Ashley Aacha
The 10,000 Black Interns Programme aims to give young individuals the opportunity to explore a potential career in a range of industries.
The original programme targeted 700 companies from 40 sectors across the UK.
Its objective in 2021 was to place 1,000 black interns, but the projects’ success led it to grow to 10,000.
Some wealth management firms have got involved with this programme, among these is Canaccord Genuity Wealth Management (CGWM).
CGWM planned a six week rotational programme that focused on giving interns experience in the different areas of its business including: investment management; wealth planning; the chief investment office; and the funds business.
It first got involved with the programme in 2021, so this summer was its second year.
thewealthnet spoke to Ashley Aacha and Makinde Mise - two interns who took part in the programme – and Emily Diplock – the CGWM HR business partner who helped design the programme.
Makinde Mise
Ms Diplock explained the programme was designed on a rotational basis to give interns a “holistic view” of wealth management.
“There was a huge appetite for it to be done within the firm. We haven’t done anything like this before.”
CGWM do not usually offer internship schemes, so Ms Diplock said this was particularly special.
“We’re definitely going to make it an annual process.”
Emily Diplock
Before joining the programme, Ms Aacha studied economics and Mr Mise studied chemical engineering at university.
Ms Aacha knew she wanted to go into wealth management after she finished university, but found she lacked the necessary experience.
“It was a great opportunity to explore the various roles within the finance industry and see what I enjoy.”
For Mr Mise, he knew others who participated in the programme.
In particular, one of his friends who currently works at HSBC sent him the link on LinkedIn.
“They advertised it to me in a way, saying they learnt a lot through it.”
Finance was always something Mr Mise wanted to gain insight into.
Both former interns found sitting in the different departments especially helpful.
By doing so, they were able to “mimic” the work each department does, Ms Aacha explained. This allowed to establish where their interests lie.
“They gave us a lot of projects depending on which department we liked.”
Ms Aacha described a project where the interns were given a fake client and using their own ideas, had to allocate assets for the client to invest in.
Even though they were not doing actual desk work, the interns could replicate the work they do and learn from the experience, Ms Aacha said.
This allowed them to build their financial knowledge and helped them become aware of the different assets and investment strategies within the financial industry.
“This was very much a learning curve for Makinde and I,” Ms Aacha added.
Mr Mise described the whole experience as an “eye opener”.
He added that it showed him exactly what in wealth management he wanted to do and his interests lie in investment management.
Without the internship, Mr Mise said he would not be in the position to confirm that wealth management is definitely the career he wants to pursue.
“The internship is very influential in that decision making.”
Mr Mise said it is important for those who want to enter the industry to have that experience and enable them to know what they want to do.
When you surround yourself with specialists who have been in the industry for years, it “allows you to align what you actually want to do”.
For Ms Aacha, it allowed her to compare with her previous experience in asset management.
Prior to CGWM, she completed two other internships though the 10,000 Black Interns Programme – one with HSBC Investment Banking and the other for Marathon Asset Management.
Ms Aacha said it made her realise, like Mr Mise, investment management was what she enjoyed.
This is because investment managers autonomy in their work, she added.
When it comes to ethnicity in the wealth management sector, Ms Aacha stressed that firms should not limit themselves to a certain demographic.
“You want to have a diverse team where everyone is different.”
She noted wealth managers are working on improving diversity, but it takes time.
“Small steps are what is going to help firms improve.”
Ms Aacha also praised the fact that you can apply for this programme from any university, it does not necessarily have to be a Russell Group university.
“For people like me, who did not go to a target university, if I applied to certain firms, I may have not got an internship.”
Mr Mise added that insights from different backgrounds bring a broader range of ideas and opportunity for firms because everyone can draw on their own experiences to shape their working practices.
“A range of insights can really bring value.”
This in turn can help firms develop, he argued.
Ms Diplock said although it is going to take a long time for firms to be considered fully diverse, steps like the 10,000 Black Interns Programme allow a broader range of candidates to have an opportunity to explore wealth management as a career.
“I think it’s a good starting point for us”, Ms Diplock concluded.
