Colette Conboy
Investment Director, Standard Life, Edinburgh
How long have you been in your current position?
Two years
What exactly does your job involve? Briefly describe a typical day.
My job involves, and a typical day for me includes, some of/all of the following:
• Keeping abreast of research, and meeting company management’s, analysts, economists and other experts on world economies and financial markets so that I can contribute to the development of our House View strategy.
• Constructing and monitoring our Irish funds to ensure that they comply with our house view, clients’ mandates and all legal/regulatory requirements.
• Interpreting and implementing Asset Allocation for our Irish funds based on the House View (model portfolio) decided by our Global Investment Group, so as to apply the optimum asset class and market weights for each benchmark.
• Preparing written reports for clients, weekly and monthly bulletins and articles for financial publications.
• Frequent trips to, and around, Ireland to meet clients and keep them informed about markets, our strategy, performance and any other issues relevant to their funds.
Are there substantial differences between the range and scale of your world now and before? My previous job involved stock selection and strategy with occasional presentations and article writing. My current role includes asset allocation and significantly more client contact. I also spend a lot of my time travelling - by train between home in Glasgow and work in Edinburgh, flying to and from Scotland and Ireland and on planes, trains and automobiles the length and breadth of Ireland.
How much of your time do you spend outside Ireland? I now live in Scotland, but in my role as Irish Client Fund Manager I am in Ireland most weeks.
What was your initial reaction when you were offered this position abroad? How has your opinion changed since you have taken the job? I was delighted to be offered the job. My husband had moved to work in Glasgow and the opportunities and range of responsibilities offered by the position of Client Fund Manager with Standard Life Investments in Edinburgh seemed very attractive and so they have proved to be.
How does your operation fit strategically within the overall group’s business? Standard Life Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Life. Our Irish clients and funds are a strategically important and sizeable part of Standard Life Investments global operations.
What’s the best thing about being located outside Ireland? Making new friends and new experiences.
Looking back, how close is Ireland to the cutting edge of financial services Ireland Inc. is increasingly recognised as a major success story, having transformed an indebted, high unemployment peripheral economy into a prosperous, high-growth, value-added and respected EU member. Ireland is frequently held up, by the Scots in particular, as a symbol of just how successful a small, independent nation can be. The general perception is that Ireland has shrewdly developed and attracted in leading-edge technology, pharmaceutical and financial companies.
What’s the worst thing about being abroad? Being away from family and friends. |
