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Alison manages all the global product portfolios for this Edinburgh-based fund manager with £8.4bn under management. As such, she can invest in any stock anywhere in the world, making around 10,000 potential investment opportunities. As a director, she also carries a degree of responsibility for the firm in general. Alison originally read law at Edinburgh University.
Q: What made you choose a career in fund management?
Its balance between the analytical and the intuitive. I originally qualified as a lawyer, but I didn’t want to go into anything as restrictive as law. Fund management appealed to me because you’re pitting your wits against the financial markets: you’re not betting against reality but against other people’s expectations.
Q: Can you describe a typical day?
I typically arrive in the office at around 8.30am and start by catching up on what happened in the Asian markets overnight. There’s nearly always a market open somewhere and I try to stay up to date with the news flow. I also meet with companies I’ve invested in, or with companies that I think look interesting, and with colleagues for brainstorming sessions to share ideas. Most critically, I try to make time for that much under-rated activity: thinking!
Q: What’s the best thing about your job?
Meeting companies and trying to understand the people behind the numbers. It’s a question of really getting to know the strategy behind companies and comprehending why one might work and another might not.
Q: And the worst?
The realisation that you'll never know everything. You’re always betting on other people’s expectations and it can be difficult and frustrating.
Q: What’s the best investment you’ve ever made?
Emerging markets: they are still the least efficient, and so the markets of the greatest opportunity. I made some great investments in Mexico after the 1995 devaluation .
Q: What makes a good fund manager?
Not the ability to amass and analyse information, which is so(over)accessible these days, but the gift of judgement. That's very rare. You need to be prepared to sell even when you’ve lost money and something hasn’t worked out.
Alison’s tips- Check it out very carefully.
- Do as many summer internships as you can and ensure they expose you to as many aspects of the business as possible.
- It will also help if you have a real portfolio of your own investments – you need to experience the pain of losing your own money and learn from your mistakes.
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UK
