What did you study? When did you graduate?

I studied a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance and Economics) at the University of Sydney, graduating in 2018.

Where did you grow up? Important stages of your life

I grew up in Dapto, on the South Coast of NSW. Whilst I went to primary and high school close to home, I ended up at the University of Sydney for my university studies. With Business and Economics being my favourite subjects, studying Commerce was a no-brainer for me! The beauty of studying such a generalist degree is it pushes you to stay open-minded and try a broad range of things. Whilst at uni I completed two very different internships, one within an Advisory firm in Audit, and the other in an Investment Bank in Business Solutions, an area which merges the worlds of business management, information systems and computer science. These experiences showed my where my passions were and my strengths which really helped when thinking about where applying for a graduate position.

How did you get to your current job position? 

I work in the Public Markets division at AMP Capital, which I joined in Feb 2019 through the AMP Capital graduate program.

How did you choose your specialisation? 

I chose the Public Markets graduate program as it is uniquely structured to provide graduates with hands on experiences across a diverse range of asset classes – facilitating exposure to a myriad of investment styles and valuation methodologies. As someone who was fascinated by the idea of working in the complex world of financial markets, the Public Markets graduate program stood out. In my opinion, Public Markets is unique in the way it enables graduates to find the investment area they are passionate about by providing unfiltered access to different teams to understand their investment process - whether it be centered on market research, bottom-up fundamental stock analysis or top-down asset allocation decisions.

What was your interview process like? 

The interview process was very seamless. It involved an online application, online psychometric testing, a video interview and then an assessment centre where you meet various people across the business and participate in interviews throughout the day. The questions asked are generally a mixed bag – ranging from technical to behavioural style questions. The interviewers also encourage you to ask as many questions as possible, which gives you a real insight into the business, the people, and the culture.

What does your employer do?

AMP Capital is a global fund manager and is the investment arm of the broader AMP group. AMP Capital currently has $202.2 billion in Funds under Management (FUM) which span its investment capabilities across Infrastructure, Property and Public Markets

What are your areas of responsibility?

As a Public Markets graduate, you rotate across different investment teams which can range from Global Fixed Income, Global Listed Real Assets, Equities and Multi Asset teams. Currently, I am working in the Australian Equities – Income team. The income team is focused on providing clients with investment products that offer steady distributions as well as capital growth. Key areas of responsibility for the team include portfolio construction and undertaking bottom-up analysis to actively pick stocks which contribute to the fund’s objectives. From a fundamental perspective – the team has a yield focus and generally invest in stocks with high dividend yield, strong free cash flow generation and balance sheet flexibility to undertake strategic growth.

Can you describe a typical work day? 

Working in markets means that being on top of news flow is pretty important. So, my typical workday usually starts by reading the news and broker notes to catch up on anything of interest that has been happening in markets. After that, the rest of the day will usually be focused on undertaking research on potential stock ideas or working on building a financial model as part of my investment thesis for a stock. The latter is the last thing I worked on.

What are the career prospects with your job? 

Depending on which investment area you are passionate about there are numerous career prospects available with experience in Public Markets. Most commonly graduates have gone on to join investment teams as Analysts. There are also “non-investment” roles available in areas such as Economics, Dealing, Risk, Performance Analytics and Product.

Could someone with a different background do your job?

Absolutely! The Public Markets program takes graduates from a broad range of backgrounds from Engineering to Science to Law. While it helps to have experience in Finance, the majority of learning will be done on the job. Therefore, having a Finance degree is definitely not a prerequisite. In fact, having a background that is different from the norm could set you apart from other applicants.

What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?

That’s a tough question. Perhaps, Corporate strategy in a company that is seen as disruptive in a particular market. I find the innovation and outside the box thinking associated with those businesses interesting.

What do you love the most about your job? 

I love this job as it constantly provides you with incredible opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. From having the privilege of meeting senior management of ASX listed companies, engaging with industry experts on market thematics and learning from the firm’s brightest analysts - I’ve been able to move up quickly on the steep learning curve that comes with building a career in financial markets. The working environment is another key aspect of my job that I love. Financial markets can move rapidly and unpredictably. While this can be challenging to navigate at times, such a dynamic backdrop means your role is never monotonous and there are always opportunities to learn something new. The task that I enjoy the most is undertaking stock-specific research.

What’s the biggest limitation of your job? 

The biggest limitation is there is a steep learning curve. Becoming a brilliant Analyst doesn’t happen overnight and experience is a key part of success in this industry. When it comes to managing money, there is undoubtedly a lot of responsibility that comes alongside that – however as a graduate you are never unfairly burdened with more responsibility than you can handle.

Working in the fast paced, dynamic world of financial markets means that stress levels may run high at times, however AMP has a very supportive culture with strong support networks. I have never felt too overwhelmed with my workload and there is no requirement for you to work on weekends.

Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student?

You don’t need to be the smartest person in the room

• While good marks do help, I think university students can get caught in the trap of being hung up on their marks. While having good marks is important, more than ever employers are looking for candidates that are well-rounded. That means soft skills such as communication, teamwork and work ethic are just as important.

Be inquisitive  

• When you first start working – you are not expected to know all the answers and nor should you. The best way to learn is to be inquisitive and ask lots of questions. It might be an overused line but thinking about ‘why’ is just as important as thinking about ‘how’.

It’s just as important to find out what you don’t like

• It’s easy to get disheartened if the job you applied for isn’t what you expected – especially if you thought it would be the perfect fit for you. I think it’s really important to have experiences like those as it forces you to become more open minded. When you have your mindset on one idea, you often dismiss other avenues which could actually be a better fit. Those experiences also make you more resilient and self-aware.