Fund Management Assistant Apprentice

At M&G our purpose is to give everyone real confidence to put their money to work. As an international savings and investments business with roots stretching back more than 170 years, we offer a range of financial products and services through Asset Management, Life and Wealth. All three operating segments work together to deliver attractive financial outcomes for our clients, and superior shareholder returns.

Through our behaviours of telling it like it is, owning it now, and moving it forward together with care and integrity; we are creating an exceptional place to work for exceptional talent.

We will consider flexible working arrangements for any of our roles and also offer work place accommodations to ensure you have what you need to effectively deliver in your role

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for a confident individual with a positive outlook and a can do attitude who are aspiring to build their experience and progress at M&G.

A successful candidate is someone who is self motivated, capable of building and maintaining relationships, naturally curious and work effectively as part of a team. A powerful desire to learn and a genuine interest in private markets.  

The applicant would ideally have an inquisitive nature and be curious. The successful applicant should feel confident to use their own initiative and work alone where required with an aspiration to want to learn and progress.

The Role

The Leveraged Finance investment desk is part of the Private Markets division of M&G Asset Management.  It is responsible for managing some €9 billion in high-risk, high-returning corporate debt instruments, mainly Leveraged Loans. Leveraged loans are issued by large private companies (like Flora Foods, Breitling, Asda, Merlin Entertainment). The companies are not publicly listed on a stock exchange but have been taken over by Private Equity sponsors like CVC, Blackstone and EQT. The loans that the companies issue trade in a liquid secondary market - similar to public bonds.

The Leveraged Finance Investment Desk, is responsible for individual funds and strategies, including a flagship mutual fund and a Collateralised Loan Obligation (‘CLO’) platform. The team is responsible for all aspects of managing client money invested in loans for 200 clients, including large Pension Funds, Insurance Companies and Private Banks from all around the world.  In addition to selecting and trading investments to meet clients’ needs and meet performance expectations, the desk is responsible for keeping clients regularly in touch with topical market information, via thought-pieces and publications; for analysing fund performance and communicating it regularly; for hosting client update meetings; for pitching to potential new clients; and for extensive, granular data-reporting, including the key metrics that convey the quality of each individual company.

The desk is overseen by M&G’s Compliance and Risk departments, meaning it also has internal stakeholder management duties to fulfil, this being a large, high-profile activity for M&G.

The Leveraged Finance investment desk currently consists of 8 people, including 4 fund managers; 2 investment  specialists (including one that is dedicated to ESG and Sustainability); a fund-structurer and a dedicated loan trader. 

The role in the leveraged finance investment team and will be suitable for anyone with an analytical mind, comfortable with numbers and handling multiple systems and data source with an eagerness to learn.

Candidates must be able to formulate their own opinions by thinking analytically about problems

The successful applicant should have strong desire to learn and intellectually curious, numerate, energetic, independent thinker - keen to get stuck into all aspects of fund management and client support.

This apprenticeship role requires a high level of commitment and self-discipline.

What will you be doing?

As a Fund management assistant apprentice, you will be involved in all aspects of the investment desk’s activities and your responsibilities will include:

• Providing support to the fund managers – by preparing and analysing data to underpin trade ideas;
• Collation of data will be from various data sources and systems, external and internal, and will be used for multiple purposes, like:
  •  ‘top-down’ analysis of investment portfolios for regular desk discussion;
  • comparison of funds’ performance, across the M&G range, to investigate significant differences;
  • considering M&G’s performance in the context of its closest competitors.
• Preparation and regular update of market data and statistics to be included in client presentations and updates;
• Support for new thought-pieces, being regularly published by fund managers and investment specialists;
• Support for the sustainability specialist when preparing various ESG and sustainability reports and charts;
• Relevant data collation ahead of new business pitches;
• Assisting the loan trader with data preparation and analysis of trading activity;
• Preparation of summary information from trading systems to support day-to-day fund management activities, like fx hedging and cash management;
• Developing knowledge of the European leveraged loan market - and wider markets of relevance eg High Yield bonds - to make linkages, add context and add value to the team through a greater understanding of market driver.

The role will involve close working with all members of the investment desk as well as frequent contact with a wide group of individuals beyond it and included within the Private Credit team in which the investment desk sits, including credit analysts, deal originators and Impact specialists.

What will I need to be successful in this role?

• Confident communication skills, both written and verbal 

• High level of accuracy and good attention to detail
• Strong literacy and numerical skills
• Ability to build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders such as clients
• Well organised and ability to prioritise and meet deadlines
• A proactive team player who is confident about working independently and can promptly escalate any issue and work remotely where required 
• Logical and analytical approach coupled with intelligence, passion and a drive to learn 
• Basic understanding of MS Office (Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, Excel)
• Coding ability would be beneficial

Our application process

To apply for any of our apprenticeship roles you will be required to complete the following steps:

• Submit your Application Form and CV
• Complete your Online Assessment
• Complete a Online Video Interview
• Attend one of our Assessment Centre

We are only accepting one application per candidate, so please do review all job descriptions and outline your top three choices in your application.

Minimum Requirements

• Available to start the apprenticeship programme in September 2025
• You must not be enrolled into another further education programme at the beginning of the programme
• Be a UK citizen or have proof of your right to work in the UK
• Living in England
• Minimum of Grade 4 in GCSE English and Mathematics
• Minimum of Grade C in Three A Levels or equivalent such as BTEC Nationals

Training Provided

As a Fund Management Assistant Apprentice with M&G, you will undertake the Investment Operations Specialist Level 4 Apprenticeship. The apprenticeship will be delivered through a blend of live online learning, pre-recorded lectures, and face to face inductions and masterclasses

Future Prospects

This is a fixed term contract for 18 - 23 months upon which the business may decide to retain, subject to the Apprentice performance, headcount, and available funding. If recruited into a permanent role, the individual will follow the career progression applicable to the specific role/department.

Salary

£26,000  per annum plus benefits

As you may expect, our Apprenticeship roles are extremely popular and therefore we may need to close vacancies early if we receive a high level of applications.

We have a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture at M&G plc, underpinned by our policies and our employee-led networks who provide networking opportunities, advice and support for the diverse communities our colleagues represent. Regardless of gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, nationality, disability or long term condition, we are looking to attract, promote and retain exceptional people. We also welcome those who take part in military service and those returning from career breaks.

M&G is also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader, and we welcome applications from candidates with long-term health conditions, disabilities, or neuro-divergent conditions.  Being a Disability Confident Leader means that candidates who meet the minimum criteria of a job, will be offered an interview if they 'opt in' to the scheme when applying. 

If you need assistance or an alternative means of applying for a role due to a disability or additional need, please let us know by contacting us at: [email protected]