Statement of Purpose

“It’s time to grow up and go to school” was the last sentence I heard sixteen years ago from my
mother before leaving my home of memories, my mother’s bank. I never wanted to leave that
majestic place but I had to do so because of education. Maybe she did not notice that I was
leaving the place which had shaped the best three years of my childhood, the one that inspired
my whole life. It was the birthplace of my enthusiasm for finance. Having been in regular contact
with my mother, a financial consultant, and my father, as a marketing manager, I became
acquainted with business environment since my formative years. My tears in that time motivated
me to choose a career related to financial issues. This way, I could experience my memorable
days at the “bank” once more.
As a little ambitious boy, thanks to consulting with some businessmen, I had the opportunity to
experience a milestone in my life, trading. I invested my savings through childhood years in
stocks. Although its value dropped by 80%, it still taught me an important lesson in finance, not
to invest all your money in one stock but to make a portfolio. That was a remarkable point which
initiated a strong desire for compensation in my life.
To support my inherited skills, I engaged in real business environment at electronic device
trading company, “Tazhak”. I contributed, as project manager, to optimize relations in
forecasting the market, evaluating the feasibility of proposals and delivering the orders as the
most elementary concepts in the field. One of the fondest memories I have of Tazhak is when
our company faced a budget deficiency for employees’ wages as the result of failure in
delivering an order. My team had to work long hours and work now for other orders but receive
their money in future. For this reason, team members had to have other motivations besides
money; they had to enjoy spending time together and view the projects as valuable experiences. I
helped to maintain a lively and happy atmosphere for the team. I took an action oriented
approach to the leadership; I helped other team members in delivering some orders and tried to
communicate with them both on the technical and managerial level. This approach allowed me to
interact with problems closely, evaluate the performances accurately and at the same time
maintain a friendly environment in the workplace.
After six months of hard work, the projects were finished successfully and required budget was
acquired to pay back the postponed wages. When I look back at that time; I don’t see long
working hours and the pressure of delivering the orders, I see the pleasant times I had with the
team members and the feeling of success and accomplishment that we all shared. I learned how
to work under pressure, how to communicate effectively and how to lead small teams and keep
them happy. At first prioritizing and constantly changing what we were working on was a very
difficult thing to do, but the more time I spent on planning the future iterations of the
development, the more I became aware of the importance of the change and adaptive plans. The
most prominent effect of these projects was that they made me more confident in my leadership
and management skills and interested me in fast paced working environments.

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To get involved with the technology oriented dynamic market, I experienced working alongside
a seasoned team, who were to establish smart homes by using Building Management System
method, in the Iranian market by doing my internship at “Gorouh-e-chahar Co.”. In this project,
our team managed to gain the opportunity to apply this method in Shiraz Hospital, a contract
which many other teams had also competed for.
Mathematics is not only important to me as a course, it has also been a hobby for me during all
my educating years, an enthusiasm which led me to triumph in Mathematics and Physics nation-
wide Olympiads in three successive years in high school.
After graduation from Allameh high school, by achieving the outstanding 252nd rank among all
450000 participants in the nation-wide university entrance exam, I got admitted to Electrical
Engineering, the most competitive field of study for Iranian engineers, at University of Tehran,
the most prestigious university in Iran. Having studied diverse subjects in mathematics, statistics,
and programming I obtained the fundamental capacity for analytical thinking and modeling,
which are core competencies for entering financial markets.
Due to the systematic and mathematical approach of control branch of electrical engineering to
issues, I decided to major in Control and Intelligent Processing which would give me the chance
to further expand my views and go beyond the boundaries of electrical engineering. I also ranked
among top 10% of the students in the field.
As referred in my CV, I conducted several researches during my undergraduate studies such as
“Cournot, Bertrand and SFE models in oligopolistic electricity markets” and “Organizations’
code of ethics” which were appreciated in the university. For my B.Sc. project I selected
“Stochastic Dynamic Stock Market Modeling and Decision Making using Game Theory” under
supervision of Dr. Ashkan Rahimi-Kian, Ph.D. In this project I have acknowledged some of the
portfolio selection problems and proposed a solution through using Game Theory and Q
learning.
Studying at such a leading university not only enabled me to be in regular contact with
professors, but also gave me the chance to promote my interpersonal capabilities through
lecturing as teaching assistant in Operation Research, Electric Circuits I, Electric Circuits II, and
Microprocessors courses, which were based on differential mathematics and statistics.
In a dynamic market oriented global business environment, I tend to continue my ambitions
through establishing a multi-national investment company to increase the wealth of shareholders
along with that of mine. I consider studying M.Sc. in Finance a mean to reach the stated goal. To
reach my long-term objectives, I am sure continuing my graduate studies in a leading university
can help me to learn leveraging my skills to obtain wishes.
The finance program at the world class finance department of the London School of Economics
and Political Science is perfect for continuing my studies since it will put me on the right track to
achieve my goals. The academic program and the curriculum is the right combination of finance,

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leadership and management. I believe that this program provides me with the necessary financial
and business skills that I need.
The research areas at the finance department are also very suitable for me to continue my
research. Particularly, the researches about “game theory with applications to finance”,
“Dynamic corporate finance”, and “Portfolio Choice” are very similar to my research interests.
The faculty of finance department is another reason for my admiration of this program.
Throughout my research I have become familiar with works and publications of many finance
department alumni. In particular I have followed and admired the researches of Professor
Christopher Polk, Dr. Maria Cecilia Bustamante and Dr. Amil Dasgupta ; being able to do
research with them would be a great opportunity for me to expand my body of knowledge and
gain valuable experience in the areas that I am most enthusiastic about. Finally, the internships
and the close relations that the department maintains with the businesses and financial institutes
would allow me to establish contacts in the business world and gain the organizational and
business experience that I need.
In order to be able to get to my long-term objective I need to prepare myself by mastering in
skills such as international communication, acquiring techniques in trading, having regular
contact with academic environment, and utilizing such an industrialized country’s opportunities
in a win-win relation as my short-term objectives.
Throughout the last couple of years I have managed to keep a balance between my work and my
study. For this reason, I have gained experiences in both areas. By working in a business
environment I have learned many important skills in finance, management, project management,
and team working. I also have learned about how financial institutions work and what the
different threats to their businesses are. I believe that my childhood stock trading experience and
Tazhak Company were the best case studies I could get and simultaneously, by observing their
results I have learned many different lessons that will help me to understand the business world
better. From doing research I have gained substantial knowledge in Finance. I have also learned
how to effectively analyze research data, design and conduct experiments and pinpoint the
problems. Not only continuing my graduate studies in the field of finance at London School of
Economics and Political Science will help me to further develop my skills and enhance my
financial techniques, but also it is a crucial step to achieve my long term goals.