Investment20/20 Insight Days: Workplace Visits

Investment20/20 workplace visits

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This year, there has been a large demand for workplace visits. Students are provided with the opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes at an employer, meet a range of people, and take part in practical activities to build an understanding of investment management. For many students, it is the first time through the doors of a corporate organisation.

By the end of the academic year, Investment20/20 will have delivered 20 workplace visits, hosted by members, providing 600 students with an opportunity to discover the world of investment management. Some visits had a particular theme, such as an interview skills day at First Sentier Investors, technology focussed activities at Schroders and Legal and General Investment Management, and real assets at Savills Investment Management.

In March, during Scottish Apprenticeship Week, abrdn, Aegon Asset Management and M&G plc. all hosted students from Edinburgh schools, showcasing the strength of investment management in Scotland.

Responsible investments featured in many of the workplace visits. In April, the University of Westminster attended an Investment20/20 insight day at Cambridge Associates. Students from a range of degree subjects including fine art, interior architecture, computer science, psychology and more, gained an insight into responsible investing. For Cambridge Associates, the workplace visit reflected their diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy, and their expertise on impact investing.

I found the session about sustainable finance to be particularly engaging as I did not know beforehand that finance had any real impact on sustainability issues, such as climate change. This session essentially taught me something new and enabled me to learn more about how the finance world can make a real-world impact and difference for the planet. The employee carrying out this talk was very engaging and was good at answering some interesting questions my peers had. In a way, I felt inspired by him as he showed me that jobs that you may not think can make a difference, can, and if you feel strongly about an issue, there are ways in which you can incorporate this in your job.

University of Westminster student, visit to Cambridge Associates

University of Westminster visit to Cambridge Associates

Too many students don’t know that investment management could offer them a wide range of great careers. Cambridge Associates knows it’s important to put the work in to make our firm and industry recognised as accessible and open to talent from all backgrounds. Plus it’s always fun meeting the next generation of leaders!

Cambridge Associates

Workplace visits often form part of a bespoke programme of outreach aimed at a specific college or school. Over the course of this year, we have partnered with USP, a large further education (FE) college, delivering a range of activities to support their A level and BTEC business, accounting, and financial services students. Included in this programme were workplace visits kindly hosted by LGT Wealth Management, Vanguard and AllianceBernstein.

The Investment20/20 workplace visits were a fantastic opportunity for year 12 and 13 financial services students to understand more about the financial sector, including insights into ESG. Students were able to network with current Investment20/20 trainees and ask questions that were important to help them make career decisions.

Pauline Wilkins, Teacher of Financial Services, USP

Workplace visit to AllianceBernstein

As the academic year draws to a close, we have started our planning process for the next one! Investment20/20 members interested in hosting a workplace visit should contact Gina Griesel or Juliet Leith.