UK and Ireland Sales Director - Sanjana Morjaria

Investment Banks have the most extraordinary number of jobs within them - it can be completely mind-boggling. Every time we went near one, we found a whole new department or group of people that did something we’d never heard of. This seems to be due to the immense specialisation within banks, where it can be quite possible to sit next to someone but have no idea what they do.

There are a couple of major distinctions worth highlighting. Investment Banking or ‘IBD’ tends to be the department which most people imagine when thinking about an investment bank. They are the ones doing huge M&A deals, putting in incredibly long hours (14 hours plus each day - including weekends, for months at a time - is not uncommon) and schmoozing with business leaders. Work/life balance is not easily found, but on the flipside the work you do will likely be high-profile and give you an enormous breadth of business and finance experience. This means that if you want to leave London or Investment Banking at some point you shouldn’t have a problem, as the skills gained are very transferable. We've met ex-bankers in companies ranging from renewable energy start-ups to large pharmaceuticals.

Capital Markets is where you’ll find the traders, salespeople and research analysts. They’re market-based and are the ones you see on TV shouting down phones and pacing frantically in front of five flickering computer screens. They’re monitoring market activity and reacting immediately to any changes. It’s noisier and a bit more adrenalin-fuelled than IBD. One of the big perks of Capital Markets (other than the actual job), is that the hours tend to reflect those of the market. That means early starts, with most people in the office by 6.30am, but it also means you tend to be out by six in the evening - and there is almost never weekend work. So if you’re an early riser the work/life balance is pretty good, especially compared to IBD. One limiting factor is that you’re in a highly specialised, role usually in a very specific market area, so there’s not much in the way of transferable skills. If you’re an FX institutional salesperson it’s not that easy to move into another product area, and you’re going to be tied to working in London (or another major financial centre).

Beyond these two areas you have a massive range of middle and back office functions. There’s Technology, Operations, Legal, Finance, Marketing and HR for a start. So if banking interests you then it’s definitely worth looking at the breadth of what’s on offer. The other thing that struck us about banks was just how diverse they were. Without doubt, they had the most mixed workforces we saw, with every member of a team often from a different country. While this makes for a really dynamic and interesting work environment, it does mean that when you’re applying for a job, you’re not just up against your peers in this country but across the whole world - so that application form had better stand out!

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Sanjana Morjaria I am the sales manager for Merrill Lynch's UK and Ireland wealth management business, and what do I do, good question, it is a multi faceted role that I play, I work very closely with financial advisers who manage client relationships, I help financial advisers build their book of business, by which I mean help them acquire new clients working closely to service their client relationships. I also work very closely at generating project ideas that they could discuss with their clients help them organise client events. So it's a role that touches many aspects of the wealth management business.

What is Global Wealth Management?

Global wealth management is a business that is focused on managing individual client relationships; it is a business which involves understanding clients’ needs and helping meet their long term goals. So it is a business also making sure offer the best of Merrill Lynch to the client. So as a financial advisor, their role is to be an expert on the client, to understand what the client’s needs are in terms of objectives, in terms of risk parameters, in terms of childrens' education, lifestyle, long term goals as well as knowing what is at Merrill Lynch that would be suitable for that client and bringing the two together.

What attracted you to this career?

I am a very people person and I think at university I was very sure what I wanted to do because I knew private banking, which we then referred to it as, is a very client-facing business and because I enjoy dealing with people I felt this could be the best role for me.

What does your job involve?

As the sales director, my role would be talking to financial advisors all the time, understanding what they are doing, trying to encourage them to look at different ideas, to try and look at different ways of bringing in business. So my role, I should not be sitting behind the computer too long, I should be there talking to people and helping them manage their business and also trying to meet as many of their clients as possible. So I try and do as many client meetings as well.

Describe the process of your work?

The first step on the wealth management process is understanding your client’s needs, which is profiling your client, is asking questions to your client, listening to your client, asking your client about what their long terms goals are, understanding what your clients risk appetite is, what income needs the client has, what the client wants for his and her family. So the first step in the process in profiling. The second step in the process is taking into consideration the clients tax planning requirements, which is what we refer to as wealth structuring, and based on all that information the next step in the process is working out an asset allocation that is appropriate for the client, planning the client’s investment portfolio. That involves understanding the client’s investment objectives, return expectations and risk profile, most importantly and income requirements as well. Based on that information the next step is to recognise how much of the client’s portfolio should be in equities, fixed income, cash and other investments. Working very closely with professional money managers to come up with that allocation and decision and then actually implementing the portfolio would be the next step in the process and on an ongoing basis, working on reviewing the portfolio as well as reviewing the client’s personal and financial situation on a regular basis.

What kind of clients do you have?

We work with high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals.

Interviewer: How would you classify that?

A high net worth individual is somebody who has at least a million dollars of investable assets to invest with us and an ultra high net worth individual is somebody who has at least ten million to twenty million in investable assets.

How do clients work with different areas of the bank?

If a client for example has a fishing business and the client wants to, at some point in time, sell that business, they would come to us and we would work with the investment banking side of our business to try and see how they could help the client sell the business to an interested party. In some cases a client has a pharmaceutical business and the client would like to take that company public at some point in time, so that is another area of opportunity to work with on the investment banking side to try and see whether the transaction is of good size and whether Merrill Lynch would be interested in trying to take that company pubic, which is anther example.

What are the specialisms within your industry?

One would be to a financial advisor, which one wouldn't start with immediately but which one would work towards that, I think wealth management is focused around that role, it is focused either being a financial advisor or supporting a financial advisor; so I think that would be one role. The other role would be a product specialist, a sales specialist in a certain product area. The other role would be marketing. Discretionary portfolio management which we now have within management, which I haven’t touched upon I guess, that is another career path one can take if one is managing money actively and enjoys trading following markets and likes to use their analytical and technical skills, so that is another career path one can take. We do have portfolio managers within wealth management and an individual could start as a junior and work their way up to that. Wealth structuring, which is another area within the wealth management side which focuses on tax planning solutions for clients, so if one has an accountancy background and has done an accountancy degree or actually done chartered accountancy, one could consider wealth structuring as an area to work in. We don’t provide tax advice at Merrill Lynch but we do help clients with thinking about the right things to consider when they are looking at their personal tax situation.

What are the best bits about your job?

It is a new day everyday, it is never the same, and I think that is what I love about it. As I mentioned before I enjoy working with people, understanding how I can help them, it gives me great satisfaction and it is entertaining because I think when you work with people and people management it brings new areas of interest all the time. I also enjoy meeting with clients to see how they have made their money and what they have done in their life, it is just that aspect is the most interesting.

What are the worst bits about your job?

Coming with the excitement of a new day everyday is the challenges that go with it, and I think when you manage people it is difficult. All of us as human beings have a tendency to complain all the time and I think as a manger, unfortunately you have to address those complaints, you can’t hide away from them. So I think sometimes when you hear the same person complain and complain about the same thing you think you have reached a point where I can't hear this one more time, so I think that part of it tends to be a little challenging and then as a manager you have to deal with certain types of administrative issues. Client complaints and those sort of things can be a little boring and mundane but that is part of any job, I think.

What has been your greatest achievement?

I moved with Merrill to New York in 1997 and was young then, and I think for me to have moved in the position I did at that time was, for me, a great accomplishment. And the move to New York really helped me expand on my career and really develop further in my career - because I was with Merrill Lynch in the headquarters the exposure I got at that time was fantastic. I was working on a particular product, which was global, at a young age, and had an opportunity to meet with senior management across the globe at that point in time. Although very scared of how I was going to manage it and convince many people of this initiative, I managed to do it ok I think, and in addition to the fact that I had five or six bosses at that time, it wasn’t easy to deal with and I think I came through it ok; it was very challenging but I learnt a lot.

Any regrets?

I probably would have liked to have spent more time in different countries with Merrill. I worked with Merrill in London, New York and for a very short time in Mumbai, but I think I would have liked to expand on that further because the amount you learn when you work in different places and the people you meet really helps you develop as an individual and helps you develop in your career. You are much more informed. At Merrill Lynch you have the opportunity to do that because it is a global firm and there are opportunities across the firm for individuals as long as you prove yourself.

What is the pay like and are there any perks?

Wealth management is not as well paid as other areas of the bank, unfortunately - but the pay is very competitive in the market place, Merrill pays well. I have been here since 1993, I think I wouldn't have if I wasn’t paid ok. The life/work balance is much better in wealth management, so you do have to make a personal decision on that whether you are really looking to make a lot of money or are you looking to have a good balance between your personal life and work life. It is competitive in wealth management - the way Merrill pays verses anyone else.

How long is a working day and do you have to work out of hours?

Generally speaking I don’t work on the weekends it is a personal policy I have unless it is urgent and I have to get something out of the way. I generally have an eleven to twelve hour day, which is not bad and don’t tend to work late into the evening, like investment banking, which tends to have to do that. I think that is another advantage in wealth management. But what you do need to do time and again is host client events and meet clients in the evenings, so that is something you do get involved in.

Is there much in the way of travel?

Prior to my position as manager for UK and Ireland I used to be a manager for hedge funds and private equity, and I used to cover Latin America when I was in New York so I travelled across the region, which was a fantastic experience. Then when I came back to Merrill to London, I covered Europe, so I travelled across Europe as a product specialist. So I have actually covered globally many sort of different countries and Merrill offices and met lots of clients across the globe. Now that I am doing UK and Ireland the most I do is go to Dublin once a month.

Do you have to be based anywhere in particular?

I think when you are starting your career as I did in 1993 straight out of university, it is important to be, if you can, in one of the financial centres - like London or New York or Hong Kong, for example - because you get the most exposure and experience if you are in a big centre. If you are dealing in wealth management, also, it is important to be close to the hub, as I would say, because you have access to all the resources. You can learn what Merrill Lynch is all about and it is important to deal with all the experts within Merrill Lynch so you know when you are meeting your client what you can bring to your client. But as you grow in your career and as time goes, I think it is ok to be based out of the hub into different places in the country. At this point in time Merrill Lynch has only offices in London and Dublin for UK and Ireland business.

What is the working environment like?

It is very diverse I have to say, one of the reasons I have been at Merrill Lynch since 1993 is because I just love the people, the environment, it breeds a certain culture amongst the people which makes it so much more fun to be in that environment all the time. It is very diverse, all ages all types, all cultures and there are quite a few women in the working environment, which is nice. We can have more and would love to have more and I think it is wealth management that tends to attract all types of cultures and all ages, I don’t think there is a stereotype in wealth management, which makes it fun.

It is formal because you are dealing with private client relationships so as a financial advisor you need to be well geared everyday as a manager as well because clients could come in at any point in time and there has to be a certain image, you know profession look that you have to have. So it is formal in terms of your attire.

It is informal in terms of the relationships you have internally and it is a little bit laid back and fun because again it is a people business.

How did you get into your job?

I graduated for the London School of Economics with a 2:1 and I think that helped. I started at Merrill Lynch on the graduate programme and it was fantastic as I got to see different areas of the bank from research to investment banking, to trading and wealth management. I was so sure of wanting to work with people and then knew from all the areas in the bank this is one area I can work with people, so that was the reason for the choice and once I was done with the graduate programme I sort of voiced myself, and I think you need to have certain skills you need to have interpersonal skills, which I think I had and that helps. In terms of knowledge, as long as you understand a little bit about financial markets and as long as you understand about wealth management at high levels, and you have the right interpersonal skills and intellect and you come from a good university, it is not difficult. You really have to prove yourself once you are in the position.

What's the application process like?

We have two ways of getting into wealth management. One is the graduate scheme - you have a formal process in that you go through the assessment centre, you complete an application form, you get interviewed by different people and then you come in as an intern if you are chosen, when you are still in your second year at university. If you fit into the role you are considered as a permanent employee once you graduate, that is the official way.

The other way is if you are recommended by somebody, and I think that is something that wealth management has promoted for a long time, you are given a chance if you are positioned in the right light by the right person I think. The type of role really depends, I think you need to work your way up in wealth management. It is difficult to be a financial advisor managing relationships at a young age, you do need grey hair. So if an individual is keen to be a financial advisor they do need to start as an assistant and work their way up and prove themselves - and they need the need the experience, they need to understand Merrill Lynch, they need to understand the different products, they need to build their level of confidence. So you do work your way up. If you were to start as a product specialist, like I did, for a long period of time, you need to work your way up -  but it probably takes a shorter time to sell a mutual fund and to gain that knowledge than it does to be a financial advisor managing money.

What is a product specialist?

A product specialist is someone who understands and is very knowledgeable about a certain product or area, for example, mutual funds. Mutual funds are instruments that invest in equity markets or fixed income markets. To be able to be a produce specialist you need to know how the structure works, what is in the structure, in terms of the individual shares or bonds in that structure and then to be able to sell that internally to financial advisors or clients.

What career paths are there in Wealth Management?

If you start into wealth management you have a few options. If in the long term you want to be a financial advisor, there is a certain route you take, which is the assistant for financial advisor to start with, so you understand the administrative aspects what the business is all about, dealing with clients managing relationships. If one is more interested, like I was, more on the product side, I started off initially with the product area to try and understand what products are at Merrill Lynch, the different products and to understand how to sell. So if one is interested in that you need to go down that route.  Now some people from being product specialists down the road think about becoming financial advisors, that does tend to happen. It also happens the other way around, but not as frequently, where a financial advisor wants to be a product specialist. I think once you become a financial advisor, it is a long business because it is long term relationship you have with your client. So it is something you look at for the long term and not the short term. But as a product specialist you don’t look at it short term. From a product specialist you could go into management, you could go into lots of different areas of the business in terms of marketing, if you are interested and there are lots of different product areas, you could move from one product area to another product area as well.

When do you have to commit to an area of Wealth Management?

Initially when you start in the programme as I did in 1997, you don’t have to make a decision because it is difficult to know what you want to do when you are starting out. So the important thing is to just spend time within the different areas to understand what the area is about, what the role entails. Talk to people, that is one thing I did a lot when I started, just meting people, networking to try and understand what they do, how they do it, pros and cons of what they do. Every graduate will be given that opportunity to spend time in different areas and further down the road, maybe year two is to think about maybe what area you want to go into, and then make a decision, so I think you are given a year to fourteen months before you really have to start thinking about it and that is really important, I think.

How did you know Wealth Management was for you?

My brother is a private banker with competition and he is older than me so I sort of had exposure to the business at a younger age. As a private banker, or as we call it a financial advisor, I was very aware of what that entailed; I leant a lot from talking to him about what he does. I also had friends of his who were investment bankers, and I think that is important to do before you make that decision. My emphasis was always with working with people and also on having a work life balance, which I was very keen to have, that helped me make the decision. Also one other thing, which is very important to know in wealth management, it is an area of the bank where you get exposure in all different aspects of the bank, so at Merrill Lynch you get to sit in the wealth management area, it is probably the only area where you really know what is happening in other areas like investment banking, like global markets, because you do need to touch on every different area when it comes to managing the client relationship.

How is Global Wealth Management structured?

There are three areas that would best describe global wealth management, the first area is the advisory side of the business which encompasses all the financial advisors who work closely with client relationships, work with clients, and work with understanding clients needs and bringing the best Merrill Lynch has to offer to our client. It is a very interactive and involved relationship, between the financial advisor and client, and the decisions are made with involving the client in the working process. The second area of the business is our wealth structuring area. Where the focus of that is not providing tax advise to clients but working on tax efficient solutions for clients, highlighting to clients the things they need to consider in terms of their personally tax situations. We have some experts in terms of tax backgrounds that work in that area. The third area of the business is discretionary portfolio management, where we have professional money managers that work on investment portfolios on a discretionary basis and the mandate of the particular portfolio is given to client at onset but on a day to day basis the decisions are made by the portfolio manager on a discretionary basis without consulting the client on a daily basis, although reviewing the portfolio on a regular basis with the client. It is a three-pillar approach and I think that is the best way to describe the divisions.

What's your top tip for breaking into your industry?

I think to do a little bit of homework to talk to people you might know that are in the business, to read a little bit now you have the internet, there are different ways of finding the information, we didn’t have that much information easily available on the internet when I was at university. So I think to read up, I think to talk to people in different areas before making that decision as well. Then to reach out and apply in time and make sure you brush up on your skill set before you do. I think it is important to be confident and to believe in yourself even if you don’t know really what you want to do and along the way things just fall into place.

What are the key skills required for your job?

If you want to go into wealth management I think it is important to have a general understanding of the financial markets, to understand what client relationships are about a little bit and to have inter personal skills, to be able to sit in front of someone to build their trust, I think that is something I didn’t touch upon - it is important to have somebody trust you, that is a fundamental requirement in client relationship management. It is all about trust and if you can win somebody's trust that is at least a starting point in a relationship.

What's the career progress like?

The beauty in wealth management as well as being at a firm like Merrill Lynch is that you can start at one point and end up somewhere totally different, and I think that is big advantage of being at a global firm, which has so many opportunities within it. If one was to stay at wealth management you can start off being in a product area working with the product specialist, understanding how that product works, and then maybe go into marketing if someone has more of a creative side to them and enjoys working on branding and PowerPoint presentations, people could move into that, I think if one enjoys working on strategy and initiatives that wealth management needs to take to expand in certain markets, one can even go into something like that. Down the road if one decides you want to be a financial advisor, once they have understood the wealth management bit, they can do that. So there are lots of roles you can do and within a specific role I think if you prove yourself in a product area, you can work your way up and head the product area at some time.

How quickly can you move up the career ladder?

It is difficult to give a definitive time because it really depends on the individual and also depends on the possibilities and opportunities available at that time and it depends on what city, like London or New York or you are in a smaller office somewhere else, it does take time to head up a product area, my own example I started in 1993 and it took me at least ten years to head up a small group of product specialists so I think it does take time.

Is there scope for movement during or after this career?

I took a career break, after 10 years with Merrill Lynch I actually quit and I took some years out and I ran a business in fashion, it was just something I wanted to do, I wanted to do something different. It was nothing about what I did, I love what I did, I was in hedge funds sales. My skills were always in sales strategy, working with people, which were totally transferable in the fashion business because in fashion you work with people as well. You probably use a little more creativity than I did at Merrill Lynch which I wanted to explore to see if I had a creative side and I really enjoyed it. I did it a couple of years, and then I missed the corporate environment, I missed the structured life, I missed the people - and so I came back to Merrill Lynch a few years later and Merrill Lynch was willing to take me back with open arms, which was good.

What are the industry resources that someone interested in joining must know about?

I think if one even just reads the Financial Times or even the Economist on a regular basis, I think it is important not only to know about financial markets in wealth management but also to have a good knowledge about what is happening in the world. When you are working in private individuals and private clients it is very important to know political situations around the globe and it is important to just have knowledge about art culture, because working with private clients entails a lot of building a certain rapport with them whether it is sports-related or whether it is art-related or family-related, so the more you read at a high general level as well of course having a pulse on the markets.

Where do you see the industry going?

It is quite a wide range of services simply from trading in equities, buying shares in companies, buying bonds, to investing different cash instruments, structures products, alternative investments like hedge funds and private equity, different options futures, mutual funds, unit investment trusts are just some of the different products we work on.

If you weren't in this career, what would you be doing?

After thirteen years at Merrill Lynch, it is a difficult one to answer. I think I would still have been a 'people business' - I am not the sort of person who could do something just working on my own and not interacting with people. People give me energy, I think I need that stimulation on a daily basis. So it would be a people business and I think it would be sales-related because I enjoy selling and promoting ides and strategies, things I truly believe in.