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Tom Walker
Product manager, North America and global portfolios
I joined MC in 1996. I was about 10 years into my career as an Asia (ex-Japan) fund manager and had worked in large and small operations, both in Edinburgh and Hong Kong. We wanted to return from Hong Kong, and MC just happened to be looking for someone to head up their Asian team.
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Having worked in Edinburgh before (Edinburgh is a village by the way), I knew enough about the calibre of MC's leaders and fund management team to know that I would find it a stimulating place to further develop my career. I also knew by that stage that I much prefer organisations where individuals can stand and be counted and where passengers are found out at an early stage. It's not just a question of the size of the organisation, though that is part of it.
With 250 employees now, the days of everyone knowing every one else have passed. But MC remains a friendly place and I hope new employees feel a part of their new team at a fairly early stage. Certainly lots of effort is made to support employees, especially new ones.
"Change" is the driver of our investment process at MC. I have seen many changes in my eleven years here (little did I suspect in 1996 that two years later I would, somewhat against the flow, move my focus West to North America.) What I really like about the size of MC and its empowering culture, is that individuals can really make a difference - I have been able to influence and drive change in Asia, in North America and across the global investment process. But MC's culture has also changed over the years. People managers are more professional, financial management is more transparent and investment management is more sophisticated.
We may never achieve perfection in developing a one team culture, but we have come a long way - and anyway, perfection is a crazy benchmark!
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Kenny Lowe
Investment Trainee
I joined Martin Currie in July 2006 as an Investment Trainee after graduating from Glasgow University with an MA in Economics and Mathematics. My current role as an Investment Trainee for the Asia and Global Emerging Markets Team is to actively research and recommend stock ideas in Asia.
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My job includes long term, fundamental stock analysis that clearly focuses on companies that are currently experiencing 'positive change'. On a day to day basis, this necessitates that I speak to numerous analysts based in the region, as well as reading written research, in order to be fully aware of the current newsflow within the market.
The key to our job is to understand the main drivers of any business that we invest in, and how these are changing. Meeting with company management is vital to the job in order to enable us to do this, and we try to visit the region at least twice a year to meet companies in their own domain. This provides us with a grounding upon which we can begin to analyse both the company and consensus expectations for their future operational performance - a key variable for stock recommendations.
There are numerous advantages of working at Martin Currie and this includes the level of responsibility that younger members of the team are given early on, which is far higher than larger peers. This leads to high job satisfaction and more experience within a much shorter period of time. Another advantage is the ownership structure of the company. The fact that the company give staff the opportunity to have a stake in the business ensures that, not only does every member of staff have a voice, but that we all have a common goal to work towards. Finally, with only 250 staff members, you can quickly get to know people from across the entire business, especially through the regular social events.
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Will Brydon
HR director
I joined MC on a three-month temporary contract in 2005, and quickly realised this was an organisation in which I wanted to make a long term career. Why? Because of the attractions of working for 'The Big Boutique'. Martin Currie is very different from the big organisations I had worked in for most of my career.
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The business is big enough to have really exciting challenges, and small enough that each individual's contribution really counts. Everybody's voice can be heard and every member of staff is encouraged to say what they think. This means that we all get recognition for our successes, but also there is no hiding from our mistakes!
Martin Currie has demanding objectives. We expect high performance from everyone and we reward accordingly. Things get done pretty quickly here and sometimes new members of the team have to get used to just how fast the pace of life is! We're also a really friendly team. Martin Currie is a genuinely fun place to work and our 'one team' approach is strongly reflected in social and charitable activities.
I was really attracted by the independence of the company and that Martin Currie is employee owned. Our future is in our hands, and employee shareownership means that we can all profit from growth in the value of the business.
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Katie Crook
HR Business Partner
I joined Martin Currie on a temporary contract in August 2006 - and I'm still here. I have a degree in economics and economic history from Edinburgh University and worked in the service sector before joining Martin Currie.
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My primary role is to work with the investment floor in all aspects of recruitment, relations and retention. I also run our graduate scheme and have had the opportunity to travel to our Shanghai office. Martin Currie is a truly dynamic and exciting place - every day is different, and you work with people at all levels of the business.
I am often asked why I like it here. It's the people, the business challenge and the culture, which allows me to contribute to the company's success every day.
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Steven McCole
Equity Dealer
I graduated from Heriot-Watt University with an MA (Hons) in Economics. My working career began in 1999 at Brewin Dolphin as a private client equity dealer. In 2002 I joined the dealing desk at Martin Currie before becoming a dealer for the Pan Asian and GEM teams in 2003.
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My primary responsibility is achieving best execution while dealing on behalf of our Investment teams. Continuous communication with Martin Curries' Asian Investment teams based in Edinburgh & Shanghai and our brokers based around the globe allow us to form the market views required to achieve this goal.
Having the opportunity to travel to the Asian region to experience the cultures we are dealing in, to experience first hand how the many markets operate and to meet all our local contacts is invaluable experience for an Asian dealer. This is encouraged and supported at Martin Currie.
No two days on the dealing desk is the same and each day throws up a new challenge, which creates an exciting environment to work in. As stake holders in the company, we all have the added incentive to overcome these challenges and drive the business forward.
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