Emily Coates

Name: Emily Coates
Employer: J.P. Morgan
Area of work: Risk management
University: Durham University
Subject: BA philosophy
Graduated: 2007

In my first year of university I attended a spring week programme run by J.P. Morgan, which gave me a general
overview of investment banking. I particularly enjoyed the time spent with the risk team and they encouraged me to apply for an internship. I applied, did a summer internship and came back for my final year at university with a job offer in hand!

My job

My main responsibility is to analyse clients’ risk levels. I use a variety of sources, from talking to the clients themselves to looking at rating agency reports and news sources. For example, my colleagues in trading might ask me to look at a potential new client. I would look at their business and its financial reports, talk to senior staff about my feelings on the matter and then get back to the trading desk. The initial analysis might only take a couple of days but I would then help take an ongoing responsibility for monitoring the client. My team covers around 120 existing clients – everyone is responsible for a particular sector and I mainly cover financial institutions in the UK and Ireland.

Building my skills

There was a lot to take in at first but the initial training in New York helped me to get up to speed quickly – and it was fantastic to spend eight weeks abroad.