Apprentice, Financial Services Professional (Chartered Financial Analyst) 2022 (Regulated) Review

I work in a Financing Team within the Front Office of a Bank's Investment Banking arm. A typical day will involve liaising with Colleagues, Clients and Third parties to analyse and structure loan facilities for Clients.

As part of my apprenticeship I completed Level 1 of the CFA qualification along with 7 Assignments and an End point Assessment (EPA). The main skill I have developed during my time as an apprentice would be my Analytically skills, the majority of my work is carried out using Excel, with some use of VBA and Python.

Considering how demanding a role within Investment Banking can be on it's own, at times it has been stressful having to work additionally hours and weekends to complete work. With that said, the course has been enjoyable from a learning perspective and has provided me with a good opportunity to get my foot in the door at a Bank.

There are some suggestions which I will be providing feedback on in regards to structure, the main suggestion being to teach parts of the CFA course earlier on, however overall I would say the course was structured well and worked for those willing to go above and beyond to succeed.

Sufficient support to complete the apprenticeship.

Good support to complete the apprenticeship and CFA level 1 exam.

CFA Level 1 provided a good grounding for the basics such as Asset management techniques and Economic which are relevant in the Banking/Finance Industry. In terms of Assignments, I found at times the learning objectives were very generic and not always relevant to my specific role.

No.

Yes

Generally a good place to work, friendly and relaxed culture and sufficient support to get you through the Apprenticeship and into a career.

Have a genuine interest in the role you are applying for and most importantly to be yourself so your personality can shine.