Phoebe Allott, Nationwide

Phoebe Allott is a risk consultant in capital forecasting for Nationwide Building Society. She has a BA in business and economics from the University of the West of England.

Why did you want a risk management graduate career with Nationwide?

I chose risk because I wanted to gain a holistic view of organisations. My employer appealed to me because I liked the idea of working for a building society whose priority is customers over making profit for shareholders.

What does your graduate job entail?

My role is to ensure that the group has enough capital to cover any potential losses. I co-ordinate departments’ predicted sales balances and generate a forecast of the risk-weighted assets the group will hold, based on five-year market assumptions. I collate these forecasts against different scenarios and produce models. I also liaise with other divisions to improve the forecasting process and deal with any queries that arise.

'People think everyone working in risk is boring like Ben Stiller’s character in Along came Polly, but this couldn’t be further from the truth!'

What do you like the best about risk manangement?

It’s exciting being actively involved in the strategic direction of a business. Recently, I worked with the senior manager of the strategy and planning division to create a new section on risk for the corporate plan document. It was a highly pressurised activity that really improved my interpersonal skills.

Do you think graduates have the right idea about what risk management is?

People think everyone working in risk is boring like Ben Stiller’s character in Along came Polly, but this couldn’t be further from the truth! Particularly since the credit crisis, effective risk management has really come to the fore and will continue to be an essential part of running a safe and secure company.