Wealth Manager Review

On a day to day basis my role is to support the CA and CAAs with any work they may have. This might include running background checks for clients as part of account opening or for Annual Review purposes. We also do a lot of tasks that involve making changes to the clients account, such as putting through contact details updates or processing a form that would allow them to invest in Non-Mainstream Pool Investments. We also collate cash statements and reports for the clients but this is more common at the end of the month.

New skills I have learnt is learning to work cohesively as a team with the other apprentices and how to become better at organizing and prioritizing work. We get a lot of tasks in the day and often at the same time and the most important thing is to understand how much time should be given to each task and which task should be given priority. For example, documents that need to be scanned onto the system are not as urgent as a client wanting to change their address, so we shouldn't spend the whole day doing the task that is not urgent.

I enjoy my programme to a large extent. It has helped me to get a better understanding of the financial services as well as the skills required to work in wealth management. UBS gives us a lot of opportunities to progress and our line managers are always supportive and able to talk to us about anything. What is also very good is that everyone is considered equal and no one is belittled or looked down upon for being an apprentice.

Our prgramme is very well structured. There is a clear timeframe that gives us an indication of when we should be completing the apprenticeship and everyone reminds us of this and tries to ensure that we meet this deadline. All of our exams and training are timed so that we meet this deadline and are able to graduate as CAAs. The training we receive externally is well organized, as well as the revision sessions for our exam.

I receive a lot of support from my employer. I have bi-weekly meetings with my line manager and as a team we have a bi-weekly meeting to discuss workload and to ensure this is fair. Our line manager is always available to talk and always does their hardest to ensure that our best interests are met. For example, I was very scared about our first exam and my line manager reassured me that everything would be fine and encouraged me and supported me along the way, as well as recommended that I change my study days to suit the exam and my revision which really helped.

We receive a lot of support from our training provider whilst working towards our qualifications. We are given phone numbers and email addresses to contact if we have any queries regarding any content for the exam. Our revision sessions are also very good, as well as the resources that we have such as the app and exam practice questions.

It helps me to understand the business and processes better and what I learn through my exam and training is all very relevant to my role in the bank and as a wealth management apprentice. It also helps me to better understand the role I am heading towards (CA). For example in our first IOC exam there was a chapter on financial advice, which helped with my role as that is essentially what wealth managers do and helped me to understand the foundations of becoming a CA.

There are a lot of socials available for us to go to, we have monthly apprentice socials, as well as a Christmas social and team Christmas and sometimes summer parties. There's also opportunities to get involved in sports as UBS are currently working on developing a rugby team, in the mean time those who play rugby have the opportunity to play for the JP Morgan team. Our business manager also sends us invited to professional networking events, I am going to one at EY next week.

Yes

It has provided me with great experience that I would have otherwise struggled to get if I had gone to university. The support we receive is really good and it will help in the long term with our progression. For anyone interested in financial services this is a great way to get your foot in the door and understand the processes in an investment bank.

Don't be scared to apply based on Alevels or GCSEs. I did English Lit, RS and Psychology yet I find that I fit in really well here and am understanding the exam content. Also don't be afraid to ask questions, everyone is happy to help and wants to see you do well.