At Smith & Williamson we recruit high calibre people with the skills, knowledge and commitment to meet the demands of the business. The graduate programme is a structured training programme combining practical experience with technical studies, as well as providing numerous opportunities to increase your skill set with internal courses ranging from personal impact and negotiation skills to time management to delivering presentations.
It takes a very impressive skillset and knowledge-base to earn the trust of a private investor. Our aim as an investment service is to understand the needs of our clients and create tailored solutions that enable them to both preserve and grow their wealth. We don’t limit ourselves to one in-house investment style, which means there’s no limit to the insights you can provide.
Our Investment Management teams work with private individuals, charities and institutions to help achieve their financial aspirations. We do this by understanding their requirements, attitude to risk and time-horizons to create and manage the most suitable investment portfolios.
What will I be doing?
As an Investment Management trainee, you’ll be learning a well-respected profession at a firm with an unparalleled reputation. We’ll teach you how to assess global economic strategies, understand how asset classes are ranked, and select sectors, stocks and funds as you evaluate risk while constructing high-performing portfolios that exceed your clients’ expectations.
Duties of the Trainee Investment Manager role are as follows:
- Assist partners with regular portfolio reviews
- Undertake basic analysis of companies
- Attend investment meetings, annual compliance briefing and internal/external seminars
- Draft client correspondence, e.g. valuation letters for approval by Director and responses to client queries
- Write up client meeting notes
- Assist in setting up new clients
- Check monthly/quarterly statements
- Set up client trades
- Liaise with Investment Settlement Operations and Treasury departments on administrative matters, e.g. stock transfers, corporate actions
- Ensure familiarity and compliance with FCA requirements
- Support the team by liaising with clients and their advisors
- Be able to deliver first class client service and work effectively as part of a team
What training and development will I receive in my first few years?
We believe that hands-on experience is key to creating well-rounded trusted business advisers. As part of our Investment Management team you'll gain invaluable experience spending time in the investment settlement operations, middle office, compliance, treasury and fund administration departments as well as studying for the Investment Advice Diploma (IAD) and CISI’s Masters in Wealth Management qualifications.
Academic requirements
- Must have or be on course for at least a 2:1 honours degree in any discipline
- 112 UCAS points (or equivalent) in your top three A-levels (excluding General Studies)
- GCSE English Language and Maths (or equivalent) at a minimum of grade 5