Investment & Actuarial consulting Review

The main work was working with data in order to create different reports about individual pension schemes. There was often training both in person and online going over new concepts and how to improve work. There are lots of opportunities of learn what more senior employees are working on and how it links to the overall work the company does.

Through different exercises which are run for the interns I got to practise my presentation and communication skills. One of these exercises involved creating and delivering a presentation on a given topic to mock trustees and then responding to their questions in a professional manner. I was also able to improve my investigative qualities through the process of creating reports by tracking errors through to their source and trying to correct them.

We were involved in a lot of client work during the internship. Through creating reports and setting up spreadsheets we helped create drafts which were then checked and given feedback on by more senior employees. I was never short on work as others were happy to let me be involved and I was a part of more complicated pieces of work which were really interesting and different to other pieces I had worked on

We had mentors who very helpful and willing to help us through any problems we had. Other members of staff were also always willing to help or show where support could be found for any problems we had. They were also very accommodating for illness and other transport issues and how we could work around them.

The people I worked with were very friendly and helpful and enjoyed working at Barnett Waddingham. There appeared to be lots of support for newer joiners especially people going through exams as they want you to succeed and give you the flexibility to do so.

I really enjoyed the internship. I found most of the work engaging as it required you to problem solve to make sure everything worked correctly and it was interesting to try and follow what was happening in some of the reports and calculations. I also liked the Bristol office itself and there were a few socials which were nice to go on.

Yes

Don't worry if you don't know much about actuarial work or pensions before hand. Still do research and learn as much as you can but they will help and support you and its more important to be able to learn quickly and then apply that knowledge well.