About
Name: Luke De Pellegrin
Nationality: British
Programme: MFin 2025
Education: Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance, University of Surrey
Pre-MFin role: Assistant Vice President, Balance Sheet Management, Deutsche Bank, United Kingdom
Luke is the recipient of the MFin Regional scholarship.
A brief overview of your previous work experience/career path up to this point
I have an investment banking and treasury background within Barclays, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank. I have worked on an array of desks from early bond issuance and research, all the way through to transaction advisory and funding analytics desks. My work has involved calibrating curves, structuring sustainability bonds, modelling origination hurdles and hedge book performance management.
Why you decided to apply to Cambridge, and what attracted you to the MFin programme
While I enjoyed my banking experience, I wanted to move closer to investment decision-making and ultimately pivot to the buy-side, particularly private equity or hedge funds. Cambridge’s MFin stood out for its academic rigour, strong practitioner links and the calibre and diversity of the cohort. The programme felt like the ideal environment to deepen my technical and analytical skills while building the network and perspective needed for the next stage of my career.
What you are looking forward to the most about your year in Cambridge
I’m looking forward to 3 things most: the academics, the community and the connections. Academically, I’m excited to dive deeper into finance with a focus on modelling and analysis – particularly valuation, econometrics, derivatives and trading. Outside the classroom, I’ve loved getting involved in College life and societies, including college rowing, sprint swimming, clay pigeon shooting, small bore rifle shooting, the German society and astronomy society. I’m keen to add fencing and gliding this term. Finally, I’ve been struck by how many interesting people you meet at Cambridge – through the cohort, city speaker events, societies and sport – which makes daily life both inspiring and enjoyable.
What you are hoping to achieve this year, and how it will contribute towards your post-MFin career
My main goal this year is to position myself strongly for a buy-side role. That means building both hard and soft skills, becoming genuinely fluent with tools like Bloomberg, Capital IQ, econometrics modelling and sharpening how I communicate investment ideas. I also want to stay competitive in sport throughout the year because I’ve always found that sport builds discipline, resilience and teamwork, qualities that translate directly into high-performance environments.
Your thoughts and feelings on being awarded an MFin scholarship
I was truly delighted and very grateful to receive the Regional Scholarship. It was both a meaningful vote of confidence and a significant support as I commit to the programme. More than anything, it reinforced to me that Cambridge recognises ambition and potential and is willing to invest in students as they work towards their long-term goals. I feel proud to be joining a community built on those principles.