OUR SUCCESS STORIES

PALLAVI AMBEKAR: PORTFOLIO MANAGER

 

Pallavi joined Coronation in 2003 as a trainee research analyst. She advanced to senior research analyst and was later assigned portfolio management responsibilities. After co-managing Coronation's aggressive equity offering for 8 years, she now manages Coronation’s absolute return strategies.

 

When did you first realise that you wanted a career in investments and what triggered that interest?
I didn’t really have much investment exposure during university and my articles. I finished my chartered accountant articles at KPMG and decided to join Coronation who happened to be one of my audit clients. The culture and meritocracy in the organisation appealed to me. As I gained more exposure and experience in the investment team, my passion for the markets was triggered.

Is there someone that you feel has helped you get to where you are in your career? Who is that and how did they help?
A number of people have helped with my career growth. My parents put great emphasis on education and a good work ethic. My husband has been a supportive partner and a source of excellent advice.

 

What do you love about what you do?
You never stop learning and things are always changing. This keeps things exciting and refreshing.

What do you do to ensure that you maintain a work/life balance?
I am tempted to say that there is no such thing, if you are full time working mother of 3 kids! I enjoy travelling and spending time with friends and family as much as possible.

What do you like about working in Coronation’s investment team?
I am surrounded by intelligent people, who are constantly challenging and debating ideas. The learning curve is continuous, and you get exposure to different areas of the market (equity, fixed income and property).

Which subject or qualification has been the most useful in your investment career?
My Chartered Financial Analyst degree has helped the most.

What 3 qualities do you feel a successful investment professional needs to have?
Courage, flexibility and humility.

Being a mom and an investment professional must have its challenges. How do you make it work?
I have help with running the household and managing my children’s school days. I have learnt over time to delegate non-essential tasks to others. I am always busy but never bored!.

What advice would you give a young graduate entering the investment world?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

OUR SUCCESS STORIES

SARAH-JANE ALEXANDER: PORTFOLIO MANAGER

Sarah-Jane joined Coronation in 2008 as an equity analyst. Today, in addition to her research responsibilities, she co-manages the Coronation Houseview Equity Strategy and the Coronation Industrial Fund.

 

When did you first realise that you wanted a career in investments and what triggered that interest?

I was an avid saver of my pocket money as a child; trading any Easter eggs to supplement it! I saved every cent to buy my first quarter Krugerrand while my sister ate sweets and read comic books. As a graduate I joined J.P. Morgan and was fortunate enough to have broad exposure to the financial industry before affirming that I wanted to be an investor.

Is there someone that you feel has helped you get to where you are in your career? Who is that and how did they help?
I have been fortunate enough to work with good investors in both London and Cape Town but the breadth of the Coronation debate and exposure has challenged me to broaden my thinking and strengthen my views.

What do you love about what you do?
The opportunity to learn about industries and businesses in depth and understand the fundamental drivers. The work is stimulating and you are constantly challenged by highly intelligent people; both the captains of industry you get exposure to as well as the many smart people in the industry.

What do you do to ensure that you maintain a work/life balance?
Three small children means it can’t be all work but there is not a huge amount of personal time. However, having a gym, supermarket and Sorbet in the building does mean I get a lot out of my lunch hour!

What do you like about working in Coronation’s investment team?
The robustness of the debate and the smart people having it. The generalist model makes for lots of strong, well informed views on any topic and the flat structure encourages it. Below it all, everybody tends to have a good sense of humour.

Which subject or qualification has been the most useful in your investment career?
An enquiring mind supported with numerical skills. Speed reading helps!

What 3 qualities do you feel a successful investment professional needs to have?
A hunger for knowledge, an ability to translate huge amounts of data into investable ideas and keep questioning and testing your assumptions.

Being a mom and an investment professional must have its challenges. How do you make it work?
A brilliant team of husband, grandparents, nannies, uber drivers and living very close to my children’s school so that they can walk everywhere.