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The Melville Independent Plc Internship Programme, with Brooke Armstrong

 

This summer, Brooke spent six weeks with us shadowing various members of the team to gain a well-rounded and comprehensive experience of the IFA industry. Here’s what she had to say about her time with us:

“My time at Melville Independent began with learning how to sort the company correspondence, kindly taught by Christine Keane (Senior Advisor Support). This was one of the responsibilities I had each morning and evening, allowing me to get to know the team quickly as I would distribute the letters to the recipients in the office.

I quickly got started, shadowing Alex Bruce (Financial Planner) during which I gained an insight into the role of a financial advisor. I learned how to create cashflow statements for clients, as well as familiarising myself with software platforms in which I was able to compare funds and forecast predicted return rates; comparing them to the benchmark to see if they were doing well and therefore being a good investment option for the client.

I had the unique opportunity of spending the day at abrdn on George Street with Andrew White (Advisor Support) where we were given in-depth presentations about abrdn’s products as well as overall tax wrappers and pensions. It was fantastic to see my university course content come to life in the real world and a valuable experience that I will take with me into my future career.

In my second week, I started a New Business Project with Jack Ferguson (Corporate Financial Planner) to find new corporate clients. My role involved finding and researching appropriate businesses and writing to them to offer our services via an initial discussion. This task showed me how important it is to be proactive in finding clients that may need your expertise.

A highlight of working with Jack was when he proposed a role-play meeting in order for me to gain some practical skills in the corporate field. This task allowed me to create a fact find (a document outlining the hypothetical client’s details and objectives) for his character ‘John Brown – Company Director’. Once the fact find was complete, I moved onto researching and forming my own recommendations and solutions. Jack gave me great feedback on my proposals and the experience taught me so much about the practicalities of financial planning and gave me confidence when speaking with clients.

During my time at Melville Independent Plc, the company was undergoing a software upgrade from Advisor Office to X Plan. I enjoyed helping to transfer over client data and exploring the new platform, learning as I went along with the rest of the team.

Finally, I had the pleasure of shadowing Alan Mainwood (Finance Director) who deals with most of the financial in-and-outgoings at Melville. He showed me what his role entails, giving me a great insight into the ‘behind the scenes’ work that is carried out in each business and how important it is. As well as plenty of Excel top tips!

Overall, I have had a fantastic time at Melville Independent Plc. It is an extremely close-knit and friendly workplace where everyone is very welcoming. I have learned so much about the IFA industry as well as unwillingly attained knowledge about the vast worlds of golf and football from time spent in the office. I am very excited to see what the future holds for Melville and am extremely grateful for the experience.”

Brooke was a pleasure to have working with us on the Internship Programme and we wish her all the best with the rest of her studies. For more information regarding Melville Independent Plc’s 2023 internship programme please contact Anita McIntyre at:

anita@mi-plc.co.uk

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