Winning isn't the only way to make an impression. When Cicada Capital reached the finals of the 2025 Future IM/Pact Investment Competition, they presented a case study set by our partner Schroders. While they didn't take home the top prize, Schroders were so impressed with their presentation that they extended a personal invitation: come to Sydney, spend three days with us, sit in on our meetings and pitches, and present your case to the wider investment team.
It's exactly the kind of unexpected opportunity the competition exists to create. The winning internship prize is just one door, but the experience opens many others.
Meet Cicada Capital
Cicada Capital was a team of four University of Queensland finance and economics students - Grace McAuliffe, Bridie Carrigan, Isabelle FitzGerald and Emma Jobbins. Their teamwork and rapport was clear from the start, and it showed in their work. As Grace put it, the most rewarding part of the competition was "seeing hours of our analysis come together and evidently reflect our strength as a close-knit team."
Making the national finals and travelling to Sydney was a step into something bigger. "We were actually surprised at how calm we felt at the finals," Bridie said. "Everyone who approached us was so easy to talk to, and they were all generous with their advice and ideas."
Three days inside Schroders
The office experience gave the team a window into investment management that no university course can replicate.
Isabelle was struck by the equities team meetings and how analysts worked through real-time market news. "Sitting in on the equities team meetings was an invaluable experience, and seeing how volatile news and media affects companies and their share price." she said.
For Grace, the biggest surprise was the communication dimension of the work: "I didn't expect to learn so much about the storytelling aspect of an investment thesis. It is so crucial to frame it in a way that is both analytical and intuitive. It reshaped how I think about the presentation of complex financial ideas."
Bridie was taken by the culture of the meetings themselves. "Meetings at Schroders are collaborative, conversational and informative. While one person leads the meeting and ensures everything's being covered, you can barely tell who that is from the pure equal discussion."
It was also the in-between moments that stuck with Bridie the most - bumping into people in the kitchen, impromptu conversations in the corridor. "There was so much information, so much to take in - and these little breaks where everyone was just interested in chatting made me feel a lot more at ease."
Presenting to a different kind of room
Re-presenting their case in a boardroom felt different to the competition finals. More like a real working conversation.
"The Q&A went for a lot longer, pushing our abilities," said Isabelle.
Grace described it as "a real investment committee discussion - the questions pushed us to think beyond numbers and really explain the 'why' behind our thesis."
Schroders' commitment to female talent
Jayne Russell, Head of People & Culture at Schroders said:
"It was fantastic to welcome the Cicada Capital team into our office following the Investment Competition final and give them a genuine look at how an investment team operates day to day. Moving from the competition environment into a real investment team setting helped bring their ideas to life and showed just how much collaboration, curiosity and critical thinking goes into the process.
The team demonstrated impressive capability and potential, and opportunities like this are an important way we can help more young women see a future for themselves in investment management and build a stronger, more diverse pipeline of talent for the industry."
Schroders has long backed its commitment to gender diversity with action - from internal representation targets to policies like gender-neutral parental leave, flexible working, and superannuation contributions extended to part-time parental returners. Their partnership with Future IM/Pact is an extension of the same intent: creating real pathways for women into the industry.
Read more about Schroders’ commitment to gender diversity >>
Hear from Cicada Capital - in their own words
For Cicada Capital, the real-world office experience confirmed what they'd hoped: this is an industry that wants them in it.
"A career in investment management now feels so much more tangible and exciting," Grace said. "Seeing how teams collaborate in real life and how much intellectual curiosity the job requires really reaffirmed that this is the field I would love to once be a part of."
Read the individual Q&As from Grace, Bridie, and Isabelle to hear more about their personal experiences.
Want to be part of the 2026 Investment Competition?
Our next Investment Competition takes place in September 2026. Find out more and pre-register here.
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