Investments Intern Review

During my internship at Aberdeen Investments, I worked within the Investments business on an FCA regulation programme. My role was largely focused on data analysis, modelling and improving internal processes. On a day-to-day basis, I worked with different teams and external stakeholders to understand how performance, benchmark, risk and cost data flowed through investment processes and into client-facing outputs. I then developed data models to map these relationships and highlight key dependencies and data-quality requirements. I also worked on automating recurring financial reporting using Excel, Power Query and Power Automate.

I was given a significant amount of responsibility during the internship. The data models I developed were presented to stakeholders and were ultimately adopted as a shared reference across the programme, so the work I was doing had a genuine practical use beyond my immediate team. Although I had support from the team, I was given the independence to investigate problems, speak to stakeholders and develop solutions myself, which helped me become much more confident working in a professional investment environment.

During my internship, I developed my Excel, Power Query and Power Automate skills through automating financial reporting. I also improved my data-modelling, Visio, communication and stakeholder-management skills by working with different teams and presenting my work clearly. Overall, I became more confident at turning complex business problems into practical solutions.

I received a good level of support throughout my internship. There was induction training at the start, and the teams were very supportive and approachable. People were always willing to have a chat, walk me through something, or refer me to someone who could help if they weren’t the right person.

The company culture was very friendly and supportive. People were approachable, and there was a good level of understanding around outside commitments, such as the occasional appointment, as long as you managed your workload and got your work done. Overall, the atmosphere felt welcoming and flexible.

I really enjoyed my internship. It definitely pushed me outside my comfort zone, but never to the point where I felt unsupported or unable to ask for help. I came away much more confident in my skills and in my ability to learn quickly. It was also really enjoyable being part of such a large organisation and seeing how different teams work together. My only wish was that there had been more time to experience work across other departments too.

Yes