Investment Analyst
Tell us a little bit about yourself
My name is Hanna Rollman, I studied Economics at Royal Holloway and graduated in 2020
Why did you choose to study economics at Royal Holloway and what did you enjoy most about your course?
I chose to study economics at Royal Holloway as I thought it was a very well-rounded course plan. When making my decision, the optionality within the course had a big impact on me, before university you are not always sure what the right fit will be. Being able to develop and find which courses suit you the best allowed me to see which subjects I was most comfortable in and which areas of economics I enjoyed the most. Personally, I went the econometrics route, but I had many friends who went the finance route within the program.
How was your personal experience of being part of the Economics community as a close-knit group of staff and students?
I enjoyed the amount of support I received in the course; every professor is very engaging and wants you to excel. This made students more passionate about what they were studying, and every class always had great discussions. The environment really pushes you to want to do your best and gives you a great network for the future.
Tell us about your career journey since graduating and what do you do now.
Since graduating, I continued with a master’s degree at Imperial Business School in Investment and Wealth management. During this time, I applied for several investment banking roles which would have commenced in June 2022. My expectation was to work in investment banking for two years and exit into private equity after. During applications, I interned at Love Ventures, a venture capital fund specializing in fintech, proptech, and eCommerce. In December of 2021, I got headhunted for ICAMAP a French boutique private equity fund. I decided to withdraw my applications for the investment banks and started working as an investment analyst at ICAMAP in January 2022.
What are top tips for students thinking about a career in your line of work/study?
- Do not get discouraged with applications, on average it took me and my friends 100 – 150 applications to hear back from 2/3 places
- While 2 years investment banking tends to be a minimum requirement for private equity roles, boutique funds and family offices will sometimes have graduate programs, it is also good to reach out to headhunters on LinkedIn
- It is a very intense working environment which averages a minimum of 12-hour workdays and you tend to work on weekends, if you are considering this line of work be aware what will be required of you ahead of time and make sure it’s the right fit for you
