Misha Parekh

Link Group specifically my division which is Link fund solutions is one of the leading independent Authorised Fund Manager and provider of fund administration and transfer agency services. My role here is varies day to day. One of my responsibilities is to manage ongoing scheme changes the below shows the keys skills i take to be successful in my current role:

• Used critical thinking to break down problems, evaluate solutions and make decisions.
• Used coordination and planning skills to achieve results according to schedule.
• Identified issues, analysed information and provided solutions to problems.
• Prepared variety of different written communications, reports and documents.
• Created plans and communicated deadlines to complete projects on time.
• Conducted research, gathered information from multiple sources to prove or back up points that i raise.

Another part of the role is to write and maintain key investors documents. This is where knowledge of COLL has become useful as we need to understand the meaning and the regulations behind the funds. Below is a summery of the key skills needed for this:

• Be able to find and evaluate problems or issues, handle concerns quickly and escalate major issues to my manager or senior associate.
• summarise and construct jargon so that non-professional investors are able to understand and make clear and informed decisions.
• know and understand the types of risk that come with different funds.
• Maintain great relationships with other parties whist being able to raise issue and concerns.

My final responsibility of my role is best described as project management. This is where we manage projects such as regulatory reviews and prospectus reviews along with others. Below are the skills needed to carry out the role effectively:

• Delegate tasks to the team efficiently whist being aware resources.
• Managing project risks, including the development of contingency plans
• Creating a tracker to follow the progress of the project as well as being able to identify if there are any issues
• Work with all parities of the business for them to review documents and to provide comment if needed
• Be up to date with any changes to COLL and make the the updates to the documents accordingly

When working at Tilney i would gather and process client plan information specifically looking into the products they hold with providers. I would then create a script based on what I could find out. Details that would be of high importance would be fund information, we would use key investors documents or fund factsheets to create reports for clients. These would include SRRI , charges, and previous performances. Previous performance became important during covid as the markets were so volatile. This information would need to be accurate as we follow strict FCA regulations when it comes to business processes. We work closely with our risk and compliance team as they would check our scripts to make sure they were accurate, again following the FCA regulations. Workload is monitored by an unactioned, actioned and complete system. This allowed me to keep track of my work and keep the relevant people updated. I was involved in a project where I was able to strengthen my time management ability and I needed to communicate with multiple teams, clients, and outside companies allowing me to gain more insight into the business process and enabling me to provide my manager with higher quality of work. Below are the skills i used to with in this role:

• Completed paperwork, recognising discrepancies and promptly addressing for resolution.
• Learned new systems and applying the to daily tasks to improve efficiency and productivity such as implementing Microsoft teams sharing documents system.

When working as a pension administrator I was able to strengthen my knowledge and skills with excel and Microsoft word as well as use a new system Google mail. I gained new skills and industry experience. I learnt report writing, how to analyse pension funds, liaising with providers. I spoke to clients everyday and was able to provide excellent customer service. I had to maintain relationships with provider as i needed to request client information. Part of the role was to try and gain new clients from people who had registered interest, we would then get score based off how many clients we could send to the advisers. my conversion rate was 10% based off a potential 32 clients a day. Below are the skills i used during this role:

• Updated internal handbooks and individuals records.
• Offered friendly and efficient service to customers, handled challenging situations with ease.
• Exceeded goals through effective task prioritization and great work ethic.
• Negotiating and sales skills which gave me more confidence in the workplace.

Working as a Financial Service Administrator i was able to gain experience and social skill to work in a corporate setting. Here, I was working aside a professional, who showed me what i need to know and do to work with high profile clients. I was able to begin understanding the sector and regulations behind it. From this role i now understand the need to consumer protection and clarity for investors. Below are the skills i used in this role:

• Performed initial client assessment and analysis to begin research process.
• Researched and updated all required materials needed for firm and partners.
• Created boardroom multimedia presentations using power point and PDF
• Delivered an exceptional level of service to each client by listening to concerns and answering questions.
• Supported the advisor in improving operations by implementing systems such as office 365.
• Worked directly with clients to understand their risk profile and financial goals.