You could join a team working in any one of the following areas within our Asset Management.  This experience will provide you with a unique opportunity to explore and understand our range of activities, and you'll get to work with some of the most dynamic professionals from across the business.

We'll help find you a role that matches your interests, skills and ambitions with our business requirements, but even at application stage it will help both you and our recruitment team if you have some idea of your own preferences and aptitudes.  We've outlined each business group below to give you some insight into the type of challenges you can expect from us.

Currency
Roles here might be project-based, such as developing and optimising trading models.  Alternatively, you may work with fund managers to enhance or rebuild the business-critical spreadsheet models that generate vital information each day.

You could also take on Portfolio Assistant tasks, producing orders and maintaining accounts on a daily basis and creating trades for groups of accounts to reflect changes in strategy. In the process, you'll get a detailed insight into how accounts are constructed and a full understanding of how the business works.

Equities
You would be assigned to one of several roles, depending on your aptitude, your interests and the firm's needs.  It might mean working with a Fund Manager, focusing on growing a particular set of funds through shrewd investment decisions.

Alternatively, you could work in Equity Research, where skilled analysts track hundreds of key companies to assess their attractiveness as an investment, meeting with their senior management and analysing their financial reports.  In-house equity analysis has an enormous influence on investment decisions.

Fixed Income
As an analyst, you would be assigned to a particular function, either in quantitative and credit research or assisting senior portfolio managers or product specialists.

In research, you'll expand your knowledge of fixed income capital markets and products, risk management and performance analysis.  Within the portfolio management team, you'll gain an insight into the firm's core fixed income portfolio and transaction management capabilities.  Within the product specialist team you'll work on servicing our existing extensive client base, aid in the acquisition of new business and also in developing new products and strategies to capitalise on constantly changing financial market conditions.

Operations
In trade support, learn the nuts and bolts of how trades are confirmed and settled in the real world. Learn how residual cash is invested in the overnight money markets by training to be a cash manager. Stretch those relationship skills by helping to oversee an outsourced service provider delivering to targets. Or work on the retail transfer agency space and learn how a modern Transfer Agency function operates.

Risk
Work with lines of business to understand their processes and workflows to identify potential problems. Assess problem areas and suggest potential controls to mitigate the risk. Call on your relationship skills to engage people to push changes through.

Legal, Compliance
You could be involved with new contract negotiations, co-ordinating the many inputs needed to root out any issues in the Legal department. Or look to understand and assist with the compliance environment in either the Investment or retail worlds.

Sales, Marketing
Assist in the sales initiatives under way for the Institutional or Retail businesses.
Project and organisational skills are always invaluable when the sales teams are looking to bring in new investment or retail clients. Partner with marketing to target prospective clients and raise the profile of our company name and products.

Client Services
Be part of the interaction with clients on a daily basis, be it around client reporting queries, performance numbers or details of cashflows. A good grounding in the Asset Management business can be obtained in many of the roles in Client Services.  In the Retail area, get involved in initiatives to improve the client experience and deliver efficiencies.

Finance
Roles may involve planning for mid year or year end budget numbers or producing financial forecasts, meeting with different business areas helping to raise transparency on costs and understanding why and where costs have gone or getting involved in producing financial reporting for senior management.

Can you do this?
The ability to learn quickly in this business area is essential.  But we're also looking for people with a proven interest in the financial services industry, especially on the fund management side.  We'd like them to appreciate the scale of opportunity here, and have the will and enthusiasm to exploit it by working their way up.

We want to meet challenging, analytical people who recognise patterns in data and events and who can quickly clarify the key issues in complex situations.  You'll need to be someone who can guarantee accuracy under pressure, and deal with competing demands; who can make confident decisions having rapidly evaluated the alternatives.  We are looking for people who can express ideas, deliver concise relevant information. People who are ready to develop skills in initiating, managing and maintaining colleague and client relationships.

The Asset Management business is based on long-term mandates and relationships, so it suits people who are analytical and thorough.  We need to keep on top of the volatile markets in which we invest, however we are judged by our clients on long-term performance rather than daily or monthly results, therefore long-range vision, focus and tenacity are more important than instant impact.  While flexibility and commitment are very important, working hours are typically shorter than in Investment Banking, and weekend work is rare.

There's a lot to learn, but also a huge opportunity for the right kind of person to make an impact in Asset Management.  If that right kind of person sounds like you, then let's start talking.

Our training
Training in Asset Management involves internal and external training courses alongside work experience and is designed to allow you to tailor your learning to match the nature and timing of the challenges in your daily work.

As a graduate trainee, you would start the programme with initial London-based training to help get you started in the job, and to enable you to form relationships with your peer group.  After this, our trainees move into their assigned team, and a great deal of learning takes place on the job as this is simply the fastest way to understand the specifics of the team in which they are working.  Surrounded by experienced professionals who have the knowledge you need, you'll find your confidence and competence growing daily.

Formal training continues with the Investment Management Certificate and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exams, which are external qualifications.  The firm funds both sets of exams, and offers study leave to help you dedicate enough time to devote to the material.  The highly-rated CFA is taken in three stages, usually over three years, and is the globally recognised qualification for asset valuation and portfolio management professionals.

In addition, an extensive range of 'soft skills' training is available ' such as negotiation, communication skills, and how to make successful business presentations.  You'll also have access to our career management system, which provides tools to help you analyse your skills, aptitudes and preferences, and to access advice on how to manage your career and achieve your goals.