Investment and Impact Graduate Analyst Programme

CDC is the world’s first development finance institution, with over 70 years’ experience in supporting sustainable, long-term growth of businesses in Africa and Asia. We have recently expanded our strategy to invest in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean. We’re a Public Limited Company and are wholly owned on behalf of the UK Government by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

As part of our new strategy, we will also be changing our name to British International Investment (from 4 April 2022), to more accurately reflect our central role in the UK Government’s international financing offer.

We invest with the aim of solving the biggest global development challenges by investing patient, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation.   We are invested in more than 1,200 businesses, directly employing around 900,000 workers, and our portfolio is valued at over £5 billion.

Our new five-year strategy will see us make around £9 billion of new investments by the end of 2026. The strategy sets three clear objectives: to invest in productive, sustainable and inclusive development. We will do this by supporting sectors that can accelerate economic prosperity, including financial services, infrastructure and climate, consumer-focused businesses, construction and real estate, and technology and telecoms.

Our Investment and Impact Graduate Analyst Programme lasts for two years and is preceded by a four-week training period, which is aimed at helping you to prepare for the programme.

The programme consists of three ‘rotations’. These include: nine months in one of our Impact teams, nine months with an Investment team, and six months at one of our international offices. At the end of the programme, you may be offered a permanent role with us, specialising in either an Impact or Investment field.

You will take on a variety of responsibilities over the course of the programme:

Impact:

During your rotation in the Impact team, you'll have the opportunity to learn from the best in the industry. Our Impact professionals work side-by-side with our Investment teams to actively manage the impact of every investment we make. This approach is designed to create deals teams with the professional capability and expertise to reflect our mandate to improve people’s lives, protect the planet and make a financial return.

• Managing investments to enhance impact by participating in the design and implementation of initiatives.
• Assessing development impact and working with the investment team to inform the investment decision and define impact objectives.
• Developing and delivering strategies for sectors to ensure consistency with CDC frameworks.
• Creating high quality dashboards for each investment involving desk research, facilitating discussions, and managing external suppliers.
• Aid in impact data compilation, validation, and analysis.
• Thinking through the environmental and social issues of our investments and how to reduce, or mitigate, risks.
• Contribute to cutting edge thinking and guidance notes on new and emerging, environment and social topics.

Investment:

The Investment team have two key objectives – to support private sector growth and to make a financial return.  Our teams are sector focused: we have a Financial Services team, an Infrastructure & Climate team, and a SMART Industries team (Services, Manufacturing, Food & Agri, Real Estate and Technology). Our sector groups are divided into product-focused sub teams for equity, debt and funds. Our teams invest in productive, sustainable and inclusive development with an increased focus on green infrastructure investments, financing digital transformation and gender and diversity finance.

• Analysing new investment proposals and deal opportunities, including supporting on and conducting financial analysis/modelling, valuation exercises, market research.
• Assisting senior team members with the due diligence on a specific company, sector, and country.
• Undertaking research into regions, countries, and specific sectors on an ad-hoc basis. This will include providing support to sector mapping exercises.
• Performing discrete project work around sector mapping to identify potential opportunities and to help the Investment team develop these into projects.
• Supporting senior team members on post-transaction management of portfolio companies.
• Assisting in the creation of reports, which will be presented to the Investment Committee for approval.

The candidate

We’re looking for individuals that can demonstrate an interest in, and passion for, impact investing, emerging markets, and development finance. You will need to have a minimum 2:1 degree in any degree discipline. You should have an awareness and appreciation for CDC’s objectives, current five-year strategy, and dual mandate.

The initial four-week training period will help you hit the ground running on the programme. But your learning opportunities will continue throughout the programme, and you will be encouraged to ask questions and challenge the status quo.

We are committed to diversity and inclusion and welcome all applicants regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.

Benefits and rewards

All candidates will join our Investment and Impact Graduate Analyst programme on a starting salary of £45,000. Progression will be rewarded financially as you complete each rotation. Further benefits will be available from the start of the programme, including a company pension and healthcare.

Want to find out more?

Join us for a CDC Group/British International Investment introductory session on Zoom, March 4th, 2022, 1-2pm.  Introduced by our CEO Nick O’Donohoe, you’ll have the opportunity to hear from colleagues in the Investment and Impact teams to find out more about each business area and ask any questions you might have. Find out more in our events section of the profile.