Philip Tees
November 8th, 2014

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Lauren Morrissey, a senior manager in transaction advisory services at EY

What is your job title and what does an average workday involve?
I’m a senior manager in transaction advisory services at EY. I work with buy-and-sell side due diligence – basically doing a health check on companies that are to be bought and sold, working alongside investment bankers, company owners and sometimes private equity firms, all depending on the nature of the transaction.
An average day depends on whether we have a project or not. When we have a project, we are extremely busy. Everything has to be done yesterday! We need to make sure that the client is always prepared and always has the information needed.
My job is really to run the teams doing this. Lots of project management!

What’s the best thing about your job?
I really like the unpredictability of it – it makes it quite exciting. I also love getting to know people’s businesses. We need to very quickly get a detailed understanding – of what drives revenue, expected growth, the customers, the costs – so that we’re in the situation to explain all of this to a buyer.
If our client is a business owner, their business is their baby, and selling a business is usually something you only do once or twice in your life. There can be a lot at stake.

What did you do before your current job?
I worked at KPMG in Australia, and then KPMG in Denmark before the merger with EY this summer. I came to Denmark for the job.
What are the most striking differences between Denmark and Australia?
In Denmark I can feel how international things are. It’s a small country so you have to have a lot of contact with the world beyond. I also really like the very direct way of working here, without all the formalities. It is really good when you’re busy!
And then there’s the work-life balance. It’s much better here than it is in Australia.

When you go back to Australia or travel in other countries, are you aware of any stereotypes about Denmark and the Danes? And how do these compare with reality?
I think people are getting to know a lot more about Denmark than they used to. I think before they thought that Denmark was the capital of the Netherlands or something. Now people know about Noma and some of the Danish TV shows and Princess Mary. I still don’t think people know a lot about the Danes, but they have this general idea that Scandinavia is cool. I never really come across negative stereotypes.

Is there anything you miss about living and working in Australia?
In Australia, and a lot of other countries, I believe, it’s quite common to have a Friday bar after work. When I came here, I noticed people didn’t really do that. This is something I missed – so I decided to make my own Friday bar! I started a networking group called Foreigners in Finance where we meet up three to four times a year for networking, socialising and professional development. If you’re interested in joining, look us up on Linkedin!