Anthony Escallier is a graduate of the BBA INSEEC class of 2015. After numerous internships, he chose to work in the finance sector. Today, he holds the position of Middle-Office Manager Retrocessions at Rothschild in Paris. He testifies here about his journey and gives some advice for those who would like to follow this path.
WHAT ARE YOUR MISSIONS?
Retrocessions are an area we don’t study much, if at all, in class. To put it simply: Rothschild has a hundred or so investment funds, and when a third party invests in one of these funds, he or she receives (in addition to the fund’s capital gain or loss) a kind of interest every quarter, which is called retrocessions.
So the main work is quarterly, at the beginning of the cycle, each client sends their positions in each fund, it is then a matter of comparing what they say and what we see in our system. Most of the time, discrepancies occur because customers have forgotten to communicate transfers, and an analysis process follows to understand and resolve these discrepancies. Some companies live only on retrocessions, so it is essential to respect the payment deadlines for these customers.
Retrocessions are based on contracts called agreements. Once the negotiations are done between the two parties, it is then necessary to juggle with the customer service and the legal department to finalize as quickly as possible these contracts allowing the customers to be paid.
Finally, every quarter, many investment funds undergo corporate actions such as mergers, dissolutions or decimations. It is the role of the Middle Office to manage these events so that the funds are available to investors on the day.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT YOUR WORK?
What I like about my job today is the diversity of tasks, there is no “typical day”. As mentioned above, we exchange with several departments in the bank, which allows us to vary the activities and develop contacts. Also, every client and every quarter is different, so there are always new methods to learn, which is quite rewarding from a personal and professional perspective.
WHAT WAS YOUR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND BEFORE GETTING THIS JOB? HOW DID YOU FIND THIS POSITION?
With a scientific bachelor’s degree, I took the PASS exam and joined the BBA INSEEC Lyon in September 2011. My first year internship was at Courir in Lyon, in my second year I spent 3 months in Sydney at a surf school, the following year I spent 3 months at Crédit Agricole and for my final year internship I was assigned to Procapital Securities in La Défense. My Erasmus experience was in Lithuania for 4 months and I chose the International Finance option in my final year.
As a graduate of the BBA INSEEC, I wanted to obtain a Bac +5 which is vital from my point of view. The INSEEC MSc & MBA offered a very interesting Master of Science in Market Finance with many professional speakers. The fact that they share their personal experience is really rewarding for our future career.
At the end of my fifth year of study, I looked for an internship like everyone else. Having already done back-office work, I was looking for a middle-office position this time. A lot of resumes were sent in because I wasn’t the only one looking for an internship at this time of the year. INSEEC has a partnership with jobteaser, a platform on which we have exclusive access to certain offers, and it is here that I got my current job.
WHICH SKILLS OR EXPERIENCES GAINED AT THE BBA INSEEC DO YOU THINK ARE MOST USEFUL IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL LIFE?
For me, the strongest point of the INSEEC program is without a doubt the numerous internships that we have done during these years. When you’ve just graduated, your resume is already full for your age and that makes a real difference when you’re up against candidates from another school. In addition, we must go abroad at least twice (the2nd year internship and the3rd year academic semester). In addition to an important linguistic progression, the open-mindedness that this brings is priceless and represents a real asset for the years to come.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR STUDENTS WHO WISH TO PURSUE A CAREER IN THIS SECTOR?
The finance industry is extremely large, there are many jobs posted, but there is a lot of competition. I advise students not to take this final year internship lightly, it is without a doubt the most important. Don’t hesitate to look well in advance of the start date so that you don’t have to take anything when the deadline approaches. In addition to a possible hiring at the end of the 6 months, this internship will be the basis of your CV for future experiences. Moreover, if during this internship, a decrease in work appears, do not hesitate to be interested in other missions, or even to go and talk with other departments to exchange.
HOW DO YOU SEE THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAREER?
Right now, I think I’m very lucky to be where I am at my age. I try to make the most of it by learning as many things as possible and especially to develop a network that will always be useful for the future. I’m not just limited to the department I’m in at the moment, as there are a lot of internal offers. If an opportunity presents itself in a few years, I think it will be interesting to seize the opportunity to master several areas. In the long term, I would like to return to my region, in Montpellier, in order to maybe create my own company.
Updated 24 February 2022