Commission Management Analyst, EMEA Equities Review

I work in the European Commission Management team for the Equities division of the Investment Bank. My front office roles involves signing up new CSA (commission sharing agreements)with clients (hedge funds and asset managers), completing reconciliations and facilitating client instructions to make payments to research providers on their behalf using their CSA Account.

yes, selling. client interaction - people skills, confidence when speaking to others. Excel skills. the role has also taught me the foundations of trade knowledge within the Equities business. I am also learning a lot more about regulations within our industry such as MiFID II and there is a lot of working I am involved in which evolves dissecting regulatory guidelines and relaying feedback internally and externally through client decks. there is also another mantra of how pieces of work need sign off before client use and require disclaimers.

I enjoy the programme as I have been able to use the platform to get ahead of the game from where we are asked to start (in the retail bank cashiering) I managed to develop to Deputy branch manager within 12 months before completing an organizational insight rotation. this led to me securing a permanent role within the front office of the IB and I am yet to complete my degree!

I feel extremely valued as their are senior leaders in each part of the business who have gone out of their own way to help me realize my potential and help me achieve my ambitious goals. I have had the opportunity to meet with the CEO of the bank after his one-to-one catch up with the London based Equity Sales team shortly after joining the bank. The EMEA Head of Equities was also my first boss and I have carried on my relationship with him as a mentee. I was also gifted a lunch with Tushar Morzaria, the Group CFO. This one-to-one lunch scheduled for one hour lasted 2.5 hours (a truly inspirational experience).

I believe that the Barclays Degree Programme (now known as the Barclays HA in Leadership and Management) has been well managed in my first 2 years however after a change in management and as the Early Careers team expanded to encompass other HA's under their apprenticeship offering. the day to day managing, short and long term strategy for this specific programme has not been executed effectively. this is upsetting to see the managing and usual processes of running this programme have defaulted worst into a condition which may seem less attractive to be a part of when I first joined.

The university have been unequivocally helpful in providing around the clock points of contacts for IT/tutors/assignments/general queries in order to make studying away as comfortable and efficient as possible. Our head tutor who manages the programme makes every effort to build a relationship with all trainees on this apprenticeship providing re-assurance with all of their studying requirement's.

My HR BP has always been proactive in making sure the individual needs of being a degree apprentice externally sourced within the business are met and other benefits we are entitled to are made aware to our line managers. my mentors since joining the programme have always provided the best advice in terms of developing within the business area I am in making sure my business side of the learning never stops and I am able to take on further roles.

The salary package has fluctuated since I have joined and the programme has introduced an incentive structure. the cost of living in central London has been difficult. with habitable residential accommodation student or private and within a reasonable travelling distance to working locations in the City the cost of living against our comp is definitely not balanced. two colleagues I know have had to take up additional work on the weekends and I have also had to take a loan out from the bank in order to cope with the cost of living in London. this should be revised for different apprentices and their location. I also know colleagues who have left our cohort as their comp was simply not enough to maintain their existing lifestyle (some with a family to support) therefore could not stretch the 3 years before moving on to a healthier salary.

within the HA community, there are no opportunities to socialize with other HA apprentices within your location. this is disappointing and could be useful to new joiners hoping to expand their network. there are opportunities year round to volunteer and represent the business at different events i.e. schools and colleges career fairs.

No

As much as I would like to say yes for what I have been able to achieve, a new joiner now would not be able to do the same due to the different circumstances in place. I believe the excess in number of apprenticeships available by the bank and their plans to release more vacancies and programmes (due to the govt. levy) I believe the Barclays Early Careers are running before they can walk as their headcount of their team is not growing enough relatively with the correct talent required to equally manage and retain the quality of the apprenticeship offering at BArclays.

you are now required to be 100% sure you would like to work in a certain area before you apply to a HA. check that the comp package and your lifestyle are suitable. Prep as much as possible before Assessment Days using practice tests and your interview skills (master your examples with the STAR technique)