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NBS students visit Aviva Investors in London

Undergraduate and postgraduate students heard from Aviva Investors employees – including Nottingham Business School (NBS) alumni – and took part in networking sessions at the London offices.

    Nottingham Business School students on a trip to Aviva Investors in London
    NBS students hearing from Aviva Investors staff

    Investment 20/20 are a careers site that partners with over 50 investment management firms to enable students to learn about career opportunities and entry points across the sector. Aviva Investors, one of Investment 20/20 partner firms, invited the group of undergraduate and postgraduate students from NBS to an event to experience their offices, provide a taste of graduate life in London and learn about the 200 trainee vacancies available across the sector each year as part of the Investment 20/20 programme.

    The students were given an insight into the world of investment management and how each of them were highly likely to be a customer of the sector (as a result of having a pension), learning more about the industry first-hand through presentations and interactive sessions.

    Nottingham Business School students on a trip to Aviva Investors in London
    Students were introduced to the Investment 20/20 trainee programme

    An introductory talk on investment management kicked off proceedings, from Claire Flannery, Careers & Talent Specialist at Investment 20/20 – including a recent NBS alumni who had recently completed the trainee programme – highlighting the different job opportunities, routes and training available to new graduates.

    Speed networking was also on the agenda, a highly useful skill to master in the industry. Students were given useful hints and tips before putting their skills to the test with current Aviva Investors employees from across departments.

    An interactive day was then wrapped up with a city orientation activity, where students were introduced to the extent of the industry’s footprint in London and tasked with finding a number of investment management firms within the square mile of the Aviva office.

    Claire Flannery from Investment 20/20 commented: “Looking for a career to commit to is tough in a world with so much choice nowadays – our insight days provide the opportunity to develop career ideas from speaking with real people, so much more dynamic than just looking through job descriptions. The unique element of the Investment 20/20 trainee programme is the chance to learn about a whole sector and join a fantastic network of 200 trainees across 50 different firms – something it takes people decades to build up alone.”

    The visit was one of many excellent opportunities available to NBS students and a prime example of the doors that open and networks built at the University. MSc Finance and Investment Banking student Vladislava Prangadzhiyska, said of her experience: “The trip was truly amazing as it provided us with a personal perspective on the investment industry. In fact, before this trip I thought that investment opportunities are rare, and I never intended to research investment graduate schemes or traineeships. After speaking to a few Aviva employees, I now feel inspired to pursue a career in investment.”

    Senior Lecturer Graham Salisbury, who led the trip, added: “Not only was this an event that gave the students a terrific insight into a career in investment management, but it also gave them an opportunity to impress experienced staff in Aviva, together with representative from other financial sector organisations who participated in the day. And impress they did! They were a credit to themselves and the University."

    Published on 11 February 2020
    • Category: Business; Nottingham Business School