Economics

Old Elizabethans: Award-winning global investor relations chief

After a string of roles in investor relations across the Far East, in 2017 David Wu (OE 1994-2001) became Head of Investor Relations at Fosun Group, one of China's largest multinationals, managing over US$70bn in assets. Within months, he and his team had won a top industry award for Fosun’s IR strategy.

Now based in Shanghai, David originally came from Hunan in China, his family moving to London when he was a child. At QE, he showed early promise in commerce: he was part of the Young Enterprise team that became UK and European Champions in 2000. After reading Economics & Management at Cambridge, David began his career in investment banking with Rothschild & Co in London, Moscow and Singapore.

Head of Economics: Mr Shamendra Uduwawala

Mr Uduwawala started teaching in 2013 and was promoted to Assistant Head of Department in 2015, when he was at a school in Harrow. He came to QE as Head of Economics in 2017.

His main academic interests lie within macroeconomics, although he enjoys the intricacies of microeconomics, too.

“What I love most about Economics is how most economic theory is easily related and linked to the real world and has a lot of cross-over with other subjects – Politics, History, Mathematics, Psychology and Geography – which makes it easier to explain and understand. Further, the subject allows you to not only develop your knowledge of the real world, but also to gain and develop valuable analytical, evaluative and quantitative skills. Economics opens doors to the whole world and gives you the skills to pursue any career.

“The boys here are extremely hard-working and always strive for perfection. They have a thirst for knowledge beyond what we teach within the syllabus, which is refreshing.”

Since arriving at QE, Mr Uduwawala has enjoyed bringing in expert speakers and taking the boys on visits to develop their knowledge of Economics. He is also a qualified cricket coach and hopes to contribute to the School teams during the Summer term.

Old Elizabethans: Managing international business risk

Stefan Rajendra (OE 2001-2008) achieved straight As in his four A-levels before going on to read Economics at UCL. As a student he spent four months as a summer analyst in Nomura’s Change Management Team, returning there for a year after he graduated in 2011 to work as a Regulatory Control Analyst.

In January 2013 he moved to Accenture, where his role involves helping some of the world’s leading financial institutions manage the risks of doing global business. Stefan, who often travels abroad for his job, reports that he has found risk management a particularly interesting area since the 2008 financial crisis.

Solving the big problems

“I have always been interested in current affairs,” says 2021 leaver Hanif Gonur. “What I have gained from studying Economics is a more sophisticated toolkit of skills and approaches to deconstruct and analyse a wide range of real-life problems.” Hanif was part of a QE team which reached the national finals of the Institute of Economic Affairs’ Budget Challenge competition. “The Economics department has helped me gain a better understanding of the policy issues and challenges facing national decision-makers.”

Hanif was Co-President of the School’s Economics Society as well as a finalist at the National Youth Parliament debate. He went on to read Geography with Economics at the London School of Economics. “I’m considering a career in policy-making or consulting. I became aware of the opportunities in this field following a visit by Old Elizabethan Kiran Modi." Kiran (OE 2007-2014) working for McKinsey in Dubai at the time he visited.

Forming his own views

2022 leaver Dan Suciu found that studying Economics enabled him to look beyond the mere short-term effects of events in current affairs, giving him an extra layer of understanding so that he could explore their less obvious implications. “It has given me the ability to take a more critical look at the output of media outlets and develop my own opinion on affairs.” Studying Economics has also helped him to evaluate examination questions and understand their structure. “The teachers are very helpful: they provide in-depth explanations for all parts of the course.”

Out of lessons, Dan was a member of Élite Maths and represented the School at rugby.