Cameron R. Warricker
AC212 – LEARNING LOG
09/01/2016 – 02/04/2016
1. Introduction
My second placement was based at the More London office in central London where there are two business units in which flying starts work; B&CM (Banking and Capital Market) and I&IM (Insurance and Investment Management). The appearance and quality of the More London was highly notable, providing pleasing working conditions in a well-connected location close to London Bridge underground and main-line stations. Upon arrival, we were re-connected with our people managers and social groups with which meetings were held. As with my first placement, my people manager was Carl Maher, who was extremely helpful throughout my second placement, dealing with any issues that arose. My business unit for placement 2 was again I&IM, with my time allocated to;
Swiss Re
• World’s second largest reinsurer, based in Zurich, Switzerland
• Founded in 1863, with a presence in over 25 countries
Natixis Global Asset Management (NGAM)
• French corporate and investment bank created in 2006
• Revenue of €7.3 billion as of 2013, and total assets of €458 billion as of 2010
Loomis, Sayles and Company
• American investment management firm based in Boston, Massachusetts
• Founded in 1926, since acquired by Natixis Global Assets Management (NGAM as above)
Reliance Mutual Insurance Society
• Life assurance and pensions provided based in Kent, England
• Founded in 1911
2. Learning log
Objective Analysis and evaluation of work experience Critical reflections for future development
What did you set out to achieve (objectives should be SMART and should be focused on the development of professional skills/competencies and/or technical knowledge/understanding)? What did you do? What did you learn? To what extent did you develop skills/competencies and meet the objective? What areas do you need to work on to achieve the objective or further develop the skill/competency/technical knowledge/understanding in the future? How do you plan to address any development needs?
1.Develop my personal capabilities/strengths that were learnt on my first placement. Build on my strengths that were identified last year on placement including willingness to learn, strong documentation, team playing and confidence when communicating with the client, and ensure that these are carried through to subsequent work on this placement. Ensure learning from first placement is used on this placement.
Measure – feedback from senior team members. Continue to actively seek feedback from team members, and adapt my work practices in response to this.
During my second placement I routinely sought and received feedback from team members and on occasion from the client. Feedback received from team members, both formal and informal included the following types; 1. More senior members issued coaching notes to my work, indicating how I could better prepare work in future situations, information that I found particularly useful as it came from more senior, experienced individuals who had been through the same development process that I am currently undergoing. 2. Feedback received from the client included advice on how best to seek information from them and the most efficient ways of doing so for both parties. This was particularly useful as I understand how much the client values our responses.
For example, formal feedback received at the end of my placement suggests I demonstrated strong confidence when
communicating with the client; ‘Cameron displayed no fear in asking the client questions to obtain sufficient audit evidence/ query specific treatment of items’.
Overall, upon consultation with team members and based on feedback, this objective was successfully achieved.
Although the objective was met, there is always father improvement that can be made as evidenced in the following feedback received from Robbie Kerr;
‘Although as mentioned, his documentation was good, I would encourage Cameron to take more initiative in his work. At times, he seemed stuck when prior year documentation was poor/not complete. He understands his work well but I feel he could apply more innovative documentation techniques rather than relying on prior year work. This will improve naturally as he gathers more audit experience’
2. Punctually attend all client meetings and contribute to the team, adding to a positive team spirit.
Measure – feedback from team members Attending team and client meetings is a very important part of an audit. It provides attendees with a high level view of job progress, providing a broad understanding of the audit. I managed to get myself invited to an audit status catch-up meeting with the client the finance director, with myself contributing positively and effectively to the discussion as evidenced in the following feedback;
‘At the end of the audit, Cameron attended the weekly catch up meeting with numerous members of the client including the chief accountant. Cameron was punctual for this meeting. Also during the meeting Cameron made points to assist the client and handled questions from the client in a professional manner’.
As described in the feedback above, this objective was achieved.
As this objective is linked to one of my strong skills of client communication, it is very important to start attending more senior meetings with the client, particularly with greater responsibility in the forthcoming third placement.
3.Develop greater knowledge about how my clients operate e.g. Swiss Re and Reliance Mutual by performing independent research. Communicate with other members of the team who have experience with these clients, with others who may be working on different areas of the same clients and from the clients themselves.
Measure – feedback from team members It is extremely important to have an understanding of how PwC’s clients operate and to have a reasonable knowledge of the environments in which they operate, particularly if you are part of the audit team on one of them. For example, during this placement I worked on Swiss Re and Reliance Mutual. Having worked on Swiss Re in my first placement I already had a strong knowledge of their operations and business processes. With regard to Reliance Mutual, I enquired with a member of the audit team from last year, another fellow flying start from Reading University. From this I obtained a strong understanding and background surrounding the client before I had even began work. Furthermore during my time at Reliance Mutual I asked many questions of the team regarding the revenue generating activities of the client and some of its other activities. This behaviour is evidenced by the following feedback;
‘Cameron showed an interest in the client by querying other team members on how the business ran and how the business generated revenue.’
This objectives successful pursuit has been sufficiently evidenced as above
Continue to carry out independent research of both the insurance and investment management industries in preparation for future engagements, during which I anticipate I will be working predominantly on asset management companies with a smaller yet still important amount on work on insurance clients.
Further my professional relationship with Mr Abdul Sattar Ouayda so that I can learn more from his experiences of auditing insurance clients in the Middle East.
4. Make myself aware of what technological support is available, and develop my knowledge of it.
Measure – feedback from seniors/teams I became more proficient with PwC technological support. I have become very skilled when using Inform. I also developed my use of Aura, a central part of any audit regardless of the industry. This is evidenced in this feedback;
‘Cameron learnt about new technological support was available, for example using Inform to review certain items. His skill at using Aura developed during the audit where by the end he would be bringing in new EGA’s. The use of Aura will develop the more he uses the software.’
This objective has been met, as evidenced above. After completing numerous Excel courses over the summer, I significantly improved my Excel skills, however I will continue to improve them.
Continue to develop my use of PwC technology.
5. Ensure that I fully understand the requirements of my tasks, and request clarification and confirmation whenever in doubt. Ensure that I clearly communicate my requirements to others and that they are fully understood. Prioritise my work in accordance with the team objectives.
Measure – feedback from senior I showed strong organisational skills e.g. I kept meticulous notes of my activities, and requested clarification when necessary. This has been supported by the following formal feedback;
‘Throughout the audit, Cameron would note down the work he had to perform. This helped him understand what was required of him and ensured he performed the work in an efficient manner. He also ensured he would ask questions if he needed clarification. It was also noted he showed he was able to manage his workload by prioritising his work in order of importance.’
This objective was successfully achieved. Continue to ensure that my tasks are clearly defined and understood, and prioritise tasks effectively.
6. Continue to improve and build confident, professional working relationships with staff at clients and within the office.
Measures – feedback from team and clients; attendance at team and social group events
This is one of my strongest attributes and one which brings the most value to PwC. I showed that I am very good at communicating with the client. This is supported by the following feedback received
‘Cameron showed an excellent ability to build relationships with both the client and other team members. From a personal perspective it was a pleasure to work with Cameron who I found both engaging and keen to learn. It was also noted he built a great relationship with a certain member of the client, who had previously proved difficult and hard to get information from.’
This objective was met in excess.
Further develop these skills, learning how to tailor them to different types of client, contributing not only to an increase in audit efficiency and client satisfaction.
7. Apply theory and knowledge gained through university study Double-entry book keeping was needed when calculating and allocating proposed adjustments to be made by the client.
Journals entries proved very useful in the testing of journals. Journal testing is a high risk area, so this knowledge was essential
My understanding of FRS 102 was very useful as one client was undergoing a transition to FRS 102, of which PwC were providing additional services to.
This objective was met.
This concept forms the basis of accounting and relates to all areas of auditing, as such I will continue to improve my skills in time for my third placement
Continue to improve my understanding of this area, it will be needed in my next placement.
Continue to remain up to date on the latest financial regulations and standards in preparation for my third placement.
3. Conclusions
All the objectives I set at the beginning of my placement have been met. I was a strong member of the audit teams that I was a part of right from the beginning of my second placement through to the end. Based on the feedback that I have received from the teams that I have worked with showed their appreciation of the assistance that I provided.
When looking to the future and my third placement it is clear that I need to develop my strengths and work on development areas. Feedback indicates that I am particularly strong at developing client and team relationships, being an effective team member and my professional behaviour and appearance. Particularly, if I can further improve my use of technological support, the efficiency of my work with also see an increase.
Overall, my second placement has proved to be a very enjoyable experience and I feel that I have learnt a great deal following on from my first placement. The reality of working long hours has settled in now I have taken this in to my stride.
I am looking forward to my third placement.