Meet Thomas Mitchell, a Queensland student carving out an early career in investment management through his internship with Perpetual. Thomas learned of the Perpetual intern opportunity through Future IM/Pact and shares his experience with us.
I am 20, I’ve grown up in Brisbane, and am in my final year of a Bachelor of Advanced Finance & Economics (Honours) at The University of Queensland.
I have been involved with Future IM/Pact for roughly a year, having first come across the program through the Top Talent Group (TTG) at the start of 2023. I also had some friends who had both been in that group in 2022 and were involved in the Future IM/Pact Investment Competition – speaking highly of their times in both. For me, I have found Future IM/Pact’s ability to combine educational resources, events, and career opportunities in investment management on one platform extremely valuable.
My interest in investment management had been relatively nascent coming into 2023, having completed some company valuation courses at university and doing some of personal investing. However, once I came to appreciate (through Future IM/Pact TTG) that at its core Investment Management is about investing capital in an idea or strategy – it became pretty clear to me that the industry closely aligned with my interests and skillsets.
I was lucky enough to have a few mentors within Perpetual, who were all extremely generous with their time and provided impactful insights into their roles and industries. I have enjoyed keeping in touch with them post-internship and can definitely see a clearer pathway into this career.
I interned in Perpetual’s Australian Equities team for four weeks in July 2023. I was assigned one major project to work on for the duration of the internship, which involved developing a valuation and investment case for a mid-cap company in the Technology sector. This project was complemented by multiple smaller projects across the Healthcare, Energy, Consumer, and Real Estate Sectors.
This was my first internship in buy-side investment management, with previous experience across Internal Finance, Corporate Finance, and Accounting. I came across this opportunity through Future IM/Pact’s newsletter.
My interest in working at Perpetual stemmed from a combination of their major presence in Australia’s active equity investing space, and a quality investing style that I resonated strongly with. Perpetual’s long/short strategies – which allow investors to capture both the potential upside and downside in equities – were also quite attractive to me.
Looking back on my experience, there is really very little (if anything) I could fault. Across the entire four weeks I felt welcomed by the team, who went out of their way to get to know me and include me on industry meetings or management calls. They were also generous enough to provide me with sell-side contacts if I ever wanted to understand a sell-side report further. Perpetual also has access to vast educational resources, which was highly beneficial in furthering my valuation techniques.
My biggest take-away came quite early on, which was when my mentor emphasised that in equity investing you should assume that sell-side reports have already been priced into a company’s share price, making it critical to dedicate time to finding a ‘unique angle’.
I was lucky enough to have a few mentors within Perpetual, who were all extremely generous with their time and provided impactful insights into their roles and industries. I have enjoyed keeping in touch with them post-internship and can definitely see a clearer pathway into this career.
As I graduate and enter the workforce over the next few years, I will look to both developing my network in investment management and starting my CFA.
Although investment management (alongside the broader financial services industry) still has a way to go, I think Future IM/Pact’s role in democratising access to the investment management industry has definitely helped knock down barriers.
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For me, I have found Future IM/Pact's ability to combine educational resources, events, and career opportunities in investment management on one platform extremely valuable.
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.
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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