Mubina Merchant is a current undergraduate student completing a dual degree in Mechatronics and Biomedical Engineering at Western University. She initially explored her passion for business through founding her startup, Butterfly Aura. Soon after, she was accepted into Ivey’s Women In Asset Management (WAM) Program where she was able to take her understanding of business to a different level. Mubina recently completed her internship with the Portfolio Management Team at SunLife Global Investments (SLGI). In her blog below, she reflects on her experience as a dedicated and passionate member of the program.
One-month “bootcamp”
When I describe the in-class month as a “bootcamp,” I mean that I had the opportunity to fully immerse myself in the learning experience.
From 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., I gained knowledge about finance and investing from Ivey’s faculty members and had the opportunity to develop new skills. Learning some fundamental concepts; such as the time value of money, the efficient market hypothesis, and the different valuation methods; really helped me develop my understanding of how investment decisions are made in the world of asset management. Thanks to Assistant Professor of Management Science Tiffany Bayley, I had the opportunity to gain some exposure to Python, and my Python skills really went a long way.
C is for confidence
During this one-month bootcamp, I learned both technical skills and concepts, and the importance of having confidence while working in the industry. Kanina Blanchard, Assistant Professor of Management Communications, discussed the significance of being confident while also helping us to demonstrate confidence through the way we sit, stand, walk, and talk. She actively engaged with the group and had group members participate in different role-playing scenarios where possessing confidence can be a challenge. Going through these different scenarios helped to really define confidence and demonstrated to us how to remain confident, especially as women in a male-dominated industry.
Is Canadian Tire really undervalued?
For the WAM Capstone, we were split into groups and assigned a project that involved determining the value of Canadian Tire’s stock. During this week, I applied many of the skills that I had developed, including using a Bloomberg terminal, creating a discounted cash flow, and building an investment thesis. Not only did we work on this in groups, but we also met with Canadian Tire executives and visited a Canadian Tire store to see the full picture. Or at least we thought we were looking at the full picture…
At the end, we presented our investment thesis to the WAM Advisory Council. Based on the council members’ feedback, it was clear that the answer is not always so simple. I learned through the capstone about the need to question all the information that is being presented to you and to analyze all sides of a story. If we had interviewed people who did not work for Canadian Tire, our investment thesis surely would have been different.
No rain at Sun Life
Without hesitation, I would say the highlight of the program was my internship at Sun Life Global Investments (SLGI) as a Portfolio Analyst. SLGI uses a top-down investment approach to make big-picture investment decisions on multi-strategy portfolios, which is different from what we practiced in the bootcamp. When I was introduced to how SLGI’s Portfolio Management team operated, not all the puzzle pieces fit together. Thankfully, Christine Tan, Portfolio Manager, gave me the opportunity to work on three different projects throughout the term so I could have a better idea of what the team does and actively apply and learn new skills.
For one of my projects, I worked with Senior Portfolio Analyst, Pedro Cadavid, on analyzing consumer sentiment and presenting our findings to the team. During this project, I used a software called MacroBond to integrate data and create meaningful graphs that added valuable insights to the presentation. This project gave me a sense of what the top-down approach is all about and added to my interest and passion for asset management. Most of all, having a great mentor really enabled me to fulfill my curiosity as he was always there to answer questions.
Each day of my internship was different and each day presented me with interesting opportunities and challenges. Well, maybe one thing remained the same every day: I worked with the same smart, approachable, and friendly people!
Working with CIO Chhad Aul and his portfolio management team made my internship an enjoyable experience. The team really supported my growth throughout the term and gave me interesting projects to work on to keep me engaged. This experience has left me saying that even when the hardest challenges arise, there is no rain at SunLife!
Related Articles
