Meet Alysha Airey, part of our 2024 Investment Competition winning team and a Finance and Business Information Systems major at the University of Sydney. Alysha shares a little about herself, reflects on her recent internship at TCorp and career aspirations.
My name is Alysha, I’m 21 and studying a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Finance and Business Information Systems at the University of Sydney. In my spare time, I enjoy playing golf with family or friends, and it is a sport that runs through both sides of the family.
I heard about Future IM/Pact through my involvement as an executive in UNIT, the University Network for Investing and Trading, which is a student-led finance society that helps run the Future IM/Pact Investment Competition. Participating in the competition (and winning!) was incredibly valuable, especially the opportunity to present our investment pitch to experienced professionals and have our thesis challenged in Q&A.
Through my involvement with Future IM/Pact, I have been able to consider and gain a much clearer understanding of what a career in investment management entails. What appeals to me most about investment management is the tangible impact of your decisions and the responsibility that comes with putting capital behind your views. From identifying opportunities through to executing and managing investments, the work requires you to be rigorous, to stay curious, and to think long term.
My advice would be to take time as a team to reflect on the lasting message you want to leave with the judges. Consider how all the thesis points tie together and flow through into your valuation. Don’t be afraid to make substantial changes between rounds, especially if it helps address judge feedback or sharpen your argument.
At my internship with TCorp, I was fortunate to gain exposure to work across both the infrastructure and property teams within the Investment Management division. Over the months of my internship, I assisted with some of the origination, market engagement, asset management, and was able to go on a few site tours.
I particularly found it interesting creating opportunity overviews for infrastructure investments, as well as attending meetings with managers and advisors. I also enjoyed observing or taking notes for the various investment committee meetings and seeing the process of the June-end valuations for the direct unlisted investments.
Through my involvement with Future IM/Pact, I have been able to consider and gain a much clearer understanding of what a career in investment management entails
This was my first internship role in investment management, previously having done internships within investment banking and broader finance. I chose to intern at TCorp to gain deeper insight into its role as NSW’s sovereign wealth fund and to better understand how institutional investors operate. I was particularly attracted to the opportunity to delve deeper into real assets through work across both the infrastructure and property teams.
Throughout my experience, I was continuously inspired by the people around me, especially their knowledge and in-depth approach to every aspect of the work. The people I encountered were welcoming and generously shared their wisdom and guidance, whether related to finance or broader topics. I embraced each task or conversation as a valuable opportunity to learn as much as I could from those around me.
During my time at TCorp, my manager Brian was also in my view a mentor figure, one who was generous with his time and answering any questions. I’m grateful to have learnt a lot in both a personal and career sense from Brian and the wider team.
I will continue to stay curious about the industry and keep up to date with related financial news and topics. Additionally, Future IM/Pact remains a key initiative to help support anyone interested in opportunities within the industry through their programs and resources.
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The work requires you to be rigorous, to stay curious, and to think long term
Future IM/Pact is a collaborative initiative across the investment management and advice industry aimed at increasing representation of female investors and advisers, and creating workplace cultures where everyone can flourish.
Future IM/Pact is a collaborative initiative across the investment management industry aimed at increasing representation of female investors and creating workplace cultures where everyone can flourish.
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