Spring Insight Day Review

Was a really good insight into M&G Investments and thought that they spent a lot of time preparing/organising such an event. Well structured with lots of different trading games and talks from various people across the business. Lots of activities to take part in throughout the day and it was, overall, a really fun/interesting/good-learning experience!

Throughout the day there were lots of employees and HR staff at hand to answer any questions that I had - all of them were really approachable and helpful. Really liked the fact that during the networking lunch, a huge range of employees came down to talk to us (ranging from MD's to graduates). If there was any negative, it would be that there were a lot of people at the event and so not as valued as it could've been, but overall very good.

The HR Team were always on hand to help out with any queries/questions that I had. Also really liked the support/guidance from M&G Employees during the networking lunch (gained a big insight and lots of advice!). Overall - couldn't have done much better as everyone was really friendly and welcoming!

Not necessarily helpful for my degree studies, however extremely useful for career progression and general advice. Really good insight into what makes M&G 'tick' as well as what they are looking for in candidates. Also gave an insight into the investment management industry as a whole which was interesting to hear about different career paths within the Finance industry.

Was fairly seamless and a slick event throughout the day. On occasions our trading and discussions were cut down, however for the most part it was extremely well organised. Liked how there were also lots of breaks - lots of opportunities to speak to other students on the insight day as well as to hear from a wide variety of employees from the business. Really liked the trading game and how that wasn't just a 'one-off' game.

Lots of trading games which provided a load of fun and a good way of breaking up the day. I thought that if you were to cut down the networking sessions by a bit, the opportunity to have another interesting speaker would have been extremely useful. Overall, though, I thought that the speakers were entertaining and the structure of the event made sure that there was never a dull moment.

We had a huge variety of business speakers, as well as people coming down from the office upstairs to speak to us. I think the fact that I spoke to various managing directors and seriously high up members of staff just proves how much M&G Investments invested in us. They clearly dedicated a lot of time organising this event and it was extremely kind for the speakers to come and talk to us.

Really grasped a good concept of what M&G Investments is about (what their values are and what they value in candidates), as well as the investment management industry as a whole. By having the graduates come down and speak to us as well meant that we gained insights into the people whose jobs will be most relevant to us (as we may be them in a few years time!).

Realised what the company values and wants in candidates - which really useful when/if I apply to M&G! I would have liked it more if they had a longer HR section (at the end) which could consolidate everything that we picked up from the day, however for the most part is was clear and understandable.

Went from an aspiring Financial Advisor (M&A, Corporate Finance etc.) to really wanting to pursue a career path in the investment management industry. The trading game (albeit was fairly basic and simple) gave us an understanding of the various macroeconomic issues that can take affect onto their portfolios and it was really interesting to take part in the game.

Would've liked it if they would of reimbursed reasonable travel expenses, however seeing as they had two days worth of 150 students, I can totally understand why they didn't offer this. If there was any improvements however, maybe they could have reimbursed expenses of up to £50 in order to attract more students?

Frequent opportunities were abundant and there were numerous occasions to network. Also a wide variety of people to network with - Managing Directors with 30+ years experience, to previous interns and now current graduate employees. This meant that there was a wide variety of advice and lots of different people to speak to.

Really liked the networking lunch, however some of the student networking ones were slightly awkward. This wasn't because often people already knew each other before they came (from same universities of from similar previous events) and so they stuck together in groups. If there was more 'forced' opportunities to mix up the group then this would've worked better.

Yes there seem to be numerous opportunities which range from company sports teams (netball, football to name but a few!) as well as various charity events. Also the availability to travel. This is sort of included within work, however there appeared to be lots of opportunities to move within the business to another part of the company which is based abroad - really interesting!

I thought that the day was extremely well structured, with loads of opportunities to network and learn/build upon your knowledge of the finance industry (and specifically investment management). It was really interesting how M&G used the trading games and I genuinely felt welcomed and a valued member of the company (for the short term that I was with them!). Would definitely recommend the insight to a friend and I'll definitely be applying to their summer internship next September!