The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) is delighted to announce the 15 student winners of the Educational Trust Awards 2015. The CISI Educational Trust Awards celebrate high standards of work amongst students studying CISI accredited courses around the United Kingdom, and for the first time have benefited both undergraduate and postgraduate students:
• Jonas Rebmann Postgraduate Aston University
• Hao Zhang Postgraduate CASS Business School
• Zeeshan Shahid Postgraduate Coventry University
• Andrew Brindley Undergraduate Coventry University
• Lauren Affleck Postgraduate Glasgow Caledonian University
• Tao Ding Postgraduate ICMA, University of Reading
• Hanchang Wang Postgraduate Imperial College London
• Lidia Mazzanti Postgraduate Queen Mary University London
• Ighome Ojameruaye Postgraduate University of Birmingham
• Alex Stevenson Undergraduate University of Birmingham
• Olivier Baas Postgraduate University of Edinburgh
• Yen Kim Phu Postgraduate University of Exeter
• Nora Kunz Postgraduate University of Portsmouth
• Deepak Lalwani Idnani Postgraduate University of the West of England
• Shrey Dinesh Jain Postgraduate Westminster Business School, University of Westminster
Each student has been nominated by their university on the basis of excellence in an item of work or examination. These students, as CISI Educational Trust Award winners, each receive a financial award to support ambitions for a financial services career. Postgraduate winners receive £1,000 each and undergraduates £500 each.
In addition each winner was invited to submit an essay of 400 words for the opportunity to attend an interview with the Educational Trust for the chance to achieve a further financial award. They also had to sit a General Knowledge test. The essay title for 2015 was "What is the difference, if it exists, between investing and gambling? Which category do derivative trading and spread betting fall into?"
The Educational Trust interviews took place on Friday 17th April and the top performing postgraduate was Lauren Affleck from Glasgow Caledonian University (receiving £2,000) and the top performing undergraduate was Alex Stevenson from University of Birmingham (receiving £1,000). Deepak Lalwani Idnani of University of the West of England, and Jonas Rebmann of Aston University both received special commendations (receiving £500 each).
Clare Gore Langton, Chartered FCSI(Hon) (Chairman), is an investment director, with over 25 years of experience of working with private client investment portfolios. She concluded: “The trustees were pleased with the quality of the candidates and their essays. But I would encourage them to ensure their general knowledge is always up to date. The message is less Facebook and more Bloomberg please!”
Lauren Affleck, Postgraduate student from Glasgow University, said: “Winning a CISI educational trust award is something I am extremely proud of and would like to thank everyone involved in the trust. I know that such a prestigious award will help further my career in the financial services industry and look forward to a continued professional relationship with the CISI.”
Alex Stevenson from University of Birmingham said: “The interview day experience strengthened my enthusiasm to embark on a career within investments. I especially enjoyed the discussion with trustees relating to the essay title and recent macroeconomic trends.”
Jonas Rebmann, Postgraduate student from Aston University, told us: “The CISI Educational Trust Award is a big achievement and provides motivation to successfully finish my studies and progression through my career. Taking part in the award process was a valuable experience for me to take forward.”
Deepak Lalwani Idnani, Postgraduate from University of West of England, commented: “With significant competition for the best finance sector opportunities, being part of this initiative will help me to stand out from the crowd. The whole experience was incredibly rewarding for me. It gave me the opportunity to meet talented senior people from the industry.”