Careers

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Investment Analyst, Investment Consulting, Melbourne Michael is an analyst in our Investment Consulting team; he also provides the team with muesli bars. "I find that I'm able to look at any person around me, and identify something in them that I can strive towards."

Q. Why did you join Watson Wyatt?

A. Watson Wyatt was recommended to me by one of my family members who works in the financial services industry. To me, Watson Wyatt presented an opportunity to gain experience as an actuary but in a non-traditional actuarial field, which was exactly what I was after.

Q. What does your role involve?

A. A lot of my time is spent preparing reports and presentations for clients which involves communicating with fund managers to source information. A typical project might be to prepare a presentation which compares the relative merits of different investment strategies, for example, moving more of a client's portfolio into shares. This would include quantitative modeling, as well as the application of some qualitative points, based on economic and financial theory. Often I attend meetings with fund managers or clients which is always fascinating.

Q. How does Watson Wyatt support you as a graduate?

A. Watson Wyatt has a formalised program for development and management of employees' performance. This has helped me identify what I need to work on in order to achieve my career goals, and also enables alignment of employees' goals with those of the company. Study support is very helpful and quite generous, both in terms of monetary support and time off for this purpose. And, in most semesters, there's been at least one other person in the office taking the same subject as me.

Q. What are your favourite aspects of working at Watson Wyatt?

A. The learning opportunities are amazing. The people I work alongside are best-in-class at what they do. I find that I'm able to look at any person around me, and identify something in them that I can strive towards. As well, fund manager presentations offer the opportunity to hear people, who are often amongst the top investors in the world, talk about their insights on market events and impacts for investors.

There is also an explicit focus on employee development. Last year, the Asia-Pacific Investment Consulting team met in Bangkok for training. This year, we are meeting in Sydney. As well as the training, it's great to meet my colleagues from other offices.