Category Archives: Banking and Financial Services

Employer Case Study: Ayres Punchard Investment Management Limited

Name of Organisation: Ayres Punchard Investment Management Limited

Description of Organisation: Ayres Punchard is an award-winning sustainable investment company. Their investment strategies are designed in-line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, without compromising on financial returns.

Name of Employer: Chris Welsford

Job Title: Managing Director

Internship Scheme used:  Access to Internships (A2I) 

Feedback:

“Our intern began contributing positively to the research project very early in his time with us. He was able to understand the process and philosophy employed in our analysis of UN Global Compact principles transgression which enabled him to make a full and meaningful contribution to our work. This led to positive outputs and outcomes in the form of our intern contributing to an article that was published on our website and reported on by an international financial media organisation, as well as identifying and researching an investee company that can now be the subject of an engagement with a leading fund manager.

Our intern’s work on investee company Bright Horizons was exemplary and we are looking forward to working with the student, outside the internship, when he will be able to follow up on his research by engaging with the fund manager on the issues that he has uncovered.

This was an extremely positive experience for our company and for the colleague who worked closely with him.”

Student Case Study : Caxton FX

Name of Student:  Olive Stansfield

Degree Subject: BSc Economics

Job Title: Corporate Intern

Company Name:  Caxton FX

Description of Company: Caxton FX is a UK-based foreign exchange, international payments and prepaid card provider based at Portland House in Westminster, London, England. It is a registered money service business with HM Revenue and Customs and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Type of Internship:   Access to Internships (A2I)

What were your key duties and responsibilities during your internship?

Competitor analysis, analysis of low-profit customers and administrative tasks.

What outputs and outcomes did you deliver for your employer?  

Outputs: two competitor research reports for the two main products offered by my employer. Outcomes: a resource for all staff members to use e.g. when on sales calls to assist in promoting Caxton above its competitors. My research were also used by marketing to assist in development of new social media campaign.


What did not go so well on your internship? How did you overcome any challenges?

I struggled with ensuring I was still included in team meetings as this internship was remote. I feel that if this internship was not remote I would have gained more experience and been involved in more tasks.

Skills Learnt: 

  • Teamwork and Collaboration
  • Customer Service
  • Researching
  • Organisation

Attributes Developed:

  • Commercial Awareness
  • Independence
  • Work Ethic
  • Professionalism

Your message to other students considering a similar job role, organisation or sector?

“I really enjoyed this opportunity and I am very grateful to the University for enabling the internship. I’ve gained some very important employability skills and am now interviewing for a full-time role within the company!”

Morgan Hill Consultants – Employer Case Study

 

Name of Organisation: Morgan Hill Consultants

Description of Organisation: We are a team comprising ex CIO’s of multinational businesses, finance professionals, data analysts, data scientists and systems architects. Together we bring hundreds of years of experience in delivering deep insight, cost optimisation and effective deployment of technology inside large organisations.

Name of Employer: Nigel Duke

Job Title: Managing Director

Internship Scheme used:  SBP

Student Business Partnership (SBP) – Employment Services – University of Exeter

Feedback:

We recruited a Data Analyst Support Intern through the Student Business Partnership with the University of Exeter. They helped with the development of a very promising ML algorithm to classify finance data for further analytics. It all went according to plan, there were no issues at all, and it was produced for a very high standard.

We were very impressed with the calibre of the student. We offered our intern an extension which she accepted, and we look forward to continuing working with her.

Our experience was very positive. Our intern was extremely intelligent, diligent, co-operative and very willing to get involved. It was a very positive experience and one that I hope may be repeated.

Finance Assistant – Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

As part of the finance team, I took on any extra work required. This included work such as composing a review on specific products, which comprised of an overview of the product and analysis of particular cash flows in order to determine the most profitable as well as providing insight to the performance of the product. Another responsibility I undertook as part of the internship was compiling account balances then data mapping these in order to create trial balances of various subsidiary accounts. I also verified bank reconciliations.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Over the course of the internship, I taught myself how to efficiently data map and use Excel in a more exceeding manner, which will be beneficial in any finance position.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Any part of the finance department would give me work that they were unsure how to do (usually on excel) or if they needed any support doing tasks. This would have helped provide the company work more efficiently than otherwise.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, problem solving, networking

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Confidence, motivation, logical thinking

Equity Sales Intern – Redburn

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

During my internship I shadowed a member of the equity sales team and supported them with their tasks. My tasks included: preparing materials for clients (including reports and presentations), making note of market news stories on a timely basis, researching companies and building a relationship with the research team, and, creating a network with employees and other interns. Over the internship I also carried out a research project.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was adding value directly to clients – this was most evident when a piece of research that I had written about dividend stocks, was included in an email to a client.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to reduce the workload of colleagues (e.g. by manipulating data on excel, to free up their time). I was also able to improve the offering to clients, by producing a sector specific information pack for income investors.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, IT, networking

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, perseverance, creative thinking

Graduate Finance Associate – University of Exeter, Finance Services

euro-seem-money-finance

What were your main roles and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main responsibilities were assisting my colleagues with various daily and monthly tasks (including staff monitoring and modelling bursary allocations), carrying out and presenting data analysis and processing journals for management accounts. I contributed to the preparation of the University’s Access Agreement (a document that outlines the work that the University will undertake to widen participation) for 2018/19. I was also able to attend a variety of meetings and get an insight into different areas of the University.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I learnt a lot about working in finance and confirmed that  I would like to pursue a career in this sector. I was able to use the knowledge and experience I gained in my internship to secure a permanent graduate role in finance.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to lighten the workload of my colleagues during busy periods by taking over some of their usual activities.

“Our GBP made a really valuable contribution, was a fast learner and fitted in well to the team.  She was able to use her experience here when interviewing for the permanent finance role that she has secured.” – Management Accountant. 

Research and Finance Support Intern – University of Exeter

coins-currency-investment-insurance-128867

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main duties included budget monitoring and reconciliation, statistical analysis and financial reporting to the Finance Manager. I also managed the College Expenses Systems (online and paper) from August-October 2015. I supported in delivering financial support and advice to professional services and academic staff, students and external speakers. I also worked on setting up external suppliers on the purchasing system and sending out contracts for self-employed personnel and provided Research Support for academic staff on grants. My other tasks included events management for conferences and workshops, acting as secretary to the Ethics Committee with duties including minute taking, creating agendas and managing the ethics inbox. I also took on the management of the College QR funding including the design of the monitoring spreadsheet and reporting to the Finance Manager.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement was training a new member of staff to take over a vital role in the office.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I provided sterling support for my colleagues and covered two staffing gaps at busy times of year.

Commercial Management Intern – M&G Investments

M&G

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

While at M&G I liaised with TPA’s, compiling information for the internal funds review. This included contributions to conference calls. I was in charge of making sure that fund managers signed off trades on a daily basis, compiling their comments and writing summaries of these comments for board meetings. I also compiled a summary on order inflation for a board meeting as well as tracking internal errors until their closure. I attended high level meetings and had frequent contact with all business areas. A number of staff gave me an overview of different areas of the company and explained in great detail their day to day jobs and business areas.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I learnt a lot about finance which is never something I have studied. I acquitted myself well in all situations, meetings, networking etc. even though i had never worked in an office environment.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

i frequently took on jobs from two teams that allowed me to lighten the workload for numerous employees. I could do the work autonomously which meant that I was not a burden to the team once things had been explained.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I was overly critical of myself but this got easier with time and experience. I had to improve my attention to detail.  I did this by checking everything a number of times and being overly thorough before handing in completed work.

Business Tax Services – EY

coins-currency-investment-insurance

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My roles were very similar to those of a newly recruited graduate. I was taken to client meetings where I had to take minutes, I rang HMRC to discuss penalties and refunds, I wrote a tax review memorandum that was sent to a client, I did basic tax computations for smaller companies and completed an ASQ (assessment of service quality) with one of the partners, among other things.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I had a project to research BEPS (base erosion and profit shifting) and present this to the executive director and senior manager at the end of my time there. I had to apply the information I discovered to a company, investigating the effect that the new OECD rules could have specifically for them.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

During my internship the graduates in my office had time to complete at college. During this time I took over their jobs to help reduce the workload of my colleagues. They found this particularly useful and asked me to stay on longer to continue my work.

Exeter Regional Ambassador – Droplet Online LTD

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

The main purpose of the role was to develop a plan for Exeter. This included signing up merchants, creating user growth events, talking to other independents, getting local media coverage to launch Droplet to users, supporting the merchants in promoting Droplet to their customers, developing relationships with other larger businesses in the area and keeping track of conversations, emails and leads.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement over the course of this internship would be completing my objectives before the scheduled time. As a result of my internship, I feel I now have a more informed career plan and have successfully secured a permanent graduate contract with the company.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I encountered a few problems during the internship however I successfully overcame these with perseverance and asking for support.

“Ernesto has been and will continue to be a highly valuable member of the Droplet team” – Line Manager