Hedge Fund Solutions Review

I felt like a valued member of the team. I was given the opportunity to attend the BOAML UCITS conference and talk to Hedge Fund managers and feed back to the team. I was actively encouraged by my managers to take control of my development which made me feel more valued. I could see my contributions feed through projects that were being used by senior management.

I felt the level of support given was just right. I was given enough support so I had confidence in completing the given task, but not too much support to the point where I felt I was being micro managers. I also appreciated my supervisors feedback on my as it was particularly constructively. I also felt that my managers were generally very supportive to any issues I did have.

Due to the nature of the work, my workload varied throughout the year and changed as I moved teams. Generally I felt I had a good workload as I always had something to do without feeling overly stressed. I also had a varied workload including, weekly tasks, ad hoc tasks, personal project and offsite meetings. I also felt very comfortable asking for more work when my workload was light.

I felt the skills learned will be very useful going forward. I not only learned useful market knowledge which will help me in the final year of my degree, but I also learnt how to negotiate office life in a huge international company. Alongside these skills I also improved my thinking and interpersonal skills. All of the skills learned give me confidence moving forward with my career.

The office atmosphere was great, it was a friendly and productive environment. We often went for team drinks which helped make me feel more welcome and part of the team. Our office was segregated from the rest of the bank which meant our office culture was quite unique. The only downside was that we had less of an opportunity to meet other people on the main office floor.

The placement was well organised. It was split into 2 six month placements within two teams of the same division. We shared a 2 month handover period with the previous interns which was very helpful. When we had to switch teams midway through the placement it was more difficult as we had to do our own jobs while training our replacements.

UBS paid for us to complete the IMC qualification. There were also speaker sessions organised for interns where speakers from different divisions presents which gave us a greater understanding of the bank. We were also heavily encouraged to reach out senior members of teams across the bank to network and learn about the different business areas.

When we first joined, there was no graduate scheme structure in place. However, two months before the end of the placement, it was confirmed that a graduate training program was being introduced. This greatly improves future career prospects within the organisation however the range of divisions in which the program is available is quite limited.

Our team were very generous and covered the costs of most team socialising events. Our wage more than covered the covered the costs of standard living expenses. However there is likely a skew between those who lived at home and those who rented as local rents were very expensive. For those who lived at home the cost of living and socialising was relatively very cheap.

There was a wide array of volunteering opportunities which we were encouraged to take part in. I had the opportunity to represent UBS at the brightnetwork festival and mentor at a local school. In terms of opportunities outside of volunteering however, opportunities were quite scarce. It would have been good to have internal sports teams or competitions.