Israel (banks and telecom) or foreign revenue?
5. Do you feel that you have enough access to management/information on Israel corporations?

What I have found on the whole cannot be written down here due to confidentiality reasons, but one thing can be said about this project, which is the fact that I had really enjoyed talking to so many important people, which hold key positions in different companies that are spread globally. I must admit though to the fact that it was quite hard getting a hold of many of the people with which I spoke to (and at times quite frustrating) but once I got through, the conversations I had were really eye-opening and interesting as to how different global companies think and act based on what is essentially the same given ‘scenario’.

In addition, later during the week me and the rest of the Tamid group here in Israel attended Erev Shabbat dinner with Jonathan Medved and his family. Jonathan Medved is the Chief Executive Officer and Director of Vringo, which is more commonly known as the video ringtone company. Medved’s family was extremely nice to all of us, and the dinner itself went great, as we had a chance to discuss many of Tamid’s goals and aspirations as well as our very own personal internships here in Israel.

Later on that night, it was also the first time we all got to enjoy a night out together in Jerusalem as we sat down at a local pub. This last weekend was really fun and I can’t wait for the next one.

Third Week at Thomson Reuters

In my third week here at Thomson Reuters, as expected, I finally started to conduct my research that as explained earlier, targets portfolio managers from around the world which represent different global companies. Just a quick reminder from last week –  The research mainly revolves around the notion that the reclassification by the MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International’s market capitalization weighted index) of the Israeli equity market from EM – ‘Emerging Market’ to DM – ‘Developed Market’ may impact the way in which these very same investors carry on their business decisions.

More specifically, my research in its most basic form, revolves around these five basic questions (of which I have written below as a guideline for each conversation that I had with the different portfolio managers);

1. What are your thoughts about investing in the Israeli equities markets? (banking, chemicals, high-tech, bio-tech & telecom)
2. With the recent MSCI upgrade to developed market status, are you now doing due-diligences on Israeli equities?
3. What are the biggest challenges/obstacles for investing in Israeli equities?
4. Are you focused on companies that have a majority of their Revenue in Israel (banks and telecom) or foreign revenue?
5. Do you feel that you have enough access to management/information on Israel corporations?

Since I just started doing the research, I won’t go into detail as to what I found out until now (also because I don’t believe that I have enough input from the different Portfolio Managers to make a conclusion) but what I can say is that I am continuing the research in the upcoming week and so I should have enough data by the end of it. In addition, besides the rough data, I would like to say that I find it really interesting to conduct these conversations with all of these different professionals from around the world. It is really eye opening as to what the world thinks of Israel’s market and business etiquette.

On a different note, overall my experience here in Israel has been great, I got to see many of my friends in the past couple of weeks and I am looking forward to seeing many more as time goes by.

Second Week at Thomson Reuters

First of all I would like to start by saying that I finally met up with my boss/ mentor Mr. Yosef Kaplan, and I was happy to find out that Mr. Kaplan is easygoing and insightful, yet at the same time quite demanding. The tasks I perform really open up my mind in regard to the many companies with which Thomson Reuters conducts business with on daily basis, as well as the many services and products that Thomson Reuters provides to the market.

In my second week here at Thomson Reuters, I finalized my market research regarding the many companies’ financial reporting and analysis methods. The task as I explained in a previous post was not easy but quite interesting and enjoyable to perform.

This week I’m about to start conducting research, which will be mainly done by phone/ conference calls. The research targets portfolio managers from around the world that represent different international companies. The research mainly revolves around the notion that the reclassification by the MSCI (Morgan Stanley Capital International’s market capitalization weighted index) of the Israeli equity market from EM – ‘Emerging Market’ to DM – ‘Developed Market’ may impact the way in which these very same investors carry on their business decisions. More specifically, I will be trying to collect useful data that will later be used as the premise for any adjustments that may need to be taken by Thomson Reuters when approaching future investors, wishing to invest within the Israeli equity market.

First Week at Thomson Reuters

I finally arrived to Israel on Monday, May 24th.  I flew from Detroit, MI to Atlanta, GA and from there to Tel-Aviv, Israel. The flight was not horrible but nonetheless it was still a 12 hour flight.

I started my job at Thomson Reuters the following day while still suffering from desynchronosis  which is more commonly known as jet lag; that is by the time I was done with day one, I had not slept for 24 hours which was quite exhausting.

At the workplace, my boss, Yosef Kaplan was sent to Turkey (Mr. Kaplan travels a lot as part of his job at Thomson Reuters) so during this past week I was simply given a task by e-mail that included numerous companies (whether Israeli or International) for which I needed to conduct basic research regarding their financial reporting and analysis methods. The task was not easy as it takes a lot of time in order to find the needed information regarding these companies, but it was really fun and interesting as I was getting to know a lot about the type of companies that Thomson Reuters is conducting business with.

In addition, I must say that the group of people working at the office with me are really fun to work with and have been very helpful in getting me to feel comfortable around the workplace. Other than that, this coming week should be exciting as I will finally get to meet Mr. Kaplan; my mentor for this upcoming internship.

As a side note, other than finally seeing my brother and sister, I did get to see many of my friends, and as a result, I already had the opportunity to spend a whole day at the beach and go out to a fair share of pubs and clubs.

Internship For The Summer

It has been relatively crazy in the past month or so trying to figure out all of the arrangements regarding my trip, but it all worked out as I booked my flight recently and made some living arrangements for my upcoming stay in Israel. I now have a few loose ends such as perhaps getting a cell phone and figuring out the best way to get to work as well as a few other things, but these are minor and I’ll just deal with all of it when I’ll get to Israel.

I am really excited for my internship at Thomson Reuters this summer, which is as stated by the company’s website: “The world’s leading source of intelligent information for business and professionals”. Thomson Reuters provides industry expertise combined with innovative technology in order to provide critical information which is then used by ‘decision makers’ in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, healthcare, science and media markets.

I can’t wait to start my internship at the company’s main office in Tel-Aviv, Israel. I am mainly excited about the fact that I will be given a rare opportunity as I will be able to be a part of a company which is known worldwide and in many aspects sets the bar for many of its competitors.

I also recently had a conversation with Mr. Yosef Kaplan, which is the VP of Corporate Sales in Israel, Greece, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania & Macedonia at Thomson Reuters Markets. After talking to Mr. Kaplan, which is also going to be my boss, my role at Thomson Reuters will include a collection of different tasks, which will cover many business related aspects, mainly involving research and financial analysis, resource management as well as sales. I am very excited for the summer as the job sounds like one that I would really benefit a lot from.

Also, one last thing for which I am really excited about is the fact that I get to go back home after two years (since I arrived to Michigan) that I have not seen my family.