Imagine: one minute you’re at university, the next you’re a trainee in an investment bank and then suddenly you’re the head of an entire investment banking business area before you’re even 30.
This has been the career trajectory of Daniel Burton-Morgan, the 29 year-old head of EMEA equity capital markets syndicate at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
This is Daniel as he appeared during a University of Warwick Careers video in December 2011, aged 27. At that time, he was a third year analyst.
Two years later and Daniel is head of a business and has been identified by Financial News as a ‘Rising Star of Investment Banking.’ Financial News says he owes his ascent to, ‘a string of significant deals, including prominent roles on UKFI’s £3.3 billion sale of shares in Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays’ £5.8 billion rights issue and Royal Mail’s £3.3 billion IPO.’
What advice would Burton-Morgan offer to others who might follow in his footsteps? In the Warwick video, he tells would-be bankers that they need to prove that they’re more than mere academics – they need to show teamwork, leadership and ambition. They also need extra-curricular activities. Burton Morgan says he joined Merrill after pitching the bank for sponsorship as head of the Warwick football team and discovering that they were all very nice and interesting people.
His success may also be strangely genetic. While Daniel Burton-Morgan has risen rapidly at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, his twin sister seems to have been equally successful in the theatre world. Poppy Burton-Morgan founded her own theatre company in 2005.