Our careers section has been in need of some real-world stories. After connecting with Luke on LinkedIn following his presentation for the Leeds Trading and Investment Society, I decided to reach out to see if he could provide insights into working in Payments at J.P. Morgan and share advice for Finsights readers pursuing a career in finance.
Luke is currently on a graduate scheme with JPMorgan, where he has rotated across their Payments (also known as Treasury Services) value chain. Throughout this scheme, Luke has worked with three different teams.
In the first eight months, his role was very client-facing, ensuring an exceptional client go-live and post-live experience, from their first transaction through to full integration. His second tenure was with the Corporate Implementation team, managing client projects specifically in treasury and liquidity solutions, while also focusing on internal projects to drive efficiencies and revenue enablement within the team.
Currently, Luke is in his final rotation, working in JPMorgan’s GBP and EUR Clearing Product team. In this role, he is deeply immersed in the industry and regulatory landscape. He provides analysis on existing JPMorgan portfolios, assists in product feature developments, and ensures that he and his team stay up-to-date with developments in the payments industry. Current hot topics include PSD3, the new payment services directive for the EU, and Stablecoin regulation. Stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that aims to maintain a stable value by being fixed to a reference asset, such as USD or gold.
Recently, Luke helped a UoL undergraduate student get into the JPMorgan payments scheme after they connected at an event held between JPMorgan and the university.
Interview with Luke
When and how did you know you wanted to pursue a career in finance?
“I knew finance was where I was heading after a year of studying my A-levels. International business provided me with the theories behind multinational firms’ strategies and allowed me to evaluate their effectiveness, while economics helped me understand the concept of markets. Alongside these, accounting gave me the ability to analyse and assess financial statements.”
Luke enjoyed both business and economics but found accounting monotonous. Being the first in his family to attend university, he had no idea where to start when deciding on a degree. He wanted something involving business, economics, and accounting, but weighted more towards business and economics. A degree in Banking and Finance was the natural fit. From the first lecture, he knew he had made the right choice, and that finance would be his career path. His motivation and passion for the subjects led to him being a Dean’s award and scholarship holder across all three years, achieving a first-class degree with honours.
Do you think jobs in the finance industry are vulnerable to being replaced by AI?
Luke believes that while AI will inevitably lead to the removal of some roles, the percentage of work that is completely automatable is not too high. He outlined two significant opportunities for AI in finance:
Enriching the work experience for junior employees: The analysis that currently makes up the majority of a junior’s workload will be automated, shifting the focus to tasks requiring more developed soft skills.
Differentiating top applicants: Being AI-competent will set top applicants apart. Those who adapt and embrace the change will be more effective in any position within the industry.
“ [AI] is a positive tool that we should embrace and learn how best to use. However, we should always complement the outputs of AI with both experience and gut-feel to ensure over-dependence does not become a hindrance.”
Luke shares his tips for students looking to pursue a career in finance:
Find what you enjoy: Enjoying the subjects he studied helped Luke achieve an overall 84% on his degree – a first-class with honours. If you are passionate about what you do, you will inevitably drive yourself to work to the best of your ability.
Invest in preparation: As soon as you settle in at university, think about what you need to do to get your desired role. Don’t overcomplicate this. Requirements are documented on job specifications and online.
Plan: Once you know what you need to do, decide the order in which you will do these things. Often this will be self-explanatory. You should now have a step-by-step plan for acquiring your desired role.
Have multiple plans: Sometimes, things go wrong. Plan A should be a “perfect world” scenario, then use plans B, C, D, E, etc. These will be slight deviations from your original plan, but don’t deviate too far, or else you will find it impossible to prepare for all of them.
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