Fidelity MBA Careers: Meet Tim

As a Portfolio Manager, I manage around $750m of investments on behalf of thousands of clients. The majority of that investment is in the UK equity market. Day-to-day I monitor my holdings, talk to analysts about new stocks, keep an eye on world news, analyse profit announcements, meet with CEOs, and generally aim to come up with and refine new investment ideas on behalf of my clients.

I started out with Fidelity as a Junior Analyst. I was given a list of stocks and had to work out whether they were ‘buys’ or ‘sells’. If I felt a certain stock would outperform – perhaps due to a successful new product, or the failure of a competitor – then I’d inform our Portfolio Managers. They’d then decide whether or not to invest in the company.

Good recommendations (that made money!), would lead to more responsibility - analysing bigger companies with more complex business models - and so on.

I spent six years gaining experience across a range of sectors, including Services, Healthcare and Oil. By the time I’d finished with Oil, I’d analysed organisations worth anything from £50m to £150bn. From a car dealership to Shell.

Having demonstrated the potential to be a Portfolio Manager, I spent 10 months attending ‘Portfolio Manager School’. By meeting companies, reading widely and talking to various analysts, portfolio managers and experts, I acquired new skills linked to risk, macroeconomics and sectors I had not looked at. I could test this out on a ‘practice fund’ worth £1m.

Senior managers monitored my performance and it was decided my skills would suit a growth fund. One became available and here I am.

Successful Portfolio Managers are naturally curious. On top of that you need an eye for detail but you also need to be able to see the bigger picture. A head for numbers is essential, although you don’t need a financial degree. You must be adaptable and able to interact with all kinds of professionals at all levels.

To beat the market and make money, you must be able to think differently. You need the confidence to stick with your decisions and the common sense to know when to cut your losses. A sense of humour is quite useful too, especially when things don’t go according to plan.

The most enjoyable part of my job has to be the access I get and the people I meet, from politicians and doctors to CEOs and geologists. And the fact I get paid to satisfy my curiosity! Having Fidelity on my business card has opened all kinds of doors. Long may it continue.

Tom at Fidelity