OW Colm O’Shea (1988), Financier and owner of COMAC Capital, visited MCS on Friday to speak with sixth-formers on the topic of Failure.

Mr O’Shea commented on some of the ups and downs of his career, sharing moments ranging from unsuccessful university applications and job rejections, to his management of the best performing European hedge fund during the 2008 – 9 financial crisis.

The talk provided the sixth-formers with many words of advice, centering on the way in which experiences of failure are essential for building resilience, as well as highlighting many of the differences between succeeding at school and university versus succeeding in the workplace. Mr O’Shea described how whilst at school, the difference between succeeding and failing can often be so much clearer than in the world of work, where such distinctions are less apparent. In consequence, failure in the workplace is often far more based upon one’s own perceptions of one’s work, as opposed to any exterior marker.

A Q&A session then followed, with students asking challenging questions varying from the ethics behind hedge funds and their contribution towards society, to the best (and worst) trades Mr O’Shea ever made, and the value of luck versus hard work.