My Experience at Wellington Management

To many Commerce students, fund management is an elusive industry which often gets overlooked by the more mainstream roles such as investment banking, sales and trading, and management consulting. Over the past 6 months, I have had the privilege of working in a leading global asset management firm and it has been amazing!

Making the decision to defer university for 6 months is not an easy one. However the technical and practical skills I’m developing have complimented my university experience. My understanding of portfolio management has grown exponentially and I am proud to say that I finally know how to navigate my way around Bloomberg.  Every day at Wellington is a new experience and I know that I will utilise these skills further on in my career. 

What does the role entail?
I have the pleasure of working across two different teams whilst being an intern. I begin the first half of my day with the Investment Data and Derivative Services to ensure that securities, benchmarks and indices are priced correctly – this allows Wellington’s investment teams to have the most accurate and timely information to trade upon. In the afternoon, I work with the business development team in the Global Relationship Group. My role there varies significantly from day-to-day – for example, I could be preparing a regression analysis for our funds or researching emerging market stocks that our clients are invested in. I was also fortunate enough to attend a prospect meeting with a client to determine if we could provide solutions in their investment process.

What I love about Wellington?

• Flat Hierarchy: Wellington has a great culture where you have the ability to catch up with senior management to get career advice or gain a better understanding of the firm.
• Individual Development: Analysts and managers will invest their own time into mentoring and teaching you about the industry.
• Early Morning Meetings (EMM): Wellington has a very collaborative environment that is best exemplified by the daily EMM where the firm’s portfolio managers, macro economists and analysts around the world share their news, stock advice and research. I remember vividly my first morning meeting, where the conversation ranged from the Greek debt situation to the crash in the China A-Shares market. Truly this is a unique experience and connects the offices across the world (Boston-London-Zurich-Frankfurt-Hong Kong-Beijing-Tokyo-Singapore-Sydney).
• Exposure: At the Wellington’s Sydney office, you have the opportunity to meet with portfolio managers visiting from all around the world. Often, they run office knowledge sharing sessions where they provide updates of their stock ideas and investment approaches. 
• Health and Well-being: Wellington places a huge focus on well-being with great initiatives like the APAC steps challenge. Employees are given pedometers to compete in global challenges for the highest step count – believe me, everyone gets competitive!

Although my time with Wellington Management is over a short 6 months, it has been an invaluable experience. It’s been a pleasure to work with so many bright people, and I’d recommend the experience to anyone!

Charmian Zhang
Final year Commerce student at the University of Sydney Business School, majoring in Finance.