“My time at Schroders Investment Management Limited, London UK”

Insurance Asset Management (IAM) team where Iworked alongside fellow grad Stewart Bailey withthe team headed by Paul Forshaw.Life at the deskLife at the desk started on the week of the 17thof September 2012. Once again, the anxiety creptin as we were assigned our respective projectsand became more acquainted with our respectiveteams. However, starting to work at the desk didnot signal the end of life in the classroom as thoseregistered to write the CFA Level 1 exam wouldspend two days a week preparing for the examin the team along with impromptu debates on thedirection of UK politics and the current eventsin the news. Given insurers predominantly seekfixed income products which carry low risk and arealso highly liquid, a large portion of my time wasspent researching potential clients’ fixed incomeallocations and matching them with Schroders’fixed income products. With yields falling at thetime, more insurers seeking returns were mostlyinterested in exposure to emerging market bondswhich offered a better return in comparison tobonds in developed markets. Exam preparation ofthe CFA Level 1 exam was conducted and ledthey told us a bit about themselves before allowingthemselves to be bombarded with questions fromthe grad class.Life in LondonLiving in London was truly an amazing experiencewhich broadened my horizons. The earlier stagesof our trip were spent exploring the city andvisiting most of the popular tourist landmarks.What we most enjoyed about living in Londonwas the convenience of getting around withthe underground proving to be a highly efficienttransport system. One of the major highlightswas heading to the Emirates Stadium to go seeArsenal FC vs Coventry FC. This trip to the EmiratesStadium was arranged by Mr. Patrick Grant (Headof Middle East & Africa) who constantly made surewe were looked after for the duration of our stayat Schroders.The atmosphere at the Emirates stadium waselectric and with Arsenal winning 6-2, the trip tothe Emirates Stadium exceeded expectations.During weekends each of the grads had a chanceto take us out and show their favourite part ofLondon which also allowed one to really get afeel for the city from the perspective of someonewho knows the city. We also had a chance to visitCambridge University during one of the weekends.with Tom Gordon and one day a week learningabout the ins and outs of value investing with Prof.Glen Arnold. For the duration of our time at thedesk, we also learnt new financial modelling skillsthrough formal training on Microsoft Excel. In thefinancial modelling course we were presentedwith a company and generated a financial modelwhich would allow us to forecast drivers of ourequity valuation. These lessons were given by Mr.Mike Corless, whose experience as the previousHead of European Equity Research at HSBC AssetManagement was evident.Working at the desk was particularly enjoyable asit allowed one to put into practice what had beenlearned in the classroom. Being around a teamwith years of experience also allowed me to gaininvaluable knowledge and insights on the markets,and how to succeed as an investment professionalin the modern world.During the first week at the desk after completingmy assigned readings on the inner workings ofthe insurance industry in the UK, I was assignedmy respective project which I would be carryingout for the duration of my stay. My project wasto develop specialised Insurance Request-For-Proposal (RFP) content that would be used toimprove how efficiently the IAM team couldreply to and complete an RFP for an insurancemandate. I enjoyed working with this team as theyhad a work hard play hard ethic which teachesfocus, excellence and the importance of findingbalance between work and leisure. The workingatmosphere was also cheerfully pleasant withgood banter now and then coming from everyoneby Tom Gordon, CFA. Given the daunting task thatis merely preparing for the exam, the group drewcloser as they began to discuss exam tips andtechniques discovered while burning the midnightoil the night before. Having the classroom sessionsalongside working at the desk also provided mewith the fundamental lesson of time managementas deadlines on projects and tasks handed outstill had to be met. The Schroders CFA Programmeconsisted of the classroom sessions with Tom,daily questions sent via e-mail and access toan online portal with lecture slides, notes, videolectures, audio lectures, a library of questions,revision workshops along with a mock exam.In order to gain a better understanding of themarkets from a value perspective, lessons onvalue investing were carried out by Prof. GlenArnold. These were held on days in between theCFA exam preparation days and were compulsoryfor members writing the CFA Level 1 exam. Theaim of the sessions was to teach the group onthe importance of the qualitative factors in theinvestment process as opposed to focusing solelyon quantitative factors in the investment process.Most sessions provided valuable insights onvarious qualitative techniques and factors used inthe value investing process.After a few weeks working at our respective deskswe were also presented with the opportunity tomeet Mr. Bruno Schroder where he asked us onour backgrounds and provided the class with hisand the firm’s history. In addition to meeting Mr.Schroder, we also met Mr. Michael Dobson, theCEO and Mr. Andrew Beeson, the chairman where“ Everyone at Schroders alwaysremained accessible, whichprovided a pleasant atmospherein the workplace and remindedone of a very similar workingculture at Argon, where thereare no closed doors. ”Katleho MotsohiAn African investment firm with global standards3