Ryan’s Work Experience Week at Rosewood

As a company operating within the financial services industry, Rosewood Wealth Management (Rosewood) acknowledges that there is a gap in understanding about the industry’s career prospects. In order to encourage the next generation of skilled young people to enter the industry, we believe that we must provide them with opportunities to understand the vital support that the industry provides for clients. That’s why when we received a request from local sixth form student, Ryan, to spend a week gaining work experience at Rosewood, we simply couldn’t refuse.

Currently completing his A-levels at nearby Outwood Academy Newbold Sixth Form, 17-year-old Ryan was interested in finding out more about the financial services industry. Tasked with spending a week working within a professional workplace, Ryan discovered Rosewood after researching top financial firms in the Derbyshire area. After reaching out to us via email, we were delighted to be able to welcome Ryan to the team for a week.

Studying Maths, Further Maths and Chemistry at sixth form, Ryan’s keen interest in numbers prompted him to explore careers related to finance. Realising that Rosewood offers independent financial advice on a number of financial products including mortgages, pensions, investments, later life lending and protection, Ryan felt excited at the prospect of learning about each area.

Keep reading below to discover all about Ryan’s exciting work experience week at Rosewood.

Monday

Beginning the morning with a 15 minute ‘huddle’ meeting delivered by Mortgage Advisor, Abby, Ryan was introduced to Rosewood’s client-centric company ethos. During the huddle, Abby also explained the areas of advice Rosewood supports clients with as well as describing each team member’s role within the company. This allowed Ryan to develop a basic understanding of how the company is structured and why client satisfaction is at the heart of everything we do.

Excited to explore how we safely and securely store data in line with GDPR and our privacy policy, Ryan worked closely with Financial Advisor, Jenny, to input important client data into our back-office systems. By utilising data such as the income and expenditure of clients, as well as their attitude to risk score, Ryan and Jenny were able to determine which investment opportunities were the most suitable for each client.

Further exploring how we find the most suitable pension products for our clients, Ryan spent the rest of the day with Company Director and Financial Advisor, Donna. By considering the specific circumstances of clients, Ryan learnt how Donna finds the most appropriate pension scheme to accommodate their long-term and short-term financial goals. Although Ryan admitted that it was challenging to understand the complicated industry-specific language employed by the Rosewood team, he greatly enjoyed learning how to manage pensions with Donna.

Tuesday

Developing his understanding of financial advice further, Ryan’s day began with an informative huddle delivered by Jenny. Throughout the huddle, Jenny Invited Ryan and the team to consider what specific life experiences or changes in circumstances may cause a client to contact us for financial advice.

Possessing a new understanding about financial advice, Ryan spent the remainder of the morning helping Jenny to onboard new clients. Although he admits that it was a time-consuming process, Ryan enjoyed assisting Jenny to register existing pension schemes, assets and liabilities on our internal data systems.

Working with Donna throughout the afternoon, Ryan created a review document which summarised the annual performance of a client’s investment and pension portfolio. With a passion for statistics, Ryan liked generating graphs and tables to present to the client at their next annual review appointment.

After getting to grips with pensions and investments, Ryan then worked with Abby to explore how Rosewood helps clients to manage their mortgage and mortgage-related products. Interested in Abby’s role as a Mortgage Advisor, Ryan learnt about each stage of the remortgage and first-time buyer process. Tracing the journey of a mortgage client from their initial appointment with Rosewood through to completion, Ryan was fascinated by the different types of mortgages available and how debt could affect the success of a mortgage application.

Wednesday

Focussing on the administrative work involved with financial advice, Ryan spent some time helping Jenny to grant clients access to the client portal. This involved emailing clients their own unique username and password, as well as a link to the client portal homepage.

When it comes to compliance within the company, Rosewood works hard to ensure that we keep up to date with weekly regulatory and compliance updates from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). In order to check our understanding of each update, we complete a quiz during each team meeting relating to key areas of the Bankhall bulletin. After working with Donna to determine which areas were most important, Ryan then created 6 multiple choice questions for the weekly quiz. Admitting that it was challenging to understand the financial terms and abbreviations included, Ryan found it helpful to discuss the meaning of the compliance changes with the rest of the Rosewood team.

After creating the quiz questions, Ryan then spent some time with Marketing Administrator, Amy, as they explored the marketing aspect of the financial services industry. Designing regular Facebook and Instagram posts to inform clients about Rosewood, financial products and the industry generally, Amy showed Ryan how to create his own social media post about his work experience. Choosing his own unique design template to alter, Ryan then wrote his own accompanying Facebook status before finally scheduling the post with Amy.

Thursday

Developing his administration skills further, Ryan spent the morning learning how to scan and organise client documents. By helping Amy to categorise the incoming post into the relevant folders, Ryan was able to contribute towards the everyday smooth running of the business. Realising the need to scan all documents in ascending page order, Ryan openly revealed that he found navigating the scanning process quite difficult.

Once he had completed the necessary scanning, Ryan then spent some time with Company Director and Financial Advisor, Shannan, to discuss the need for an online version of the weekly FCA Bankhall quiz. Tasked with finding a practical, accessible version of the quiz to accommodate the busy schedules of the Rosewood team, Ryan spent the afternoon researching the internet for quiz platforms. After searching for the most appropriate quiz generator, Ryan successfully found a free, easy-to-use website that would allow us to generate our own compliance-related quiz.

Curious to understand the financial advice process from the perspective of a client, Ryan then created his own client profile on our back-office system, Xplan. After doing so, Ryan was then able to complete his own questionnaire to assess his attitude to risk. Talking through the results with Donna, Ryan was able to search for the most suitable investment fund to meet his risk appetite. Interested in learning about how Rosewood physically manages the finances of clients, Ryan was then invited to watch Donna as she successfully carried out a fund switch.

Friday

For the final day of his work experience week, Ryan spent the majority of the morning helping Jenny to shred some confidential client documents that were no longer relevant. Discovering the importance of securely discarding documents, Ryan found the compliance side of the business interesting.

Discussing the impact of the current economic crisis on the financial situation of our clients, Ryan spent some time with Donna to assess how pensions change in line with inflation. By looking at the performance of specific pension funds, Ryan was able to map the performance trend over an annual basis.

Spending the remainder of the day with Abby, Ryan observed as she transferred someone’s mortgage from a standard-variable-rate mortgage to a fixed-rate mortgage. Outlining the next steps once a mortgage application had been submitted, Abby explained to Ryan the importance of regular communication with both clients and lenders. After the application had been accepted, Ryan then learnt about the next steps involving the completion of paperwork, client emails and the transfer of any funds and fees required.

Finishing off his work experience week by helping Abby to prepare for her next huddle, Ryan enjoyed discussing a range of ideas with Abby. Deciding to create an informative huddle about the latest financial news, Ryan assisted Abby as they chose the most relevant and interesting facts to include. By incorporating colour and interactive paper elements to the huddle whiteboard, Ryan ensured that the huddle was both engaging and educational.

Concluding Thoughts

After spending the week in our Chesterfield office, Ryan felt he had gained invaluable experience and knowledge of the financial services industry. With a greater understanding of the industry, Ryan feels confident that he would like to pursue a career in the financial advice sector.

Reflecting on the week, Ryan said that he most enjoyed learning about how Rosewood manages investments. With a passion for statistics, Ryan found the percentages, graphs and tables involved with investments fascinating. Drawing on skills developed throughout his Maths and Further Maths A-level courses, Ryan was able to understand the statistics presented to clients during their appointments with Rosewood.

Although he thoroughly enjoyed his time at Rosewood, Ryan admitted that he found the industry-specific terms challenging to understand. However, after spending longer in the industry, Ryan felt that he would have gained a better understanding of the terminology used. Further reflecting on his week, Ryan also revealed that he struggled to get to grips with the back-office system. After spending more time with Jenny, however, Ryan felt that he would have developed a greater understanding of the software and applications used.

When asked to describe the most surprising element of his work experience week, Ryan stated that it was the realisation that there are multiple steps involved with securing a mortgage. After spending the week observing Rosewood’s client-driven approach, Ryan was pleasantly surprised to discover that financial advice can be personalised to meet the specific needs of clients.

Considering his next steps after his A-levels, Ryan admitted that he would like to complete an apprenticeship in the financial services industry. Expanding on the reasoning behind this, Ryan feels that an apprenticeship would allow him to attain more qualifications, whilst gaining work experience and earning money at the same time. Grateful for the opportunity to learn, Ryan hopes to take on board everything his work experience at Rosewood has taught him.

Great work Ryan; good luck with your future work endeavours!