Graduate profiles

Meet our graduates and hear what they have to say about the different graduate schemes they’re participating in.

Name: Holly Johnstone
Training scheme: Commercial Management Graduate Scheme
Current position: Rotation no. 7 (Retail Sales)
University: University of Edinburgh
Degree: MA (hons) Economics and Politics

What was your motivation for applying?

I knew that I wanted to work in the financial services but with the banking sector being challenged from every angle I felt asset management offered more opportunities. M&G specifically attracted me because of the business wide graduate rotation programme that it offers. I felt it was a great learning opportunity that would open my eyes to all the different functions of an asset management business and would allow me to make an informed decision about which direction I wanted to take my career.

What are you up to now?

I am now in month 14 of 18 and in my penultimate rotation, so I am currently looking for a permanent role. Although I have an idea of where I would like to end up, it is a challenge to decide on the best route as each business area has such an interesting but different offering.

What's your verdict?

The programme has been everything I hoped for in terms of exposure to different business areas. There are naturally highs and lows with a rotation programme as some placements are bound to interest you more than others. However, I believe that if you try to get the most out of each rotation you will be rewarded with a fantastic learning opportunity that enables you to understand a business end to end and results in an invaluable network of people across the business that others who have been at M&G for many years cannot compete with.

Name: Davide Andaloro
Training scheme: Commercial Management Graduate Scheme
Current position: Fund Managers Assistant (Macro Investment Business)
University: Bocconi University (Milan, Italy), Copenhagen Business School (Copenhagen, Denmark)
Degree: MSc in Economics and Management of Innovation and Technology, MSc in Management of Innovation and Business Development

What was your motivation for applying?

I believe that we are in the most interesting years that the asset management industry has ever experienced: there have been more changes within the industry in the past few years than in the previous 20. Change spurs learning. What’s more, the industry is becoming more and more important for the future of all of us. It is extremely interesting to see how fast the industry is changing and it is exciting to be an active part of this change. Investors’ behavioural patterns are changing, triggered by economic and market conditions.

I saw this job post online, both on Milkround and on my university (Bocconi) internal website. The way this programme was structured allowed me to look at the industry from different but complementary angles, and to build "hands-on" knowledge by working with different teams within M&G. I believe this programme is an excellent starting point for those who aim to build solid roots and would like to work in the industry in the long term.

What are you up to now?

I completed all my rotations and I successfully managed to settle into the Macro Investment Business team. My knowledge of economics has been of extreme importance in obtaining this position. The "macro" investment style, tightly coupled with behavioural finance elements constitute to me a binomial of enormous interest. In this team it is amazing how much one can learn!

What's your verdict?

Extremely positive. The rotations were very valuable and I am extremely happy to be in MIB now. The corporate culture and atmosphere are great, and everyone is always happy to help. I truly recommend this programme.

Name: Brian Sng
Training scheme: Commercial Management Graduate Scheme
Current position: Client Relations Associate
University: London School of Economics (LSE)
Degree: MSc Philosophy of Science

What was your motivation for applying?

I wanted to work in a large, reputable asset management firm, and specifically wanted to learn as much as possible about how an investment management firm works, and thought that this unique scheme at M&G was a good way to achieve that. It is designed to give you broad exposure and unique insight into how the different cogs of the machine work.

What are you up to now?

After going through a year of rotations, I decided to relocate to M&G's Asia office, taking up a role as a Client Relations Associate in my home country of Singapore, supporting the sales and distribution of M&G's funds in Asia. The role involves servicing existing clients, and developing new relationships with private banks and other intermediaries in Asia.

What's your verdict?

The Commercial Management Scheme is an excellent way for people new to the industry to get a good insight into the many moving parts of an investment management firm. In the scheme, I worked with the following teams: i) M&G Asia, ii) Fixed Income, iii) PRUPIM, iv) Investment Specialists. This exposure had helped me to achieve my initial objective of learning how an investment management firm works, and gave me the valuable opportunity to explore which area of the business I wanted to work in. I would highly recommend the programme. 

Name: Alistair Bruce
Training scheme: Investment Graduate Scheme
Current position: Global Equity Team
University: University of Bath
Degree: BSc in Economics

What was your motivation for applying?

Having had a keen interest in financial markets, the M&G graduate programme ticked all the boxes in terms of offering an excellent platform to a career in the asset management industry. The programme was particularly attractive as it provided extensive exposure to front office areas of the business and for me, particularly the equities business. M&G has a significant number of the best long-only fund managers in the City and the opportunity to work with them was highly appealing.

What are you up to now?

Having rotated through the Global Equities team in January 2012 I was later offered a position to work as an equity analyst within the Global Leaders franchise. The role is to support Aled Smith, Fund Manager of the American and Global Leaders Funds as a generalist analyst. The scope of the work undertaken is broad ranging, however typically centres on company specific analysis or portfolio construction. Understanding businesses which fit the fund mandate is important, and work is focused on understanding business models from first principles and fundamentally how they create value for the equity owners of the business (i.e. M&G’s clients).

What's your verdict?

The investment graduate programme provided me the opportunity to gain a full time position in an equity fund management team and therefore the experience has been highly positive.

Name: Gizem Topoglu
Training scheme: Business & IT Analysis Graduate Scheme
Current position: Business Analyst
University: UCL, City
Degree: MSc Management, BSc Hons Business Computing Systems

What was your motivation for applying?

My interest in a Business & IT career started with a degree in Business Computing Systems. From previous work experience within IT, I recognised I enjoyed the variety and the challenging nature of the work. After reading about the scheme online, I understood that the Business Analyst role offered not only variety and challenging work, but also a very strong learning ethic. It has proven to be all of this and more!

What are you up to now?

I am a Business Analyst working within the Analysis team. Throughout my time within Business Change, I have worked on large projects and small scale change initiatives. Every project is completely different, and this adds to the variety and challenging aspect of the role. This also means there has been great opportunity to learn about different systems, technologies, processes and more.

What's your verdict?

M&G’s culture is built around enthusiasm, support and investment in the development of its people's potential. From day one you are treated as a member of the team and entrusted with real responsibility.