Alessandro Torresan

Name: Alessandro Torresan
Job: OTC (over the counter) collateral manager
Area of work: Operations
Employer: UBS
Qualifications: MEng in management and engineering, University of Padova, Italy (2007)

My degree focused on operational management, so I knew I would enjoy it. I wanted a job in a big service company and thought a global bank would suit me. I spent a summer doing an internship at UBS and was offered a job at the end of it.

My job

I’m a collateral manager, which involves mitigating credit risk exposure to other parties. Every day, all my clients need to be sufficiently ‘collateralised’. In other words, the bank asks a client to provide a cash or securities ‘buffer’ and my job is to make sure this buffer is equal to the value of the client’s portfolio of trades. If the account is too small, I ask the client to pledge more securities or cash to us. My other responsibilities include resolving any disputes with clients and liaising with other areas of bank.

Attention to detail is a vital skill needed for my job, along with a desire to improve and streamline the processes in place. I spend a lot of time looking after a pool of clients, and interacting with colleagues within the bank, so good communication skills are vital. I tend to make contact with clients over the phone or email, so the job doesn’t involve much travel.

’Winning a motivational award was a real high point.’

Good atmosphere

I work in the City, typically starting at 8.30 am and leaving at 6.30pm. I’m pleased to say there’s a good working environment at work: it feels fairly relaxed (for finance) in the office but there’s enough pressure to perform well.

I enjoy working on new projects or initiatives; they make the day varied and interesting. The biggest challenge in my job is being able to multitask between the different projects while ensuring all clients receive a good level of service. A real high point for me so far was winning a motivational award for completing a complex project for a client. I’d been nominated by a senior manager in the ‘front office’, which was a great compliment.