yearbook

In this yearbookWhy I volunteer 4Future success throughdiversity 7Traders Q&A 8How to get involved 15alumniyearbook2015thebrokerage.org.uk

Welcome to the 2015 edition ofour Brokerage Alumni YearbookDear Readers,As we edge ever closer to our 20th Anniversary of engaging City employersand breaking down entry barriers for bright young Londoners, the BrokerageCitylink continues to go from strength to strength.Following our Alumni Yearbook launch last year, we have continued to adda number of facets to our offering thereby sustaining and increasing thenumber of opportunities available to our young people.Last year, the Brokerage launched its pilot mentoring programme. Membersof our Alumni Board gave up their time over the summer period to mentora cohort of Year 13s before they embark upon university.This year has also seen the launch of a number of engaging fundraisingevents aimed at our wider Alumni network to raise much needed fundsfor the Brokerage.These fundraising events are helping to spread the word about the excellentwork of the Brokerage as well as increasing funding to support a numberof Brokerage led programmes.Please visit our website to find out more on how you can get involved eitherpartaking in or sponsoring some of these events!To all of our supporters, we look forward to having you continue engagingwith the Brokerage. Your contribution and continued support makes abig difference in the lives of our young people helping them to establishprominent careers whilst continuing to diversify the workforce.Personal thanks to all of the Brokerage staff, Brokerage Alumni Board,wider Alumni network and all our supporters for making last year anundoubted success.Without your support, hard work and dedication our achievementswould not be possible.We look forward to seeing our young people further establish theirCity careers paving the way for a new generation to succeed.Nathan Taylor-WrightChair, Brokerage Alumni Board2

93Alumni Networkmembers wereactively involved inthe Brokerage’s work—Alumni Networkmembers contributed441volunteer hoursto the Brokerage279Brokerage AlumniNetwork members,representing124businesses andinstitutions2014in numbers165internships, apprenticeshipsand jobs providedby the Brokerage—The Brokerageengaged with over10,000young peopleThe Brokerageworked with102business andinstitutions, and over200schools and colleges3

Why I volunteer:Brokerage Alumnitell us…why they are giving backImeThe ultimate aim of the Brokerage Alumni Network is to createa unique force for good in London. Corporate volunteering isnothing new, but uniquely the Brokerage has the ability to callon dynamic young professionals that have (in some casesliterally) walked the same path as its beneficiaries.ChelcieGeorginaThe Alumni Network members are the ideal rolemodels and champions both for the BrokerageCitylink and the wider social mobility agenda.There are many ways to get involved, just checkout p.15 for some ideas or contact the team.But while the impact of volunteering is often welldocumented, what about the volunteers themselves?What motivates them to give up their time,and what do they get out of it?To find out, we sat down with a few of the AlumniNetwork’s prolific volunteers to find out more.Ime Udoh: Business Analyst, Financial ConductAuthorityChelcie Whitmore: Customer Experience,Marketing and Communications, Transportfor LondonGeorgina Thompson: Finance ProjectsVocational Trainee, Commerzbank AGThanks for talking with us guys!Firstly, tell us a bit about thevolunteering you’ve done throughthe Brokerage recently.Georgina: Since starting my employment withCommerzbank in September 2014, I have takenpart in each opportunity which has arisen withthe Brokerage. I had the opportunity to visit St.Michael’s Catholic College in Bermondsey inDecember to enable students to know of theamazing opportunities the Brokerage have tooffer them. After visiting St. Michael’s, I hadthe opportunity to revisit Bishop Challoner SixthForm – my old sixth form in Tower Hamlets! Itwas an overwhelming experience as it allowsyou to give back to the school what you got fromthem, and the feeling is extremely satisfying.In April I also attended the Brokerage in orderto help prepare this year’s Vocational Traineecandidates.Chelcie: Over the past year, I’ve had theopportunity to be involved with a varietyof Brokerage programmes. I was an AlumniMentor which involved having weekly sessionswith an intern on the City of London BusinessTraineeship programme, to help them developboth personally and professionally. My job isn’tactually in the financial sector and in JanuaryI was asked to give a PR/Comms masterclass.It was great to be able to give the attendeesother career options to think about and get theminterested in my field! We also got a groupof AS level students in for a half day workshopwhere we got them to design an App andthink about all the different areas of CustomerExperience, Marketing and Comms, andhow they interact with each other.I’ve also set up a summer placementProgramme at TfL and we’ve got 4 Brokeragestudents coming in for 6 weeks this summer fora paid placement. I’m really excited to havethem in and start them on their career path. I’vealso been setting up some interesting things forthem to do such as ride in a train driver’s cab!Ime: I’ve attended the UBS Hackney PathwaysCoffee Networking sessions through the year, andlike Georgina I also went back to my old school –Archbishop Tenison’s in Lambeth – to talk to theirsixth formers about opportunities with the Brokerage.In January I took part in a CV Surgery the Brokeragearranged with the AMOS Bursary. I’ve also beenworking on getting the FCA involved with theBrokerage’s work, so far I’ve arranged and attendedan introductory meeting and hopefully therelationship with continue to grow! More recently,I’ve taken up a fundraising challenge – hopefullyIt is because theyhelped me so muchthat I continue to do allI can to return that help4

in 2015 I’ll be skydiving for the Brokerage in myfavourite onesie!Chelcie: I’m also planning to do a skydivelater in the summer with Ime – I can’t wait!And why do you get involved? Whatmotivates you to volunteer?Ime: I support the Brokerage’s values andambitions for young people in London. I’m ina fortunate position to have been one of thoseyoung people who have been through theprocess and realised many opportunities– both socially and professionally.Chelcie: What motivates me is that I reallythink that without the opportunities the Brokeragegave me when I was starting my career, I wouldn’twhere I am today. I did my City of London BusinessTraineeship placement at UBS in Human Resourcesand I got to work with some fantastic peopleand learnt so much. It was the beginning ofmy network and I’m still in contact with mymanagers today. I wanted to give somethingback to the Brokerage and help other youngpeople have those opportunities that I had.Georgina: There are a number of things whichmotivated me (and continue to motivate me!)to help the Brokerage at any opportunity I get.Firstly, I believe the work the Brokerage doesto help young people into employment isphenomenal and I can’t express my gratitudetowards them enough for the help that Ireceived. It is because they helped me so muchthat I continue to do all I can to return that help– and this is the main reason for my motivation.Individual opportunities sometimes have othermotivations – such as going back to my oldsixth form. The help I received there towardsmy grades was exceptional and so, in turn,I wanted to give something back. As I grewup in an area where these opportunities don’tcome around often, I want to help educateyoung people, such as myself, that there arefantastic opportunities for them to have thebest start to their careers.So volunteering is rewarding andit’s fun (of course), but do youpersonally get any other benefitsfrom participating? Perhaps from aprofessional development perspective?Chelcie: I definitely get other benefits fromparticipating. From the mentoring, I learnt a lotabout coaching, building trusting relationshipsand the importance of self-reflection. They’rereally good tools to have when thinking aboutmanagement positions. I’ve also developed mypresentation skills and have learnt how to bestjudge and understand an audience. I’ll begetting the opportunity to manage some ofthe TfL placement students this summer so thatwill be another fantastic opportunity for meto develop my management skills.Ime: Me too. From a professional standpoint,volunteering ties in quite well with the FCA’scultural characteristics at a company anddepartmental level. This allows me to tie in myvolunteering activities to my personal objectivesfor the year. All volunteering develops me,and thus my department, in terms of the skillsI use and pick up and employ at work. I workclosely with our CSR Department, HR graduaterecruitment teams and my department VolunteerChampion to enhance awareness of theBrokerage as well as volunteering in generaland its benefits. I always learn something newvolunteering with the Brokerage…whether it’sabout how the schooling system has changedsince I was there, to some new slang!Georgina: I’m a terrible public speakerso, yes, these opportunities also provide mewith other benefits and personal development.The more and more I talk to groups of youngpeople, I gain personally as it assists me ingetting over my fear of public speaking andalso develops the way in which I deliver whatI am trying to say to the audience. This canonly benefit you in the workplace as, no matterwhere you are working, you will be required tospeak to people on a daily basis. When I firststarted at Commerzbank, I’d find it extremelydaunting to go into a meeting with people Ihave never met. Volunteering for the Brokeragehas helped me overcome this fear. It alsobenefits me substantially at college as,due to studying a HND, quite a few ofmy assignments involve a presentation soby practising my public speaking at theopportunities provided to me by the Brokerage,I am improving on this as well.Ime: Networking is another positive personaland professional benefit. The Brokerage givesme the opportunity to work with individuals from abroad spectrum of industries and exchange ideas.Looking back at your own careerjourneys, can you tell us more aboutthe influence any volunteers, mentorsor charities had on your own path?Ime: I worked with a number of charities as Iembarked on the world of work. The WindsorFellowship, SEO London and ReachOut UK toname a few. I managed to obtain internshipsthrough a number of these which was veryhelpful in shaping my understanding of financialservices and breaking down my initial;perceptions of the industry. I encountered theBrokerage Citylink whilst interning at DeutscheBank through a friend of mine. After attendinga number of workshops, I applied for andsecured an internship at Société Générale ontheir Commodities Trade Desk which was afantastic experience. I subsequently internedat Bloomberg in Hedge Fund Sales beforegraduating in 2010. My first full time rolewas at Man Group where I rotated around anumber of departments before settling into aBusiness Analyst role in the Cash ManagementTeam. Whilst at Man Group, I volunteered witha National Citizenship Service programmecalled The Challenge as a Community Mentor.The experience reminded me of the importanceof being a role model to people from similarbackgrounds and reminded me of theimportance of charities connecting societyto the young people who live within them.I moved to the FCA in September 2014 andhave volunteered through our corporate partnerBenefacto, which connect people to charitiesin need of helping hands. I like the FCA’sapproach to CSR and want to help drive amodel which also includes a strong diversityagenda and a focus on increasing knowledgeand opportunities for young people.Chelcie: My first ‘real job’ was my CBTplacement at UBS where I worked as theGraduate Training Programme Co-ordinator.I was given real responsibility and got to beinvolved in something really exciting andimportant. I then took a gap year and workedas Teaching Assistant in my old secondaryschool (Raines Foundation School in TowerHamlets). It was a great experience that builtmy confidence and communication skills.I then did a 6 week internship at PwC inmanagement consulting in my second year atuniversity and got offered to join their graduatescheme for the following year. I spent a year atPwC and got to work on some great projectssuch as the NHS Keogh Review. After a yearI felt consulting wasn’t right for me so I joinedthe Customer Experience, Marketing andCommunications graduate scheme at Transportfor London. I love working at TfL – I’ve workedon lots of exciting projects such as contactlesspayments and have spent time in differentdepartments such as the press office andmarketing. I would say that my mentor hasreally been my manager from UBS as he’salways given me great career advice andhelped me in deciding what to do when Iwanted to leave PwC. Other than that I’dsay the Brokerage influenced my path asthey started me on my career journey.Georgina: If I’m honest, during school andcollege, I had never even thought about tryingfor a career in the City of London as I didn’tthink it’d be achievable – it seemed to be moreof a dream than a reality, especially as duringcollege I only studied BTEC ICT Level 3.However, I was informed of the Brokerage andapplied for their CBT scheme – enabling me tohear of all their fantastic opportunities. I knewI’d be going into some form of IT role, as thisis what I had spent my time focusing on atcollege, although I believed one of my strengthswas my numeracy. When I saw the VocationalTrainee scheme at Commerzbank available forapplications, I knew it was something I wasinterested in, so I applied, thinking I probablywouldn’t get very far. I was called in to theassessment centre day and three or so weekslater, received a call offering me an IT-basedrole in Finance! After being here for 8 months,I have learned so much – not only a substantialimprovement on my IT skills, but about eachof the finance systems which is something thatdefinitely interests me a lot. I am hoping tocontinue increasing my skills and expertisethroughout the course of the programme andhopefully gain a full-time permanent position inthe role I am in. If it wasn’t for the Brokerage,this wouldn’t have happened – so they are thepeople who influenced my path, and for thatI’ll always be grateful.5

Alexandra GalvizA Former Serial Intern’sguide to internshipsAlexandra Galviz took part inthe 2009 City of London BusinessTraineeship Programme, winningthe Trainee of the Year awardafter interning at MAPFRE asan E-Commerce and BusinessDevelopment Assistant. She isnow Global Head of Trainingat Currencies Direct.Now more than ever, in a workmarket saturated with millennials,it is vital to gain work experience,learn new skills and start building a network of contacts beforegraduating. Unlike most of my generation, it was never compulsory tocomplete an internship for credit or as part of my degree. I’ve alwaysbeen a bit of a self-proclaimed workaholic, from the moment I turnedsixteen I got a part time job in retail whilst at school and worked full timethrough the summer all the way up to my college years. When I finishedcollege, I happened to stumble upon a posterby the Brokerage Citylink that advertised internships in the City and Ijumped at the opportunity to do something different during my summer.After having completed my first internship, I realised how invaluable theexperience was. Four internships later and having been awarded Cityof London Business Trainee of the Year, here are the most important thingsI have learnt.Eenie meenie miney mo, for which internship shall I go?I’ve always had an exact idea of what I wanted to do but I always knewthat I wasn’t particularly keen on going down the conventional path ofstudying economics, business management or finance. That’s why Idecided to study what I was passionate about – French – and make sureby the end of graduating I’d have at least one year of combined workexperience to be able to find a job within the sector I wanted to work.Make sure you are picking jobs relevant to what you think you mightwant to pursue after graduation. Although most of my experiences werein varying fields of business, they always had a common theme, ‘clientrelationships’. I personally always enjoyed interning in SMEs, becauseit gave me the opportunity to get more involved and there was usuallya larger amount of work available therefore allowing me to interactmore often with senior members of staff.Your internship is what YOU make of it:Great, you’ve landed your internship, now this is your time to shine andshow what skills you can bring to the table. In my first ever internship Iwas employed to do data entry, after completing a cost forecasting fora new outsourcing partner, (which I found out later was for the CEO).They soon realised I was capable of much more. It wasn’t long beforethey employed someone to do data entry and before I knew it I wascontributing like any other member of staff. My new found role had merevamping their sales brochures, attending sales pitches with high levelexecutives whilst also project managing on a deal which was estimatedat over £1 million. Most of the really great experiences I had in myinternships had come from me either requesting more work oridentifying where I could use my skills to help and suggesting ideason how I could contribute.Building your network:The amazing thing about internships is that you get to meet such awide range of people from different cultures, religions and countriesand, believe it or not, all these people will enhance your experienceand teach you something along the way. It’s important that you findone person that can help you navigate your way around the companyand lead you through your internship, be it your manager or a workcolleague. There will be times when you need a second opinion orjust someone wiser to give you general advice for the future. Make surethat these relationships last longer than the last day of your internshipas these are the relationships that will count once you graduate.Be fearless:We all make mistakes, but it’s so much better to make them earlier onin your career rather than later and guess what, you learn from them!There is no better time to push yourself and try to get the most out ofeach opportunity. I remember after completing my first internship Ithought, “how can I progress further next year and get out of my comfortzone?”. Not long after I was living and working abroad in Paris for thesummer at the age of 18, which at the time was a really dauntingprospect having never lived abroad let alone on my own. Luckily I hadmanaged to secure an internship before moving there but that wasn’t tosay it was going to be an easy ride. Yes you are young, yes you haveno experience, yes you are nervous but the truth is that everyone hashad to go through the same thing and if they all survived, so will you.Never forget it’s all part of the challenge!The world is in fact your oyster:Not only do you now have a degree but you have a new set of skills,actual practical experience and a network of contacts, so make sure youutilise them to their highest potential. I strongly believe that no internshipis a bad internship and in each one of them you will pick something upthat will help you somewhere along your career. You’ll learn things like:what you enjoy and would rather pass, what career path you want totake and which one you’d think twice about and what industry you wantto go into and those you’d rather avoid, all things that without actualpractical experience can be quite difficult to learn. Combine all of theseexperiences and not only will you be one step ahead of your peers butthey’ll also help you make important decisions in your early career.These are therelationships thatwill count onceyou graduate6

Madison Robinson registered with theBrokerage in 2012, through which shefound an entry level role in insurance.Three years later and she’s a rising star inthe industry as well as an active memberof the Brokerage Alumni Network – evendriving her firm to host internships for theBrokerage!FuturesuccessthroughdiversityFinancial firms only need to look to the boroughs on their doorstepsto attract talented young people and help them adapt to a verydifferent future.It’s just a short train ride from the inner London suburbs into the heartof the City, but it could be a million miles away for many schoolleavers, who never consider a career in the Square Mile. ButMadison Robinson (pictured), Underwriting Assistant in theAlternative Distribution team at Hiscox London Market, is keen tospread the message to ambitious young people from inner Londonthat insurance has a lot to offer them.Robinson, who is from Lewisham, joined Hiscox through theBrokerage Citylink in 2012 after finishing her A-levels.Hiscox feels like the perfect environment for her. “The message hereis that it’s up to you to make your own future. For me, that’s veryexciting, because I feel I have the drive to make something of myself.”Spreading the talent net widerInsurance needs to become more diverse to face the challengesahead, Robinson thinks. “The insurance business will experiencemassive change over the next 10 years. But if you have a room full ofpeople who look the same, sound the same, and have come from thesame backgrounds then they’re all going to give the same answers.That won’t make you as competitive as other firms that think andbehave differently.”But she believes that the image many outsiders have of insuranceis a little unfair. “If you look around the London Market it isn’t verydiverse. But that isn’t necessarily because companies aren’t preparedto hire people from other backgrounds. A lot of the problem is thatpeople from those backgrounds don’t know the opportunities that arethere for them in insurance, so they don’t bother to apply. We needto break down the stigma that’s attached to insurance, by getting outand telling them about what a career in insurance can offer them.”The Brokerage and the Chartered Insurance Institute have bothalready made a start, Robinson says, by going to inner Londonschools to introduce the industry to students and to help themunderstand the wide array of business – and jobs – that aredone in the London Market.What would help companies to attract the best talent from allbackgrounds is for them to offer career schemes for school leaversas well as for graduates, Robinson believes. “Many young peoplewho don’t come from privileged backgrounds can’t face goingto university if it means coming out with a £50,000 debt.”New internshipLast summer, Hiscox worked with the Brokerage Citylink to participatefor the first time in the City of London Business Traineeship Programme.It offered two young students from inner London, Kevwe Uwotu andMia Pereira, the chance to work in the business for eight weeks.The scheme helps inner-city school leavers gain experience ofworking in a big City firm, as well as to learn extra social andprofessional skills to help them get a job at the end.Robinson’s passionate commitment to the scheme resulted in her beinggiven the 2014 Project Champion award. “I’d never had the opportunityto manage people or to lead a project before, so the scheme was anamazing experience for me too. I hope they got as much out of it as I did.”Future expansionHiscox is planning to expand the scheme in 2015. “We’re hoping tohave six interns from a variety of backgrounds. I want to make surethat we have someone else from Lewisham, like me. We’ve alreadyhad lots of support from the people working within Hiscox LondonMarket, who all want to be involved again next year.”Two names are already penciled in: Kevwe and Mia. “I’ve spokento them since they went to university, and they both told me they’vealready applied for next year’s internship. For me, that’s a signof the programme’s success.”This article, by Madison and Simon Challis, was originally published in the January2015 edition of Hiscox Global Insight: http://www.hiscoxlondonmarket.com7

Hundreds of young peopleregister with the Brokerageeach year, with a variety ofambitions across banking,law, insurance and othersectors. But one of the mostcommon career goals is oneshrouded in mystery andintrigue – the City trader.DhilanDebodunTrade talkXavierBut what is it really like to have a career as atrader? How similar is it to portrayals in moviesand on TV? What’s the best way to get into thisnotoriously difficult industry?To find out, we sat down with three membersof the Brokerage Alumni Network who gaveus a candid insight into the enigmatic worldof trading.Thanks for talking to us guys! To kickoff, can you tell us more about yourtrading careers to date?Dhilan: After completing my degree at LSEstudying economics, I started the graduateprogramme at BNP Paribas Investment Bankwithin Fixed Income Trading mainly tradingshort term interest rate products includingBonds, Repos, Futures and Swaps. I spent sixyears on the trading desk before taking on anew challenge (and project) at a Canadianbank where the endeavour is to help developthe European short term rates business.Debodun: I studied MORSE (Maths,Operational Research, Statistics andEconomics) at Warwick and went straight intothe deep end managing a trading book atGoldman Sachs – market making equity swapsand trading derivatives to finance excessinventory. Prior to this I’d completed threeinternships – two through the Brokerage atHSBC (Operations) and Santander-Abbey(ALM), and one directly at Barclays Capital inRates Trading. I’m currently working in the FixedIncome Repo side at Barclays Capital after a 2year stint at The MET Group trading short terminterest rate futures.Xavier: This is my first real trading opportunityand it has been an interesting one. I started offon the Asia-Pacific desk, working nocturnally toservice clients for business in that region.Within my first year I was promoted to AVP andmore responsibility came with it. I went frommonitoring and reporting orders on behalf ofmy colleagues, to becoming a hybrid portfolioand electronic execution trader dealing withCash Equities, ETF and FX products. I nowexercise these responsibilities in the European,Middle East and African markets.So when did you decide “I want tobe a trader”, and what inspired you?Xavier: My first internship through theBrokerage was at Bloomberg, and although itwas not a trading orientated job, I learned alot about the industry’s culture, nature andcharacteristics from the client visits. Obviously,the money aspect is always going to be afactor of inspiration, but the fast-paced, timepressured career path was what I found mostattractive.Dhilan: Following my summer internship atUBS via the Brokerage’s City of LondonBusiness Traineeship programme, I was calledback the next summer to work within the ProjectManagement team – it was here I realised myskills and interests lay within trading. I initiallyliked the idea of M&A but quickly realised thatthe hours of work (most days past midnight)did not suit me at all.Debodun: Similarly, my first taste of thetrading floor was during my internship via theBrokerage at HSBC. I was fascinated by howbusy it was and the multiple screens everyoneseemed to have. I didn’t know too much abouttrading at that point so sought to read somebooks and do some more research. Iparticularly found Market Wizards by JackSchwager an interesting read, and after myinternship I started to navigate my careerinterest towards trading – I felt sure that’swhat I wanted to do.The common perception is thattraders are spending their dayshouting at each other on the floorof the stock exchange – how closeis that to your typical day?Xavier: I completely agree, and to be honestthat is what my mum still thinks I do! The guysyou see in coloured jackets and shouting doesstill exist. However, like an athlete, there aremany positions that a trader could play, so thejob could vary. I am a broker, and my clientsare ‘buy-side’ clients such as Hedge Fundsand Asset Managers. I execute orders ontheir behalf, from single stocks to basketsand programs. Other than the trading aspect,we also maintain client relationships, providemarket updates (stock and sector specific)and provide cost analysis (TCA) to our clients.Dhilan: The most shouting on the tradingfloor I’ve witnessed was three months intomy job back in 2007 when Lehman Brotherscollapsed. It was indicative of the heightenedlevels of market activity and stress amongst thetraders and sales. Now, I would say in mostbanks, the ‘normal day’ is a lot calmer.Ultimately if you work well under pressure andenjoy it then this is the place for you. You do8

sometimes need a thick skin and confidenceto work in such an environment.Debodun: My days are very different from thatperception. At GS it was more about makingmarkets; being the buyer to every seller and aseller to every buyer and managing the risksaround that. There was also a strongoperational aspect to the role, which I hadn’tenvisaged. Currently most of my trades are withinternal desks managing inventory intra-firm.I’ve found that trading floors tend to be farquieter than you perhaps expect, unless there isa data release that takes everyone by surprise– nonfarm payrolls is always a big one!Can you summarise what a tradingrole actually entails?Dhilan: In general, the main features involve(with each holding different importancedepending on your exact role):1) managing risk (understanding all thepotential risks that you and your team hold),2) coming up with ideas (this involves a lotof reading the news or research and talkingto clients),3) taking positions (either short or long termwithin your specialised product),4) market making (very quickly providing aprice to the clients of the bank at all times)So you will certainly need to be accurate,quick, creative, confident and a team player.But I cannot stress enough that it is verydifferent in each bank, and each desk.Is it what you imagined it wouldbe like?Debodun: Not at all. I always saw trading asprimarily a proprietary function where you weregiven an amount to invest and the aim was tomake as much money as possible. In reality,however, whilst there is some element of risktaking primarily the bulk of trading tends tobe facilitating clients like Hedge Funds or RealMoney accounts. The example I always giveis Hedge Funds are like punters that go toLadbrokes. Investment banks are like Ladbrokes– we make the prices and the punters placebets. The environment is also evolving as newregulations on the back of scandals have beenprominent. Putting clients first and a reductionin reckless risk taking are high on the agenda.Dhilan: No. I haven’t actually traded in a‘normal’ market. There has been one crisis afteranother, which has forced banks and tradingfloors to constantly evolve. Like Debodunmentions, regulation is a big driver now whichis changing the landscape of trading and theday-to-day activities of most people.Xavier: Actually for me, it’s not 100% whatI expected it to be like but it’s pretty close.There are highs and lows in any job– what does a “good day” look liketo a trader? What does a “bad day”look like?Xavier: A great day could be if the revenuegenerated that day is above $400m-$500m.A good day can also be when a session isseamless from start to finish. A bad day is if(or when) a trading error occurred (Oh boy!).Debodun: A good day is one where everythingruns smoothly – revenue is generated, systemsare great, and you’re busy. A bad day is onewhere you leave the office not looking forwardto tomorrow either due to system issues,revenue loss, difficult client conversationsor an operationally heavy day.You’ve all been doing this a while,you’ve obviously got the hang of it!What’s the secret to being a greattrader?Dhilan: Ha ha I’m not sure I would say great! Ithink part of it is being smart about where youwork and even which team. I have seen manysmart people leave as their team/banks werenot the right fit for them in terms of personality.Also you need to adapt to the team, and tryand learn as much as you can in the earlyyears – especially from those who have workedin the markets for 10 years or more.Xavier: I’d say being honest, having a thickskin and being patient. Having a short memorycan also help – by that I mean if somethingbad happens, learning how to move on quicklyand bounce back is important.Debodun: You have to stay ahead of the curve.Always look to self-improve. Think how you canmake your days easier, how you can ease intothe next stage of development whether it betaking on more risk, more responsibility,managerial roles, etc. Always have a 2-3 yearplan, and renew it every 2-3 years, and ofcourse work extremely hard. Finally spend timegrowing your network internally and externallyat all levels – both senior and junior to whereyou’re at.It does sound stressful – is ‘burn out’an issue? Do your colleaguesgenerally see this as a long-termcareer?Xavier: Some people do see this as a long-termcareer. We do certainly get burnt out; I find aholiday is always the cure! It also helps findinga hobby to balance out the stress, or even justsomething to look forward to over theweekends.Dhilan: I agree, many people see it as a longterm career with good opportunities. But I guess‘burnout’ can happen, and does happen, butlike any other job if you don’t enjoy it, youshould move. There are actually manytransferable skills you would take with you intoother jobs – decision making, working underpressure, managing risk, innovation. Personally,if I ever left I would most probably dedicatemy time to starting my own business.Debodun: Every trader is different; manytraders want to trade in some capacity for aslong as they can in banking before movingover to the buy-side (hedge funds), whilst otherssee it as a short term career with aspirations tomove into management or leave the industryto start a new business venture.Lots of students join the BrokerageCitylink dreaming of one day being atrader in the City; what advice wouldyou give to them?Debodun: Academics are important – don’t gointo university aiming for a 2:1, aim for a 1stclass and work as though that’s what you want.Even if you don’t make it at least you have putin the right approach. Also, do your researchto check if this career actually matches up withyour skillset and if you have a genuine interestin it. Learn as much as you can, ask questionsand put some time into preparing for a tradingcareer. There is a lot of material online nowthrough Wikipedia, Investopedia, Forex Factoryetc. It goes without saying that you shouldapply to trading roles too – but remember thebest traders can bounce back from setbacks,so don’t be discouraged if your first fewapplications get rejected. Learn and persevere.Xavier: It is a very competitive job to secure,however do not be discouraged if you do notfind your dream job right away. If you dosecure an opportunity, it may be difficult tostart, but you always have to keep yourend-goal in mind. Once you are in, ask yourselfwhat motivates you. Some people aremotivated by money, some people aremotivated by responsibility, credibility, powerand the ability to have more choice to dowhatever they like without limitations. Asmentioned before, you have to always makesure you are honest, goal driven and optimisticabout every inch of your career growth. FinallyI’d say that the market has changed drasticallysince the 80s and 90s and it is not asglamorous and flamboyant as films and TVshows might make it out to be. What hasn’tchanged however, is the requirement of hardwork and a tough mentality, and althoughit could get messy at times it will definitelypay off.Dhilan: “Without a dream you get nowhere”– someone wise must have said this quote. Ireally am a believer that even if you don’t havethe best start in life, you can make your ownluck. I will let you into a secret – during one ofmy internships one of the managers told me thateven working on a trading floor wasn’t suitedto me, let alone becoming an actual trader.Finally, you travel back in time andmeet your 18 year old self – whatadvice would you pass on?Debodun: My number one focus at 18 was todo as well as I could at uni whilst also trying tosecure summer internships. I don’t think I spentenough time researching trading and preparingmyself for a trading career – however I wasfortunate enough to still end up with a role. Thelearning curve was extremely steep and this isoften the case but the more you learn beforeyou start the easier the first 6 months will be.Xavier: I’d say be patient, make time foryourself and others.Dhilan: Take a year out and travel the worldbefore you start work full time, as the optiondoesn’t come round again easily!9

Toib OlomoweweBrokerage Alumni Networkmember… and teacherDo you occasionally feel bored at work? I don’t. Not that Imean to gloat or anything, but when you work in a schoollike mine boredom is a foreign concept.It offered methis marriageof prestigeand socialconsciousnessI entered teaching as a bit of an experiment.As an undergrad I was smitten with the City;its bright lights and alluring prestige. This ledme to internships and/or offers from GoldmanSachs, Société Générale, Morgan Stanley andDeutsche Bank. But at the same time, I hadbecome very interested in education andquestioned why I had access to suchopportunities but friends I had schooled with,who were no less bright, had fallen by thewayside somewhat. This led me to Teach First;a national charity working towards a futurewhen no child’s educational success is limitedby their socio-economic background. Theirvision struck a cord and it offered me thismarriage of prestige and social consciousness.In the UK, the link between income andattainment is stronger than almost any othercountry in the world. Did you know the oddsagainst a state-educated child who is eligiblefor free school meals being admitted intoOxbridge are 2000-1? For a privatelyeducated child these odds are 20-1. At GCSElevel nearly 50% of children claiming freeschool meals achieve no passes abovea D grade. Overlay this with the fact that in2008, over 50% of all males and 70% of allfemales in the adult prison population hadachieved no qualifications at school orcollege and the picture starts to crystalise a bitmore. If you’re reading this and thinking, “Iwent to such and such a school and turned outok” or “I was on free school meals and still gotto a Russell Group university” then the starkreality is that you’re a statistical outlier. Fact.If you’re shocked, motivated or even slightlymoved by these statistics you can do somethingabout it. Increasingly, young professionals andcareer changers are making up a key part ofthe Teach First cohort each year. Last year, 22%of the incoming participants fit this description.They brought with them a wealth of knowledge,skills and experience that is invaluable andenabled them to make a real difference in theclassroom from day one. Could you do thesame? Your established skill-set is valued, andoften career changers are promoted to seniorlevels of responsibility relatively quickly to reflectthis. Teach First even have a dedicated team tosupport people like you through the applicationprocess and your time on the programme.They also aim to be as flexible as they canin regards to your personal circumstances.After my initial two years as a teacher at anacademy in Tower Hamlets, I joined Procter& Gamble and took up a role in CustomerBusiness Development. I loved the job and allthe perks you can imagine come with workingfor one of the biggest consumer goodscompanies in the world. I couldn’t, however,shake my desire to want to contribute moredirectly to “touching lives, improving life” andeventually decided to return to a middleleadershipposition at the same school. Thisshould reassure you that there isn’t a need toworry about being “trapped” in the classroomif you find out it isn’t for you. Not only is mystory a testament to that, but so is the fact thata school colleague is about to join McKinseyas an experienced hire consultant.None of us were able to choose where wewere born, how wealthy our parents were orwhat street we grew up in. How, then, arethese fair determinants of educational outcomesand, as a consequence, life chances? I sharethis vision of no child’s educational successbeing limited by their socio-economicbackground. Do you?For more information or to ask anyquestions feel free to get on touch with me:Toib.olomowewe@teachfirst.org.ukYou can also check out Teach First’s dedicatedcareer changer website: http://graduates.teachfirst.org.uk/what-can-you-do/changing-career10

It’s 2005 and Anne, a sixth former fromOur Lady’s Convent High School in Hackney,registers with the Brokerage for their City ofLondon Business Traineeship programme. She’ssuccessful and manages to gain a placementat German investment bank WestLB.10 short years later, and Anne is working atCiti and running the London Marathon! Wewere absolutely delighted when Anne agreedto raise some sponsorship for the BrokerageCitylink, and we had to ask her about herexperiences.Anne presents Bridget, Executive Director at the Brokerage, with some of her hard earned sponsorshipWhat inspired you to do the LondonMarathon?There are all sorts of reasons why I wanted torun the marathon! Growing up and watchingthe runners take on the riveting streets of Londoncome rain or shine I was inspired to be partof this big sporting event one day and makea history of my own. Having decided to startrunning a couple of years ago, I knew that thetraining and races will contribute to helping merun the marathon someday! Running can be foranyone no matter who you are, where you arefrom and what experience you have. Runningto me is about pushing your limits andeliminating those limits!It’s such a huge commitment – whatsort of training did you have to do?Well, I started my training by downloadinga training programme on my running app –designed to build up on the foundations anddevelop my strength, speed and endurancefor the coming weeks. I also attended runningworkshops to meet experienced andinexperienced marathon runners, which weregreat to grab tips, advice and guidanceranging from how to prevent injuries, stayfuelled and hydrated to how to keep yourselfmotivated on longer runs. I incorporated mytraining with yoga, circuit training, attendingorganised running events to meet the trainingrequirements, and not many know this, but Ialso took the opportunity to challenge myselfto ascend up and down the 14 flights of stairsat my workplace as often as I could. Therewas simply no excuse not to keep active!Wow – and after all that you’ve gotthe Marathon itself! How was it?Must admit I was terribly nervous whether ornot I was going to see the finishing line! It wasincredibly uplifting to run around the route andhave the crowd cheer you on – found myselfwelling up on numerous occasions! Just whensmall doubts began to creep into my mind,someone would call out “Go on Anne!” andit was the best feeling ever. I think everyonewould agree that no matter how tired your legsfeel, you find that one last blast of energy, withthe crowd behind you. The experience hasbeen incredible and has spurred me on toimprove myself as a runner and it’s certainlynot the last race you’ll see me in ☺And how did the idea of fundraisingfor the Brokerage come about?When I was approached a couple of weeksbefore the Marathon to help fundraise for theBrokerage, butterflies from nowhere werefluttering around in my tum! Lol! It did not takeme long after to consider helping a charity thathas helped me and many other young peoplefind opportunities growing up on the fringeof the City and Canary Wharf. I admire thework they do and if raising funds will allow theBrokerage to continue and deliver their causethen I am behind them 100%! Thank you forthe opportunity and seriously keep up thegreat work!

Tell us about the very start of NextGen, where did the ideacome from? And what the initial steps you had to take?In 2011, the Brokerage Citylink embarkedon a new partnership with State Street, theUS financial services company. Spearheadedby Jo McCaffrey, Vice President in StateStreet Global Advisors, they worked togetherto design a new mentoring programme thatwould connect the Brokerage’s talentedyoung undergraduates with seniorprofessionals within the firm.The next generationThe aim was to provide the participants with structured personaldevelopment centred around employability, career planning andbusiness skills. At the same time, the clear structure would ensureState Street volunteers were making a consistent impact evenif they had no previous mentoring or coaching experience.It quickly became obvious that this wasn’t your average mentoringscheme – just four years later, and no less than eight former menteesare now Brokerage Alumni working at State Street, with many morecompleting internships at the firm.With such a critical mass of Alumni working throughout the firm,they recently took the exciting step of creating their own employeenetwork along with other young professionals at the bank.Networking has always been, and will always be, vital to careerprogression in the City, but many of our Alumni initially find that visibilityand confidence are issues.So we were particularly excited to talk with the newest employeenetwork at State Street, NextGen, about why they formed an employeenetwork, what they’ve achieved and why other Alumni should think aboutjoining, or even creating, such an employee network. We spoke withBrokerage Alumni Network members Nusrath, Korede, Shpetim, Markand Uma along with Nusrath’s co-chair Jamal. Thanks to Hibba (anotherBrokerage Alumnus) for the pictures!This was an idea Jamal, Nusrath and a few others were thinking aboutafter our summer internship in 2013. Following the summer programme,it became clear that there were either few other young professionals inthe London office or they just didn’t have any way of contacting eachother. But being a part of the summer intern group gave us theopportunity to talk to people about our experiences in our respectiveroles, discuss any issues we were having with our teams, learn aboutother peoples’ roles and other parts of the business, like an informationhub but also like a support group.During the year, several students from the 2013 summer internshipclass returned, including some from the State Street youth mentoringprogramme, and we also connected with the three graduates withinthe Global Markets division. Jamal and Nusrath started building up aninformal network of graduates/students to help provide similar benefitsas the summer internship group, realising that we were now in theprofessional world without much guidance on how to progressor seek out other opportunities available in the bank.After Patrice Thompson gave a TED talk on millennials during the TED@StateStreet (find it on the TED website!), Jamal and Nusrath decided toset up a more formal network to support State Street’s early careerprofessionals, including summer interns, graduates and young recentjoiners. Consequently, we got together and fleshed out the core aimsand the structure of such a network.We consulted State Street’s Professional Women’s Network for advice onhow to create a formal internal network and who to approach about ouridea. They were extremely helpful and it was great to see that peoplewere already very enthusiastic about this new network. We were offereda meeting with the head of Global Inclusion, Pauline Miller, to tell herabout our proposal and she was very positive. This reaffirmed our beliefthat this was a network which was much needed.Working with those in our existing ‘informal’ network, together we wrotea mission statement and a budget proposal, which required approval.We found an Executive Sponsor and a Senior Advisor to be involvedwith the network, and after that, all the pieces started falling together.We had our Execs, we had our committee, we decided on the nameNextGen, we had an official budget and, then, just had to organiseevents and advertise NextGen!How did it move from a concept to an actual employeenetwork?We organised a meeting and invited our list of young professionals tocome along and hear more about the network and perhaps get involved.We had booked a room for about 10 people, but to our amazementa group of 20-25 people turned up. These people now form most ofour network, many of them on the steering committee which is a groupwhich helps out when needed. NextGen has two sub-committees – aPR/Marketing committee and an Events Committee. Both have chairswho are part of the management committee, which consists of theco-chairs, the executive advisor, the treasurers, the secretary and thethree business representatives. Many of The Brokerage Alumni are partof the network. Jamal and Nusrath are co-chairs; Hibba – Secretary; Uma– PR/Marketing Committee Chair; Kori/Shpetim/Patrice – SteeringCommittee members.12

What are the aims of NextGen, and what impact do youwant to have on the business?The aim of NextGen is to create a network of early career professionalsacross State Street, not exclusively for summer interns and graduatesbut for anyone with less than five years of experience working at StateStreet. We want it to act as a forum for topics that we are mostpassionate about such as internal mobility, talent development, careerdevelopment and the idea of working in a multi-generational workforce.For this to work properly, we also need the support of managers andsenior managers so NextGen looks to facilitate better communicationbetween these groups but also create networking opportunities for thoseearly career professionals involved. We have organised meetings withkey leaders across the business to introduce them to NextGen and askthem to consider the needs of young professionals are considered a topagenda item among senior executives.One tangible goal we would really like to see happen is a businesswidegraduate programme at State Street. Something similar exists in theUS for MBA students but not in the UK. It would be a great achievementif we could make this happen because many NextGener’s have talkedabout the benefit of having exposure across the entire business asessential to making the right choice in their career. We also would loveto expand NextGen to State Street’s other European offices where thereare a high proportion of early career professionals – e.g. Edinburghand Poland. Very recently a senior person at State Street Global Advisorssuggested thinking about taking it to India and introducing a similarset up there.What has the group achieved so far?With the help of Global Inclusion and the NextGen members, we haveheld two very successful events. Our launch event in March 2015 was apanel discussion of four senior managers across the different businessestalking about the challenges and opportunities for early careerprofessionals. At the end, we held a Q&A session and I was very happyto see a lot of challenging questions being posed to the panellists. Itwas a fantastic launch event with about 120 people attending whichsurpassed not only our expectations but even Global Inclusion’s – theattendance numbers were greater than even the more establishednetworks achieve.At that point there was a sense of relief for a lot of us, and it was a greatfeeling to know that they had turned up to support the network. Thatmoment made us feel proud to be a part of State Street, it demonstratedthat it is an organisation which is very open and supportive to the needsof all its employees.Very recently we organised a lunch with our Executive Sponsor, wherehe spoke about his career and the theme of standing out from the crowd.Again there was a great turnout for this event, with about 30 people inattendance.We received great feedback for both events and now other networks areapproaching us to host joint events. Also, many people are coming toNextGen to advertise opportunities that they think may appeal to earlycareer professionals. So within only a couple of months of beingup-and-running, it’s amazing to see NextGen being recognised as thevoice for early career professionals. For those of us involved in settingand running the network, this is one of the biggest things we could hopeto achieve. Going forward, there is a lot of pressure now to make surethis is something we can manage responsibly and fairly.What about challenges – what have you already faced,and what challenges do you foresee in the future?Our initial challenge was to battle the preconceptions people had ofNextGen where they thought it was a just a network for graduates,which meant dealing with some of the negative ideas some people haveabout graduates in any organisation. We also had a challenging timeexplaining that the network was not just for young people, and withoutbeing given a chance to explain the true aims of the network it seemedwe alienated more people than we garnered support from.However, we decided early on that for these reasons it was importantto reach out to the business and explain what NextGen was about andwhat we are aiming to achieve. Because as a network we were veryorganised, extremely professional and had a number of membersalready, people took us seriously and realised that it was not just a ‘Brat’sClub’. It was our launch event that was really the defining moment,where anyone who held those perceptions of NextGen or early careerprofessionals realised that we had something meaningful to talk about.Having six very senior people across the business talk at our eventand an audience full of young professionals and their managers gaveNextGen the credibility that it needed to make us the network we arenow. It is an extremely exciting time for us and we can’t wait for ournext series of events.In the future, as the network grows and members take on moreresponsibility in their actual jobs there will be some issues with managingour involvement with the network. But apart from that we feel like StateStreet is an organisation which is extremely receptive to the ideaswe have discussed with them and have engaged with us fully. Thechallenges for the future will be implementing changes as opposedto simply discussing them, but we can’t wait to drive that forward.13

Changing lanesNoor Khan is a Brokerage Alumnus,former Deutsche Bank analyst and currentleadership associate at social enterpriseproject ‘On Purpose’.I came across the Brokerage Citylink in 2006 when I was doinga Foundation Year at City & Islington College. I had failed myInternational Baccalaureate, so I spent my Foundation Year makingsure I got into university. But that was not the main aim; I had myeyes on a graduate scheme and was looking for any summer workexperience opportunities. My career advisor at City & IslingtonCollege told me about the City of London Business Traineeshipprogramme at the Brokerage and I applied.A few weeks later, Melissa called to tell me about an internship atReuters. I applied and was successful. At university, my experiencewith Reuters gave me confidence to apply for more internshipsmyself. With CV/interviewing skills under my belt and a lot ofperseverance, I secured a one-year placement at Credit Suisseand a summer internship at Deutsche Bank in business analysiswithin technology.The internship at Deutsche Bank led to a graduate offer which Iaccepted in 2011. I felt fulfilled in that I had finally achieved my goalof getting into investment banking IT. I enjoyed the financial rewards,training opportunities and on-the-job learning. However, I felt I justdidn’t draw deep relevance and meaning in what I was doing. I feltit was hard to see my impact on the wider world in such a largeorganisation.I knew I enjoyed volunteering through the Brokerage Alumni Networkand other charities, so wanted to see if I’d enjoy working in a charityor social enterprise. After three years as an analyst at Deutsche Bank,I decided to take a very big, very uncertain leap to move into thesocial sector.I found out about taking a new career direction by simply goingto career events around broad topics that interested me. Climatechange, technology, social enterprise, etc. As I met people andorganisations, and built awareness of each area, I identified thosethat resonated with me. I came across social enterprise, becamecurious and researched more into it. At the same time, I attendedevents around career change which all emphasised the importanceof basing career decisions on personal values. I learnt that byidentifying your personal values- what matters to us the most – isan essential starting point. I realised that I value working towardsa social cause and building innovation in tacking social problems.My research into social enterprise led me to discover On Purpose,the one-year leadership programme in social enterprise. ThroughOn Purpose, I gained exposure to social financing, problem solvingframeworks, campaigns, inspirational leaders, social innovation andso on. This experience has enabled me to discover more areas ofinterest, and through this exposure, I know my current curiosities liewith mental health and youth empowerment. I’m now on my nextstep of my journey to meet people, organisations and opportunitiesin the mental health and youth work sectors.Find out more about On Purpose: http://www.onpurpose.uk.com14

HOW YOUCAN GETINVOLVEDContact theBrokeragefor moreinformation!CONNECTwith the Brokerage on socialmedia and help us reach outto even more young people.You can find us on Twitter,Facebook and Linkedin.VOLUNTEERfor workshops in the City,career masterclasses andmore. Ask the Brokerageabout any upcoming events,or even host your own!NETWORKand spread the word aboutthe Brokerage within yourown organisation. Tell yourCSR and HR departments,or nominate them asa charity partner.RECRUITIf your team is looking foran extra pair of hands,or even a new graduateor apprentice, ask theBrokerage how theycan help.SUPPORTRaise funds for the Brokerageby donating to one of Alumnichallenge fundraisers,or even take part in achallenge yourself!15

The Brokerage Citylink is an independent charityworking in partnership with employers, schools andvolunteers to provide young Londoners with a “Pathway”of opportunities into employment. They have been buildinglinks between London’s financial districts and the localcommunities surrounding them since 1996.www.thebrokerage.org.ukFor information on the Brokerage Pathwayand how your organisation can help raiseaspirations and create a more diverseworkforce, please contact the Brokerage:The Brokerage Citylink65 London Wall, London, EC2M 5TU0207 628 9904admin@thebrokerage.org.ukCharity number: 1059173This yearbook has been produced with support from The Tanner Trust.16