Spring Insight Programme Review

I really enjoyed the insight programme that was put on. There was a full schedule put on for the programme with a diverse range of actitivitie and sessions for us to get the most out it. We were able to gain a good grasp into what the firm did and who they dealt with as customers.

We were made to feel very welcome throughout the programme at the initial welcome as well as during the different speaker sessions with senior directors. We were also highly encourage to engage with M&G in the future through their programmes and the was a strong emphasis put on the opportunities for students. We were also encourage to ask questions when we didn't understand things.

The programme did not involve any direct work for which we may have needed any support but we did go through a trading simulation game throughout the day where as part of a team we had to try and gain the highest return from investments. We were encouraged to ask questions prior to its beginning but after that it was up to us to go forward and tackling the trading alone (in our teams).

To a great extent - this is so in two ways. The first was through the trading simulation game, where we were meant to focus on companies as part of a case study and were aiming to gain the highest return. Each day there was a range of shocks put through via fictional newspapers and were meant to trade accordingly. This gave a good hands on insight into the world of trading which was useful. We also had a skills session centred around discovering our own strengths and using that to guide our career.

The programme was extremely well structured with a good variety of sessions and opportunity to move around the building. Time was kept very well and in order and were able to transition would session to the next with ease. There were, o felt, two sessions that were quit similar but aside from this it was well structured.

It was very professional and all that participated acted accordingly. With this in mind the speakers were often readily willing to laugh and add humour to their talks. There was obvious business dress throughout the participants which added to the professional atmosphere and made the event very enjoyable,

There was a skills session put on during the programme focussed on identifying our own strengths, through looking at the strengths that are visible to us and the strengths that other people see in us, as well raising awareness of strengths that we are yet to discover, The approach was interesting and hope to use this in the future. Aside from this skills session there was no other form of training and development put on.

It gave me a good picture what it would like to work at the company. We often had the opportunity to engage with graduates either through a graduate panel or a networking session and I was able to gain insight into the different divisions and opportunities that are available while working as a graduate, as well as the social side of things.

I was able to get a good grasp on the company culture and they made a good effort of trying to explain that to us directly. The two main speakers often talked about their culture and how they were set apart as a company focussed on asset management. They emphasised that they were primarily trying to get the best out of their consumer in a responsible and realistic way.

Relatively helpful. I feel the programme gave me a good overview of the relevant aspects of the company but probably will go further into researching things for myself just for clarity and assurance. It was useful to hear directly from graduates as those employees were probably most relevant to helping me decide but overall the programme was quite useful.

The insight programme required you to fund your own travel regardless of your location.

Yes, there was a networking lunch held for 1:30hrs over the lunch-time period where we engaged in a speed networking session with employees and graduates to ask questions and get a more detailed insight into what work they were doing. There was also an opportunity at the end to network further with graduates and form contacts for the future.

The events were quite useful. The speed-networking session involved rotations with as many graduates and employees as possible which meant that sometimes time was cut off and was not able to ask all the questions one may have liked with a particular employee/graduate. We were well provided with food and refreshments for both networking opportunities and was relatively well done aside from the above.

There was little emphasis put on the various activities outside of work socially, and this did not come up much at all in conversation either. There was, however, a lot of mention about the various certifications you could study for while on the graduate programme which was still relevant to hear. There were many opportunities to develop in these areas and was open and available to anyone interested,

Yes, definitely! M&G are quite a unique firm and it was interesting to hear about the types of work they get involved with asset managers. The trading simulation games were a good way to socialise and interact with the fellow interns and the programme structure was kept to time and well executed throughout.