Lesley O'Neill
Lesley is an Investment Director within the high yield bond team. She is responsible for credit analysis of companies in the TMT & Chemicals sectors and also has responsibility for managing the high yield portfolios.
Before joining the high yield team, Lesley spent 3 years in SWIP's investment grade bond team. Prior to joining SWIP in March 2001, Lesley spent eight months with Murray Johnstone as a graduate trainee.
Lesley holds a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics, Statistics & Economics from the University of Strathclyde and is a CFA charterholder.
I joined the bonds team as an analyst initially covering the retail sector, and quickly assumed extra responsibility for research in the consumer product sector within a few months. After a year in the team I was given portfolio management responsibilities, which was a big step forward & added a completely new aspect to my job. Over the subsequent 2 years, more funds were added to my responsibilities which involved different mandates & targets & a different client base. I was also given the opportunity & support to complete the CFA qualification during this time.
At the beginning of 2007, I was delighted to be given the opportunity to join the High Yield area of Corporate Bonds as an Investment Manager. I now have responsibility for analysing a number of High Yield sectors as well as portfolio management responsibilities for SWIP’s High Yield funds.
My experience at SWIP shows that you get a lot of responsibility early on & there's a lot of diversity in the job. Within 7 years I've gone from being a graduate trainee with little knowledge of accounting & finance, to having sole sector & portfolio management responsibilities, gaining a professional qualification along the way. Over the time its taken me to get here, I've been lucky enough to get exposure to a number of areas of the business, in each case having responsibility that has an impact almost immediately. SWIP is very focussed on getting the most from its largest asset, its people. I think that can only be a benefit to the people who work here as your strengths are applied in the best possible way.
Summary of a graduate career at SWIP:
- Responsibility - analysts contribute to decisions almost from day one. Everyone's opinions count. Bringing a fresh pair of eyes to a situation allows you to challenge some long held opinions within the team. Sometimes this involves challenging senior people in the team which can be daunting in the early stages of a career but this is a great way to learn.
- Diversity - I have had the opportunity to be exposed to a number of departments within the company which makes each part of added responsibility easier to handle.
• Interaction with other more experienced/senior people - SWIP has a very flat structure which makes it easy to amass information from others. I think this is key in this job as learning never stops & one of the best sources of information are the people who have long term experience of the market.
- Job is unique - there are always new factors driving the markets. The markets change daily & are driven by real world events, which make the job very dynamic.
- Opportunity to meet senior management of some of the world’s leading companies.
To succeed as a Trainee Investment Manager, you must have the ability to take well calculated risks based on thorough research, have the courage of your convictions to make firm decisions quickly and to stick by your beliefs when challenged. Ability to learn from your successes, but also your mistakes, is key to your career development and you must enjoy working in a constantly changing and dynamic environment.
