Our Interns
Our interns provide incredible value to our company and we feel in return they acquire skills, knowledge and experience to help them in starting out a career, wherever that may be.
Kanishk Toshniwal
Internship dates: 01/06/2023 – 30/06/2023, 03/06/2024 – 02/08/2024
Role: Finance Intern
What stage of your career/education are you at and what drew you to this opportunity to work at PWP?
Having finished up my first year at Queen Mary University of London, I was looking for a summer role where I could gain some insight into the financial management and advising industry. Having worked here over the previous summer for a short while, what drew me into PWP again was the unwavering dedication that the team provides for interns, allowing us to get stuck into client processes and actually see tangible results from the work you have been doing for clients.
Learning by doing was one of the best ways for me to pick up on new knowledge and PWP was reflective of that view.
What are the main projects / areas of the company you have been working on?
As an intern, I believe that PWP encourages you to explore a variety of aspects within the client process, be that onboarding new clients all the way to supporting long-standing clients. One of the standout opportunities for me during my time here was being able to conduct pension research for new and existing clients and apply that to a long-form suitability reports which detail pension transfers and investment strategy switches.
Alongside that, PWP allowed me to work on multiple projects at a time, so I had the freedom to explore many parts of the business, such as dealing with cost account history for clients, getting involved with investment committee meetings and conducting platform research to analyse ongoing fees for clients.
What skills have you gained from your experience working here?
I believe that the biggest thing for me was being able to take what I’ve heard about financial markets in the news and from university and apply that to meaningful, client-focused work at PWP. Seeing the overarching impacts of macroeconomic changes on our own asset allocation strategies in investment committee meetings and in reports I helped to write allowed me to gain confidence when speaking about financial markets.
I also enjoyed how every task I worked on had a clear end goal in sight which was set out in weekly meetings, allowing me to prioritise my work in a client-focused way.
PWP also taught me the importance of asking questions and never being afraid to get thrown into the deep end sometimes, as it is through some of the amazing conversations about challenging projects I’ve had with the team here where I truly started to see my knowledge compound over time.
Nafisa Ahmed
Internship dates: 12/06/2024 – Present
Role: Marketing Intern
What stage of your career/education are you at and what drew you to this opportunity to work at PWP?
I am currently pursuing my Master’s degree in Business Analysis and Strategic Management at The University of Manchester. With a prior degree in Business with a specialisation in Marketing, I have always been driven and curious about the marketing field from both the client and business perspectives. This role has provided an opportunity to put into practice the concepts and theories I’ve learned, while also gaining valuable insights into the world of finance, an area I’ve been eager to explore further. Working in a firm with a niche target audience has allowed me the flexibility to apply my skillset in various ways, moving beyond the structured approaches often found in larger organisations.
What are the main projects / areas of the company you have been working on?
My main projects focus on building and expanding the reach of the company through various marketing channels such as the company website, LinkedIn and YouTube. Each of the channels have their own set of work processes which requires understanding of the client and the audience we are creating content and outreach activities for.
For the company website, my work involves optimising the user experience and ensuring that the content is engaging, relevant, and aligned with the brand’s messaging. This includes regular updates to blog posts that address industry trends or client pain points, and the use of SEO techniques to improve search engine rankings.
On LinkedIn, my efforts are geared towards building a strong professional network and establishing the company as a thought leader in its niche market. This involves creating and curating content that resonates with our followers, such as industry insights, blogs, and company updates.
YouTube presents a unique opportunity to connect with our audience through visual content. I manage the promotion of video content that showcases our expertise, from explainer videos to financial planning insights.
What skills have you gained from your experience working here?
During my time working here, I have gained a range of valuable skills that have contributed to my professional development. One of the key skills that I have learned is Digital Marketing particularly in managing and optimising content across various channels. I have learned in depth about creating content that not only engages but drives results.
Managing content across multiple platforms has enhanced my project management abilities as well. Each platform has its own workflow and timeline, requiring me to be organised and adaptable. I’ve learnt how to manage multiple projects simultaneously, prioritise tasks, and adapt to changing needs and feedback.
My role has also improved my communication skills, both in curating content and in engaging with our audience and industry professionals on LinkedIn. I’ve developed the ability to tailor messages to different audiences, from industry experts to potential clients, which has helped in building a strong professional network for the company.
I genuinely enjoy working here, largely because of the supportive and collaborative team environment. The positive atmosphere not only makes coming to work enjoyable but has also fostered my teamwork skills.
Luke Delahunty
Internship dates: 22/07/2024 – 02/08/2024
Role: General Intern
What stage of your career/education are you at and what drew you to this opportunity to work at PWP?
I just finished school in Singapore where I enjoyed learning Business. which I am going to carry on pursuing in university at British Columbia. Within business though, the area of finance has drawn my attention the most and I was wanting to gain a deeper understanding.
With an opportunity provided by Adrian, I thought it was a perfect chance to do this, which I am very fortunate about. Additionally, working for PWP, a smaller sized firm, I am able to learn about the business as a whole, gaining a variety of knowledge especially on its operations and processes.
What are the main projects / areas of the company you have been working on?
I have been focusing on gathering and collating clients’ financial data, especially focusing on the contributions and withdrawals of their accounts, exploring many levels of complexities to understand and interpret clients’ costs.
I have also engaged in a variety of tasks that have enriched the company’s differing databases to help organise data, ensuring it is up to date. These processes help and assist the founders of the firm with smoothly carrying out performance reviews.
What skills have you gained from your experience working here?
I have certainly gained enhanced insights into specific areas of finance such as developing an understanding of financial data and products, its meanings, its interpretations, but also the applications of specific knowledge to the real world.
I have also learnt key teamworking and collaboration skills, which have been developed effectively in the friendly and supportive work environment. I have also learnt crucial organisational skills, with guidance from others, which have helped me improve the efficiency of work as well as managing it better.
My communication skills have also grown whilst having to liaise with important figures in the firm discussing financial decisions, as well as plans and approaches to certain tasks and clients.
I have really enjoyed doing an internship at PWP and very much appreciate the opportunity given for me to work here and learn a significant amount through this experience.
Frank Page
Internship dates: 01/07/2020 – 30/06/2022
Role(s): General Intern, Marketing Intern
What stage of your career/education are you at and what drew you to this opportunity to work at PWP?
When I started my internship at PWP, I had just finished my second year at the University of Manchester studying History and was looking for some experience working in an office environment over the summer.
There were several aspects of the general internship at PWP that were appealing to me. It was a small team, only 4/5 people at the time, so I would really be able to get to know everyone and feel part of the company in the short two week period working there. The ‘general’ nature of the internship meant that I would be getting involved in various parts of the business, providing a wide range of experience in the operations, financial, client and marketing sides of the company. Definitely not just doing the tea/coffee run!
I also simply had a really good conversation with Adam and Adrian in the interview process, which felt, whilst still professional, a more relaxing and welcoming atmosphere than some of the other internships that I applied to.
What are the main projects / areas of the company you have been working on?
My ‘general internship’ ended up continuing sporadically over 2 years, spanning a wide range of different projects and areas of the company.
I started out mainly focused on a large data project, moving client information over to a new platform. I also helped out with a variety of new software the company was starting to use, in terms of setting up client profiles and making sure everything was running smoothly.
I continued to work remotely from university on various similar projects, returning to the office for periods during my holidays.
In 2022, having expressed an interest to Adrian and Adam in going into marketing after university, I started using the skills I had gained from my degree to write content for the company website and blogs on a freelance basis. I also began work on the company and both Adan and Adrian’s personal LinkedIn profiles, releasing content and running an outreach project for our target clients. This led to further work liaising with the firm PWP was using at the time for our marketing on projects such as the new website and prospect data dashboards.
In November 2022, with the company continuing to grow, Adam and Arian offered me a full-time role as Graduate Marketing Analyst, working remotely in Manchester, which I accepted gladly! When writing this piece, I have been fully employed by the company for almost 2 years and have progressed to Marketing Analyst, running all the company’s marketing initiatives as we continue to grow our brand and expand the number of clients we work with.
What skills have you gained from your experience working here?
My first year and a half as an intern gave me valuable experience in handling sensitive client data, creating large spreadsheets and learning to use software such as Xplan and Voyant from scratch. Perhaps more importantly, for me, I got to experience working in a small team where at times it was all hands on deck, with everyone helping each other out and figuring out problems as a group. This taught me the value of communication and time management within a small team, as well as the confidence that it’s ok to make a mistake if you own it, work hard to rectify it and learn from it. I found this to be an extremely enjoyable and rewarding working environment.
The last year or so of my internship was my first real taste of marketing, which at the time had become my chosen career path due to a slight lack of direction from my History degree apart from the skill of being able to research and write content, as well as a passion for the TV show Mad Men.
The skills and experience I gained in those 6 months writing content and working on the company website and LinkedIn laid the foundations for my concrete interest in pursuing marketing as a career, and I will be forever grateful to Adam and Adrian for giving me that opportunity. Not to mention then somewhat taking a risk and trusting me with the marketing of the whole company and responsibility to promote and grow the fantastic brand that they, and the rest of the team, had already established.
