How did you get your job at Aon and what attracted you?

I joined the Investment Practice at Aon in September 2012, having undertaken the internship programme the previous summer. I first became interested in pursuing a career in investment consulting after studying a number of investment-focused modules as part of my degree. I found these to be my favourite modules, which led me to explore the various career opportunities in investment. I decided upon investment consulting as it allows you to develop a broad knowledge of the investment world, given that it involves dealing with large institutional clients who hold a range of investments across many asset classes and fund managers. I was also attracted by the consulting aspects of the role, such as writing papers and presenting at client meetings.
I applied to join the Investment Practice at Aon Hewitt in particular as it is one of the largest and most successful firms in this field globally. This has allowed me to benefit in various ways. One of these is that I have had the opportunity to work on numerous household name clients, spanning across various industries such as Banking, Utilities and Car Manufacturing. This has helped to broaden my knowledge of different industries and types of clients.
Another benefit is the breadth of resource and knowledge that we have in-house, including the specialist teams which are the Global Asset Engine (Asset Allocation and Manager Research), Risk Modelling and Delegated Consulting Services. Working with specialists in these teams as well as the many experienced consultants in the client teams provides the opportunity to develop a deep investment knowledge.

What does a typical day look like?

A typical day for me involves monitoring the investments of my clients, answering queries from asset managers and clients and drafting papers such as manager selection reports and slide decks for Trustee meetings. I also spend time reading up on investment issues and new ideas in the papers circulated by our specialist teams.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

If I had to choose a favourite aspect of this role, I would say it is the variety of work that we do. As I have a range of different clients, all with distinct investment strategies and specific requirements, every day brings with it a new challenge. This prevents the work from becoming monotonous or repetitive and helps us to learn about the investment industry more quickly.