'Investments and wealth management isn’t just about making money'

Speaking to FTAdviser, Ahsan Vayani explained that although he did not know anyone working in wealth management before he started his career, he saw this as an opportunity rather than a disadvantage.

Vayani, who graduated from Sussex University in 2020 with an undergraduate degree in Finance and French, knew that he wanted to build a career in wealth management and began working with Quilter Cheviot more than a year ago.

“A few family members work in business but not finance directly,” Vayani said.

The second case in the UK was on my campus, we had people in hazmat suits coming to close down the campus

“Take investment and wealth management and how important building relationships is in these two fields - it was important that right at the start of my career I had to learn to build relationships because I hadn’t any.”

Vayani, like many students, had his university experience interrupted by the Covid pandemic.

“The second case in the UK was on my campus, we had people in hazmat suits coming to close down the campus. So we sort of got the full Covid experience during university.

“Then in the final term all our exams became take-away papers so they made them extra hard because we had our textbooks with us.

"The whole Covid experience was quite full on so by the time I was looking for a job I was used to the fact that things were not the same and that the job market was not going to be easy, but luckily it took me just a few months and I was able to get a fixed term contract.”

Since then, Vayani has combined working and studying and in December last year completed the level four investment advice diploma with the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.

“It requires a lot of time management but it's very rewarding when you get that right,” Vayani said. 

He explained that in his current role as an investment administrator his main responsibilities include supporting the investment manager with all things client related. 

Vayani’s main goal at this point in his career is to get the qualification and experience to become an investment manager.

“At work you are supporting people and soaking in everything you can because that supplements your study.

"And then vice-versa, the studying supplements the work.”

For Vayani, the client relationships are by far the most interesting part of the role. 

“That’s kind of the fun side where you can have a really interesting client who has a really interesting portfolio. 

“That’s the side you can’t gauge and that’s the exciting part.

“Investments and wealth management isn’t just about making money. Of course there’s commission but we’re handling people's estates, we’re looking at their taxes as well so there’s an element of care that has to be there. Otherwise we wouldn’t retain clients.”

It was partly this attitude and care for clients that attracted Vayani to Quilter Cheviot. 

I wouldn't want to go into a company that has a particular way that would mean I have to adjust my values

In recent years, companies have been increasingly focusing on what they need to do to attract and retain young talent in the industry. 

According to data released by the Financial Conduct Authority last year, just 5.7 per cent of retail investment advisers in the UK are under 30 years of age.

Getting Gen-Z on board

At 25 years old and in the early stages of his career, Vayani believes the key to attracting young people to a company is creating a culture that people want to be a part of. 

"For me, I look at my own values and then I find a company that fits that. I wouldn't want to go into a company where I would have to adjust my values. 

"The things that were most important for me were getting support on developing skills and my career long-term."

Vayani believes that it isn't just diversity of age that the industry needs to improve on, but that there is more work to be done to make the sector better representative of society as a whole more generally. 

"We live in England, it's a diverse and globalised world. 

"More can definitely be done and I think the best way to tap into that is to recognise there are gaps in the market.

"For example, in Quilter we now have an Islamic finance department. That's amazing because it's tapping into a whole different market that we didn't have previously.

"There are children who come from an Islamic finance heritage who can look at Quilter and think 'well this is something we can learn from' and maybe one of these children will get inspired and will want to work in finance.

"So it's about tapping into markets where there are gaps and when you are in such a diverse city and country there's no reason not to.

"It's better for the company and the economy."

jane.matthews@ft.com

If you would like to be featured in our New Voices series, or you know someone who would be a good fit please get in touch with Jane Matthews at jane.matthews@ft.com