As a member of the leveraged finance team, I am exposed to various companies and their corresponding industries and learn about different types of deals that occur both in my team and across the investment banking floor. We advise on and provide a range of debt funding alternatives for various companies. For example, we look at debt funding packages for leveraged buy-outs as well as analyse and advise on different sources of debt (e.g. whether to raise debt in the Australian market or in the U.S. markets).
As an analyst, my role predominately involves undertaking research, performing financial analysis, preparing presentations and building financial models. Although routine is typically rare in my role, there are some key tasks which I perform daily or weekly including daily / weekly news summaries.
My role allows me to interact with various employees across the firm, ranging from other fellow analysts to managing directors. The work is constantly changing, and I am continuously building my knowledge about the differing industries, companies and general market performance. Working in the leveraged finance team, I am able to enhance my technical knowledge in the field of debt markets. The role has an extremely steep learning curve and is consistently challenging me, but is one that I thoroughly enjoy.
I aspired to work in a fast paced environment that constantly challenges me and provides me with various opportunities to further develop my skill set. I have always loved numbers, enjoyed problem solving and financial analysis and building relationships with people, all of which are core in an analyst role. UBS provided me with a fabulous opportunity to intern in Hong Kong under the Emerging Talent Program. Now as a Graduate in Sydney, I look forward to undertaking 6 weeks of training in London and I am positive that many more opportunities will come.
As a Co-op Scholar at UNSW, I undertook three six month placements at an industrial company, a leading Australian investment bank and a specialised accounting firm. This provided me with a valuable opportunity to gain an insight into the operations of a business and help determine my career path.
I was very privileged to be accepted into the UBS Emerging Talent Program, which provided students with an opportunity to attend a 5-day Global Summit in Switzerland followed by a four week internship in their corresponding financial hub. My four week internship was undertaken in the Investment Banking Division of UBS Hong Kong. As part of the Emerging Talent Program, I got a glimpse of what it meant to work as an investment banking analyst, gained insights into the industry, developed friendships with a group of motivated and driven individuals, and got to interact with some of the most senior employees at UBS. I enjoyed working in a fast moving environment, with a diverse range of interesting work and the Emerging Talent Program was one of my greatest highlights during my university degree. I was thrilled to join UBS as a graduate, and since have worked on various transactions, allowing me to continuously develop new skills and enhance my technical knowledge.
I am highly self-motivated and have always loved a challenge which is strongly supported by the culture at UBS. I work in a team that provides a depth of knowledge and experience and consistently encourages me to challenge myself and take on new tasks. I am motivated by the team dynamic and the common goal of constantly overachieving the client's expectations.
I try to maintain a work-life balance, even though working as an investment banking analyst can be very demanding at times. Health and fitness have always been very important to me, and most days I manage to exercise at the gym. I love playing netball and continue to maintain a role within my netball community.
Starting out as a graduate we were provided with two weeks of training. This was a great opportunity to develop friendships with fellow graduates from both Australia and New Zealand as well as refresh our knowledge of key banking concepts. Upon completion of training, we immediately began working in our direct teams. The first few weeks were very challenging, with a steep learning curve, but team members were always extremely supportive and willing to take time to explain tasks and concepts.