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The University of Mississippi Athletics
From the Tennis Court to Wall Street
7/29/2016 | Men's Tennis
By Kim Ling, Ole Miss Athletics
Growing up in Germany, identical twins Marcel Thiemann and Chris Thiemann dreamed of one day making a living playing professional tennis. That is until their plans changed after graduating from Ole Miss in 2012 with a laundry list of honors on and off the court.
After helping the Rebels wins SEC titles and reach the NCAA Elite Eight, as well as reaching the NCAA Final Four in doubles, the Thiemann's had options. They could begin a pro career or put their managerial finance degrees to use.
"We considered going back to Germany to start playing Futures tournaments," said Marcel, who in addition to being a three-time All-American, was a finalist for the Boyd McWhorter SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award. "We played a couple of tournaments during the summer of 2012, but then we had the opportunity to start the master's program in business administration at Ole Miss."
After getting their MBAs, the Thiemann's interned at PricewaterhouseCoopers in 2014 and then received a full-time offer after they finished the master of accountancy program at Ole Miss in 2015.
"It was a hard decision to forgo playing tennis and start a career in finance, but in retrospect, we feel like we made the right decision and we are very happy where we are now," said Chris, who like his brother, earned ITA Scholar-Athlete honors.
At Ole Miss, the duo faced stiff competition every week playing against not only the SEC, but other top programs around the country. Both said it prepared them for the intensity of Wall Street and the fast-paced life of New York City.
"You work with the brightest individuals in accounting," Chris said. "The Big Four only hire the best so that means you are working with the best. We are constantly challenged on a daily basis, but at the same time we learn a tremendous amount every day. Early on in your career you have exposure to the world's top managers and smartest people in the financial services industry. You have the opportunity to connect with these people and learn a tremendous amount from them."
PwC's global revenues exceeded 35 billion in FY 2015, of which $15.2 billion was generated by its assurance practice, the area where Marcel and Chris work, specifically within the alternative investment sector. They audit the world's top hedge funds and private equity funds and have constant exposure and interaction with the finance and accounting executives of their clients. The job involves high work ethic, the ability to learn quickly and being able to work well on a team, all attributes they mastered being part of the tennis team at Ole Miss.
"Having played on the tennis team for four great years, we know what it means to go above and beyond for your team," Marcel said. "We trained hard, we competed hard and that helps us in our daily life to be the efficient and dedicated co-worker everyone wants to have.
Team work, communication skills, and being able to learn from others and also teach others are skills that we learned as a student-athlete that are transferrable to our job."
A typical day for the Thiemann's involves reviewing emails, preparing for client meetings and presentations and performing various tests surrounding hedge funds and equity funds to ensure that the financial statements that investors rely on are stated correctly. They also manage meetings and conference calls on a daily basis with clients or colleagues to discuss audit and tax work, industry happenings and new accounting standards that relate to the hedge fund industry and specifically to that client.
The hours are long, especially during the busy season from January-April, but both say the reward is worth it.
"From January through April, we averaged around 70 hours per week," Marcel said. "However, being a college athlete for four years we learned that you can only be successful with hard work and a great work ethic. The rewards are remarkable. Not only the monetary aspect of working at PwC but being able to work in the most exciting city in the world."
Marcel and Chris discovered many former athletes working on Wall Street, including tennis players.
"We joined the Corporate Tennis League for the New York Metro area where we play on a Co-Ed team for PwC against other firms such as Bloomberg, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse," Chris said. "We were privileged to play at the former US Open venue in Queens as well being able to practice on the US Open courts in Flushing Meadows. The corporate league is very competitive, because almost all of the players played Division I college tennis. Earlier this year, we lost in the championship game in a heartbreaker, but we are confident that we can bring home the title in the fall."
Growing up in the relatively small town of Lehrte, Germany and then spending several years in an even smaller town, the Thiemann's have adjusted to life in the Big Apple.
"After living in NYC for a year now, we can certainly say that compared to New York, the rest of the world seems asleep to us," Marcel said. "There is so much to do, so much going on such as concerts, Broadway shows and other events; you can eat at fantastic restaurants every night. But you can also find the peacefulness of beaches, mountains and lakes with a short amount of travel time. We love our life in New York City!"
Being part of a larger family that is Ole Miss, has helped the Thiemann's get to where they are today.
"One of the best pieces of advice we received was to reach out to people in the alumni network," Chris said. "We both were surprised when we found out how many people from Ole Miss actually work or have worked in finance or accounting in New York. The alumni network is a great resource and a very helpful first step to landing a job in NYC."
Through hard work and discipline, Marcel and Chris became one of the top doubles teams in the country in addition to being outstanding students while representing Ole Miss. As for what the future holds for them, don't be surprised if one day their name is at the top of a company.
"We both enjoy working in the asset management sector at PwC - especially working for hedge fund and private equity fund clients," Marcel said. "In terms of long term career goals, we both would love to continue to work and climb the corporate ladder at PwC. Also, an international assignment to Europe would be a great opportunity to consider. However, a lucrative option is to switch to a hedge fund or private equity fund and eventually become a CFO, or maybe even open up our own hedge fund."