Lucas Aras

Describe your role and what it is that you do overall and on a day-to-day basis.

I work as an Investment Professional, covering the full investment lifecycle from sourcing and evaluating new opportunities to partnering with our portfolio companies to drive value. Day to day, that means analyzing markets and company performance, building investment cases and preparing materials for our investment committee, with the aim being to split the time between supporting our current portfolio companies and evaluating new potential investments.

What interested you about the field / company / role you are currently in?

I previously worked as a management consultant, and the consulting industry is a great place to learn and try many different topics in a short period, allowing you to explore and find your interests. I mostly focused on topics related to private equity and institutional investors, both supporting portfolio value-creation work and diligencing new investments. Therefore, moving into investing was a natural step and allows me to combine my interest in investing with coming closer to the portfolio companies and supporting in value creation directly, which I believe enables stronger impact.

Why did you choose to study your subject area at SSE?

I have always been very interested in the areas of accounting and finance, which was strengthened during my time in the Bachelor program at SSE. When choosing my Master’s degree, I therefore choose Accounting, Valuation and Financial Management as it is the most practical program, where I still use a lot of the topics and skills I learnt in my daily work. In addition, the program allowed me to choose several different elective courses from the Finance program, which gave me the perfect mix of courses I was looking for, together with SSE being an excellent environment to prepare you for the work after graduation. 

How did your time/education at SSE help guide you to the career journey you have embarked on?

The environment SSE provides, being full of driven and ambitious people, together with the direct interest of companies in the students through fairs and events helped me understand the different career options and how I could pursue them. At the same time, SSE gives you the opportunity to really dig deep and discover the topics and subjects you are interested in the most, both in the Bachelor and Master program. This helped me a lot in understanding what topics I like and hence which career options that would best suit me, making SSE instrumental for my current career journey.

Following the time at SSE, do you have any words of wisdom or advice you would like to share with our current students?

My biggest advice would be to follow your own path and make sure to enjoy the experience beyond the studies and exams. When I started, I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduation or which internship to apply to, and even if you feel that most other students to, they don’t. Therefore, make sure to explore your own interests and ambitions, as this is the only way you will know what you want to do, rather than doing what you think is expected from you. And have fun while doing it!

What are three words that sum up your time at SSE?

Fun, challenging and impactful!