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Keele Management School News
Keele Management School News
A summer internship with the
Office for National Statistics (ONS)
From Keele to Aviva
Economics and Finance student, Matthew Makins spent summer 2016
working as an intern with the Office for National Statistics (ONS), part of the
Government Economic Service (GES).
“I applied to the GES in order to gain hands-on experience
of my degree subjects. There were many opportunities to
do this with weekly economic briefings, analysis of key
sources of data and suggesting possible explanations to
inconsistent data. I was involved in a variety of projects
and was treated like a full member of staff. My most
notable contribution was having a short story published
on the UK’s trade and investment relationship with South
America which you can read at www.ons.gov.uk/economy/
nationalaccounts/balanceofpayments/articles/
uktradeandinvestmentwithsouthamerica/2016
I also developed and presented a specialist
presentation on the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme at a weekly
economic briefing. I received positive feedback from
this and was encouraged to create a blog post for the
ONS internal homepage, tailored to non-economists.
This was a great task and explaining economic theory
to non-economists is a key competency for the GES
graduate scheme.
However, it wasn’t all eat, sleep, work, repeat. Other
summer students and I were invited to join some ONS
staff for 5-a-side football every week, which was always
enjoyable. In addition, the ONS hosted a sports day
with activities such as a football tournament, rounders,
wheelbarrow races and even tug of war. There was a
barbecue and a bar for refreshments during and after
the sports.
Matthew Makins enjoying his internship at the ONS
My experience at the ONS was very much a positive
one, the staff were very supportive and encouraging
and it was a very relaxed environment. Furthermore,
the experience will have a positive impact on my
knowledge, experience and work ethic entering my final
year. Having exposure to statistical packages such as
SAS, and improving my skills with Excel, should help give
me an edge when it comes to more statistical modules,
and in particular, my Independent Study Project (ISP).
My advice to anyone looking to apply for a summer
internship scheme, whether it be GES or elsewhere, is to
make sure you make multiple applications to a range of
internship providers to increase your chances and to be
relentless. Don’t be disheartened if you are rejected by
some schemes as these are seriously competitive. It is
important to apply to many places as you begin to
familiarise yourself with the online tests and competencies
that are used commonly by recruiters. Also, to make use of
the career advisors in Keele, as they can guide you on CV
improvements and interview skills. Finally, should you secure
a placement somewhere, make the most of it. Get your
hands dirty. You are likely to be there for a limited time so
you want to make an impression, develop your employability
and possibly be given a job offer for when you graduate.
“I would recommend an internship with the ONS as they
are increasing the number of graduates they recruit,
particularly economists, and they offer a healthy salary!”
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Todor Penchev
“Following my MSc Financial Risk
Management at KMS, I joined the
Aviva Group, London as an intern in
the Required Capital Assumptions
and Methodology (RCAM) team.
After a long and challenging year, I
was made a permanent member of
staff and now work as an Actuarial
Analyst in the Financial Modelling
Solutions (FSM) team.”
How the modules I studied
have helped my work
The first big project I worked on
was to improve and develop an
existing tool for monitoring the
appropriateness of the market risk
calibrations using live financial
data. The knowledge I gained from
the ‘Financial Markets’ module and
‘Quantitative Methods in Finance’
module, enabled me to successfully
complete the project by the deadline.
I also assisted in the ‘Conventional
Equity’, ‘Infrastructure Debt’ and
‘Market Correlations’ papers doing
some of the calculations, creating
tools designed for specific purposes
and also producing and checking
reports to ensure that all of the work
was free of errors and consistent with
Aviva’s policies. The ‘Applied Finance’
module, helped me to understand
the underlying methodology used in
the ‘Conventional Equity’ calibration
and enabled me to quickly step in
and help my managers.
I have also been involved in capital
analysis and capital validation
projects, focusing on understanding
the risks and reasons driving Aviva’s
capital requirement by directly using
and manipulating Aviva’s Internal
Capital Model. The ‘Fixed Income
Securities and Credit Risk’ and
the ‘Portfolio Risk Management’
module were very useful as I was
able to understand the underlying
calculations, the meaning of different
risks and also how they arise.
Skills and personal
development
The internship gave me a chance
to further build on my academic
knowledge and to understand
how risk management works from
a practical point of view. I also
learned how important it is to use
my initiative and how this helps to
build your reputation and relationship
with your colleagues. For example,
Aviva changed its internal model
last year with a completely new
design of the calculation platform
and interface. I spent a lot of my free
time trying to understand how the
new model works and how the actual
program can be used to set out
capital simulations used for different
analytical purposes. After a few
weeks it turned out that I was the
only one in the team who knew how
the new interface worked and this
further increased my usefulness.
I also produced a methodology paper
describing a technique that could be
used in the process of assessing the
materiality of correlation changes
without being asked to do so by
my managers. I believe that this,
combined with the passion and hard
work I put into the tasks delegated
to me, led to me receiving an offer
of permanent employment.
The FMS team I currently work
with is responsible for building and
maintaining the capital models
Aviva uses for its risk calculations
and capital reporting practices.
The material covered in the
‘Financial Modelling’ module, helped
me to quickly integrate in the team
as our job involves a lot of coding.
So far I have been working on
the ‘Internal Model’ and also the
‘Standard Formula Model’ (used for
calculating the capital requirements
of Aviva’s non-internal model
entities). I have also been involved
in the building of a supplementary
tool replicating the internal model
capital calculations for the purposes
of more in-depth analysis to be used
by senior management.
My future plans
I have decided that I want to
become an Actuary, so my next
step is to start preparing for the
‘Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’
exams. Becoming a permanent
member of staff placed me on an
Actuarial study scheme where
Aviva will be fully supporting my
further development.
I can honestly say that without
the knowledge I obtained during
the MSc programme it would have
been very difficult, if not impossible,
to integrate in the organisation and
have such a successful time.
It is a great honour working for
Aviva and it feels like my biggest
dream has come true, I would like
to express my deepest gratitude
towards Keele Management
School and its entire staff for
their endless support and also for
presenting me with this once in a
lifetime opportunity.”