Hi all, I don’t post that often on the board but I have always found the forum useful during my years of studying for the CFA.
Just looking for some thoughts on what to do, I know ultimately it is my own decision.
I am UK based (Scotland), 33, own my own property and no kids, I have a number of qualifications that are on offer here and have passed both the level 1 and level 2 paper. I have spent a large proportion of my career in Wealth Management since graduating in 2008, where I got an entry level position at Barclays Private Bank in a backoffice function, and worked my way through to front office managing client assets and supporting Client Advisors as I manage the discretionary piece of the client book.
The team found out last week that the company would be restructuring and that a number of jobs would be leaving as they look to centralize the investment models, taking discretion away from us. I have in turn put in to accept the offer to leave the company should they accept it as I feel that the new role would not leave much scope for me to flex any of the learning that I have accumulated over the years.
I am viewing the opportunity as a positive, and that it is a new chapter and I would like to leave Wealth Management behind, but I have no idea what I would like to do OR what part of the industry could be interesting. I am quite aware of the impact of technology on the sector as more and more of the business becomes streamlined, even advisory parts are being supported with robo driven platforms.
Ideally I dont want to move back to London as rents are so expensive, but opportunities are more abundant. I would welcome any thoughts or views.
thank you kindly. Mike
*** CV extract
Education & Credentials
Further Education
Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, August 2005 – May 2008
BA Honours Financial Services (Obtained 2.1) - Special focus on impatient capitalism in a market based system
Anniesland College, Glasgow, September 2003 – May 2005
HNC/ HND Accounting and Finance
Professional Qualifications
Investment Operations Certificate ● Investment Management Certificate ● Passed CFA Level I & CFA Level II
Professional Licenses & Memberships
CF30: FCA, License MCD01105 – RDR compliant ● SPS: CFA UK, License 34765 ● Member of CFA UK
Charity work & Interests
TEDx Glasgow – Relationship Manager, June 2016 – Present
- Develop TEDx community in Scotland and organise running of annual event
- Persuade new business of the merits of the TEDx platform and develop existing relationships
Young Enterprise Scotland – Business Advisor, October 2014 – June 2015
- Won best company in regional final with best concept and financial accounts
- Sound board for ideas, product development and consulted on year-end company accounts and final presentation.
Professional Experience
Barclays Wealth, Glasgow - Portfolio Manager (Full-time), March 2013 – Present
- Manage £85 million across discretionary product, covering Emerging Markets as part of Investment Committee
- Includes analysis of Manager research to understand position and unforeseen risks in asset allocation
- Formulate implementation of House strategy in regional portfolio models within framework
- Actively provide Bankers with commentary when required to discuss markets, performance, or strategy
- Can include pitch work, and face-to-face meetings to engage clients on portfolio activity
- Assist in composition of monthly and quarterly investment reports for our Charity clients
- Capitalised on a lack of data to Banker population by creating an Excel/VBA tool providing portfolio analytics
- Day-to-day management of the portfolios, via Charles River, Reuters 3000 Xtra and Morningstar platform
- Passed CFA level II exam.
UBS, London - Client Advisor Assistant (Full-time), September 2010 – March 2013
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Handled and supported growth of two senior client books for the UK key client team
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Prepared research on current market events and investment proposals supporting senior Bankers
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Mediated client concerns effectively where issues developed to retain business
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Supported administrative, clerical duties, and executed live market trades across all asset classes and currencies
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Passed CFA level I exam and IMC level 4
Bloomberg, London & New York - Research Analyst/ European ABS (Full-time), June 2009 – September 2010
- Saved time by developing in-house streamlining program for Floating Rate Note pricing against LIBOR and EURIBOR
- Solved client data queries regarding Fixed Income pricing and data
- Analysed investor prospectus on new deals for data to model cash flows and support issuance in the primary market
- Passed IOC level 3/ formerly IAD
Barclays Wealth, Glasgow - Corporate Actions/ Dividends (Full-time), June 2008 – June 2009
- Provided clients with a Corporate Actions service for all assets held in custody and liaised with Private Bankers
- Role involved large amounts of data entry, created a simple excel based tool to improve productivity across team