Technology | Insight Investment

As I finish my first of four rotations as a technology graduate at Insight, I reflect on what a rewarding experience I have had so far.

I’d been warned about what to expect from friends about moving to the city and joining a finance company.

I have had these views flipped on their head. Insight has been much more innovative and welcoming than my expectations.

When I arrived at Insight

I received an extremely warm welcome.

At first it was surprising how many people came up to introduce themselves and say hello, but this absolutely made those first day nerves go away.

My team has been incredibly helpful, and no question is ‘too silly’.

Moreover, every individual I have met has been willing to give advice and made time for me when I’ve needed their help – whether they sit on my team or not.

My last 6 months have been spent with the Cloud Security team

I have gained skills both in Azure and the security space.

After doing my postgraduate degree in the Mathematics of Cybersecurity, this was a nice fit and allowed me to see learnt theory brought to life.

Being in this team has been a great insight to the risk management culture in a financial environment.

I will pivot onto a development team in Manchester for the next 6 months to expand very different skills.

Every graduate is buddied up with a mentor

This is helpful with navigating around the business and someone to answer questions without judgement. This relationship has been one of my favourite things about the programme so far. My mentor has been amazing! Very supportive in my decisions and the direction I want to go with my career, and a fountain of advice and encouragement. It is an amazing feeling to know you have someone to talk to at work whilst you are still trying to get used to ‘the working world’. As technology graduates, we also have access to our technical spirit guides – the all-knowing gurus of the Insight technology universe.

Meeting my fellow graduates

We were given the opportunity to meet all graduates before the scheme started. We got to know each other and set up a group chat to keep in touch. After many chats and some good banter, it felt like I was starting this job with friends. I knew I wouldn’t be alone at lunch on my first day!

My fellow graduates are one of the best elements of the scheme. Over the first 12 weeks we had one training day a week together, followed by many social events, which allowed us to really bond. We all sit in different areas of the business so there is always someone that can shed some light on any problem you may be experiencing – whether it be technical, finance or even compliance. I can safely say I think I have made friends for life.

Complete the IMC (Investment Management Certificate)

This consisted of some training days with the whole cohort and a lot of self-study. Most of us starting in technology were not as familiar with the jargon and the concepts and this helped us get up to speed with the other graduates.

We also have Pluralsight subscriptions, so whatever technological training we need is at our fingertips. I am currently revising for the AZ-500 Azure Security exam using it. The variety of learning and rotations available makes this a fulfilling scheme with opportunities to develop and grow.

Technology cohort

As a technology cohort, we have our own project which we work on once a week. It has been good to attack a project from the very beginning using the agile methodology. It has been useful to see the many signoffs needed to get the go ahead and understand how projects work in the corporate world. We have all been allowed to get our creative juices flowing here and work on every angle of our application; from the UX and UI design, to the architecture and the development. Again, another experience that gives us increased opportunities to learn new skills.

I move into my next rotation excited for the rest of my Insight journey. I’m looking forward to many more learning experiences that will come my way.

It’s a crisp Friday morning in Manchester, and as I sit with a coffee, I find myself reflecting on how far things have come since I first joined Insight back in 2019.

When I got that call from a recruiter all those years ago, Insight was in the early stages of a big technology transformation – moving infrastructure to the cloud, embracing Agile, and opening a new Tech Hub in Spinningfields. It sounded exciting then, and looking back now, it’s been an incredible journey.

A Place Where You Can Grow

One of the things that really stands out to me is how many of my colleagues have been here for years. Insight is genuinely a place where you can build a career, move into different roles, and keep learning. That’s not just a tagline – I’ve seen it happen time and again.

How My Role Has Evolved

When I started, I was heading up Client Reporting Development. Fast forward to today, and my role has grown massively. I now manage:

• Client and Regulatory Reporting Development
• Business Intelligence
• Client Platform
• Corporate Systems (Finance & HR)
• Artificial Intelligence (AI Pod)

Our teams are spread across Manchester, London, the USA, and India, which makes collaboration both challenging and rewarding. It’s a truly global effort.

The Tech We Use

The tools and platforms we work with are modern and varied – Azure, Salesforce, Tableau, Vermilion, and Anaplan to name a few. And now, we’ve taken a big step forward in AI by using BNY’s Eliza platform. This is helping us automate processes, support smarter decision making, improve data quality, and unlock insights that were previously hidden. It’s not about replacing people – it’s about giving them the tools to work smarter and deliver even more value.

Hybrid Working – Flexibility That Works

Another big positive is our hybrid working model. We typically spend three days in the office, which strikes a great balance between collaboration and flexibility. It means we get the buzz and energy of working together in person while still having the freedom to manage our time and focus when working remotely. For me, that flexibility makes a huge difference.

Culture Matters

What I love most about Insight is the culture. There’s no ego here. It’s a flat structure where things get done, and people genuinely want to help each other succeed. When I first joined, colleagues in London were incredibly patient and supportive, helping me learn the ropes and understand the business. That sense of team is still strong today.

One of the biggest shifts has been in how we work. Agile isn’t just a buzzword here; it’s embedded in our DNA. Daily stand-ups, sprint planning, and retrospectives keep us aligned and adaptable.

Looking Ahead

I’m excited about what’s next. We’re continuing to grow, and we’ll be looking for more people to join us. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to share my story – it might spark interest in someone out there who’s thinking about their next move. If you’re curious about working in tech, in a place where you can learn, grow, and be part of something meaningful, Insight is worth a look.

My first week journey.

It’s late Sunday afternoon. I'm on a train headed to London. It’s quiet and I feel vindicated in my decision to take up Insight’s offer to travel down the night before I start. My first solo venture on the London Underground is outside of peak hours. It’s calm rather than carnage. I’m not barged out of the way or shouted at for standing on the left side of the escalator.

I arrive and am greeted by beautiful architecture. I take some time to relax; albeit I'm about to start work for Insight Investment part of BNYM. I'm about to start what I consider a very rare and prestigious opportunity; seriously... relax? On the contrary, I'm giddy and buzzing.

I’m greeted by a number of people from HR and taken through the formalities of building passes, the benefits package and given a taster of Insight culture.

We run through the benefits: family medical care, dental, critical illness cover, health checks and a very rich wife if I die etc. etc. Ok it's a touch morbid and yet this stuff helps me sleep at night. I’m also super happy that I now get a 9% pension to keep my dream alive of retirement before I’m 65! That’s a long way off.

This shows me this is a place that clearly cares about its people.

We go over compliance, when you're working for a bank chances are they have a few rules to tell you about right? I won't give you an hour by hour account, so I'll point out a few things:

• Ridiculously clever business folk? Check Helpful, knowledgeable and patient colleagues? Yes, especially you Kieron.
• Clear plans, direction, strategy? Ambitious plans? Check
• Equipment ready? Email working? Induction week fully planned out? Yes. Perfectly? Well, not quite, but easy fixes for next time.
• Access to training? Yes - you get Safari & Pluralsight as a minimum for starters.

The management, culture, environment, ambitions and people feel right. There are many challenges to solve and those are problems that Devs can solve; that’s definitely good.

As for the journey ahead, my new found colleagues, (nay friends already) and I, enter the company at a really exciting time. Agile has arrived and I'm about to play my part in an exciting transformation project to bring the companies applications on a journey into the cloud. This, even for a semi-legacy app of any significant size, poses a joyful amount of challenges. Bring on .NET Core, Micro Services, Disconnected Architecture, Containerisation and all that good stuff. Many of the applications I’m about to get to grips with support a business which manages large amounts of money; and does so ultimately on behalf of millions of people like you and me who seek happy and prosperous retirements – no pressure huh!

Along with the technical challenges, the people, from Devs through to Heads of, have a great vision for the new team in Manchester to do some amazing things. They’ve invested in a new purpose built office in Spinningfields. It’s a suave and modern space – not quite what you might expect from a bank (no offence meant).

If you're a super-awesome techie, Business Analyst or a great team leader and you're reading this because you're scoping Insight out as a future place of work; I’d encourage you to pursue it.

You'll likely get to speak with people like Gareth and Dan (two of the IT Heads), who've been with the company for a collective 30 years and still carry the passion of a pair of new starters. It won't be as 'hip' as some tech places you'll find but then those companies probably aren’t managing your pensions. I, for one, am cool with that.

It was a great first week and if you want to know if I feel the same many weeks and months in; reach out for a chat. I’ll be honest about what my experience is so far.

It's Monday and it’s 5 am. I’m generally out of bed at this time; I’m not often leaving the house. It's cold, dark and I'm at least a 30 minute commute from my first caffeine hit.

I’m on en-route from Manchester to Insight Investment's London office to start a new adventure.

I’m one of four Tech Leads hired to establish Insight's Manchester Tech hub. I feel a great responsibility on my shoulders. We four (along with subsequent hires) will fuse the culture of an established, leading global asset manager within our new office, set up to focus on excellent technical engineering. I’m a northern software nerd with no prior experience in finance and an aversion to London. I’m on a high diving board about to plunge into a deep lake of the unknown.

The journey to London is effortless. I meet up with my fellow Tech Leads. We head through reception to meet Abi, our contact in HR, who takes us through the basics.

Monday is filled with a collection of on-boarding sessions that run like clockwork and we meet with some great people. We discuss Insight culture with Jeff. He explains to us culture is not something you can capture on a post-it note. It’s intangible and absorbed through osmosis, which is exactly what we do for the rest of the week and beyond.

I jump from one meeting room to another as Insight executes a well thought out on- boarding. It’s a combination of technical briefings and gentle introductions to asset management and Liability Driven Investment.

The pace is fast. The people we meet are focused, driven and yet unmistakably human. Insight people are very approachable and friendly, something my preconceptions hadn't allowed for.

We are taken through more of the strategic vision for cloud computing and where the Manchester Tech hub fits into the bigger picture. The commitment to Azure and their in-house expertise on leveraging cloud computing is impressive. It feels good to be part of something big, complex and considered.

There’s time for a break, an evening social in the Rising Sun. Stone floors, sticky bar tops and proper beer in real pint glasses. Not a mason jar in sight and a million miles away from the painfully cool bars that surround our new Manchester office in Spinningfields. Again, my preconceptions about "financial types" fade as we descend into relaxed chat.

It's hard to pick a highlight but I'm going to. Gareth (Head of Technology Transformation) took time out to walk the floors with us. An Insight veteran of 20 years, Gareth seems to know every corner of the business and how each part interacts. Even though some of the buzzwords and concepts may still be out of reach, this seemingly simple walk around the office is enjoyable, memorable and gave us some much needed context.

As the week draws to a close and I get the train back to Manchester, it's time to reflect on what I've experienced. It will take a while to fully replay my experiences but already I can sense an attitude of personal responsibility in everyone I've met. A "can do" approach and a drive to get things done with little fuss or ceremony and a basic orientation to "do the right thing".

Joining the workforce fresh out of university studies can be an extremely daunting task, especially when moving into a completely new industry.

There are plenty of examples of where this can be simultaneously stressful and intimidating but I can safely say that joining Insight as a technology graduate in Manchester put these fears to rest almost immediately.

From the friendly and inviting atmosphere, to the knowledge sharing culture, the first year of my scheme with Insight has been a perfect balance of challenge and learning.

Initial impressions

Being the first graduate to spend their full scheme in the Manchester office was an intimidating prospect, starting in an industry I had little experience with beforehand but thankfully in a city I was familiar with.

Fortunately, everyone at Insight has been extremely inviting and friendly. Financial services can have a bad reputation for this, but Insight is definitely the antithesis.

Being a junior member of staff, especially as a graduate, means you aren’t expected to come in as the finished product. This further highlighted the benefit of Insight’s helpful culture in answering questions and assisting colleagues where possible.

The Cohort

Although being in Manchester means the rest of the graduate cohort are situated in a different office, there are plenty of opportunities to interact.

In the early stages of my scheme, I spent a week down in the London office to complete introductions to senior members of the business across a multitude of teams and departments as well as taking part in training sessions around the asset management industry as a whole.

In addition to this, we have quarterly development days in London, where as a cohort we sit down with internal and external guest speakers on wide array of topics. These have included networking and personal branding sessions all the way to more Insight specific advice from senior members of the company.

Rotations

Being just over a year into my graduate scheme means that I have fully completed two of my four rotations, whilst being partially through my third.

Initially starting in client reporting, then onto OTC order management, to where I am now in core investment systems; I have been exposed to a wide array of tools, skills and functions across the technology department and asset management industry as a whole.

The opportunity to be experience so many different teams and functions cannot be understated. Coming into the company as a graduate, you may struggle to identify which areas you wish to explore and pursue (as I definitely did). Therefore, having the rotational structure can be invaluable when determining the path you wish to take.

Support and Certifications

Throughout the scheme you complete the IMC (Investment Management Certificate). As someone who comes from an engineering background, this was exceedingly helpful in filling the gaps in my financial knowledge and adding context to the work I was completing.

Alongside the IMC we also have access to our internal learning platform, which contains a huge volume and variety of courses. I personally have been watching the courses on derivatives and data science.

You are also assigned both a buddy and a mentor. Your buddy is a graduate from the previous year’s intake who can help answer any worries or concerns you may have.

Your mentor is a more established member of the company and through regular meetings can help guide you through your job function and provide valuable guidance due to their wealth of experience.

Moving forward I am excited to finish my 3^rd rotation and progress onto my final team, continuing to learn and see what the future holds.