Do I have any chance to secure a grad scheme (Asset/Portfolio Management)

Hello everyone,

I am currently in my second year of studies doing my Bachelor's (Honours) in Business Management (Economics) degree, and I will graduate in the summer of 2024; the university is in the Uk, and the business school is triple-accredited; I have done some extracurricular activities by being Student Experience Link at the Students Association, and I was also a member of a political party where I participated in elections and other activities. Currently, I am part of society. I have some relative experience from 2019 to 2020, where I did an internship as Management Assistant for Insurance and Finance while I was at a vocational school for economics and trade for a year (Germany). I also have some unrelated work experience from working at a local factory. Sadly I couldn't secure any insight programme or a summer internship at an Investment bank since I had to work to support my family.

I plan to get the Micro-degree "Portfolio Manager" from Financial Edge since It seems to be well respected by financial institutions and finish it by this summer so I can then immediately start doing the CFA Level 1 and finish it before I graduate; I will also try to get some finance experience this coming summer at some commercial bank. I also have a certificate for Microsoft Office proficiency and I speak four languages English, German, Russian and Bulgarian.

Can I secure a Grad Programme, and if I don't, should I do the CFA Level 2 and get more relative experience by doing free internships and then apply for graduate programmes the following year?

Any advice/opinions, or tips will be helpful.

Comments (3)

Most Helpful
  • Assistant in PE - Growth
2mo 

Not sure of what the micro-degree is, but just be careful, please don't spend ££££ to undergo training from a provider.

The experience at a commercial bank would be amazing, can definitely try to leverage that.

CFA might be cool but wouldn't put too much weight on it - also not sure how it works when you're a student but believe some final years can do it?!)

Might be worth trying to get some more relevant experience, whether in UK or back home, perhaps wealth management could also be an (easier) option to find experience for

Join some finance societies at uni if not already (incl investment club) to show interest, any positions would be a useful bonus

Especially if you can get some experience this summer, there's no reason why a grad programme would be off the table. Of course it'd be easier to intern at one of the places, but you can always re-evaluate at the end of 2023 summer and decide whether to apply for FT or SA for 2024. Good luck!

2mo 
diyandimitrov, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Thank you very much for your reply!

The only reason I decided to go for the so-called mico-degree from Financial Edge is that it was recommended by a person who worked at Goldman Sachs. He mentioned that some big investment banks use their micro-degrees to improve the knowledge of recent graduates. 
https://www.fe.training

And yes, as far as I know a student during his last year of studies can start doing the CFA level 1.

  • Assistant in PE - Growth
2mo 

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2mo 
kellihanson9, what's your opinion? Comment below:

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