We motivate. We empower. We lead. We succeed

Graduate Programme 2015 We motivate. We empower. We lead. We succeed. We’re delighted to know that you’re interested in our Graduate Programme, and...
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Graduate Programme 2015

We motivate. We empower. We lead. We succeed.

We’re delighted to know that you’re interested in our Graduate Programme, and hope this leaflet will help you decide how you want to direct your career with Buck Consultants at Xerox. There are many things to consider when making a career move, whether you’re just starting out, ready for increased responsibility, or looking to take your career in a different direction. In any new position, you’ll want to know that your work will be challenging and your time will be spent on projects that are important. Of course, you’ll also want to know there are opportunities to grow within your role and within the company, that you’ll be working with people you respect and can learn from, and that you’ll be given the chance to develop new solutions to age-old situations. When you become part of our team, you’ll quickly become knowledgeable in the many ways we help clients approach their business challenges. You’ll contribute from your first day on the job. And you’ll be part of a culture that emphasises teamwork, recognises accomplishments, and encourages growth, with further opportunities not only in consulting but more broadly at Xerox.

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About Us

Training and Career Development

Within Xerox, Buck Consultants is the consulting strength of the Human Resource Services (HRS) division. We are a global pensions, employee benefits and investment consulting firm. We provide real-world solutions to our clients’ complex HR and business challenges. We offer advisory, technology, and administration solutions to help our clients effectively manage their programmes while engaging their employees in their health, wealth, and career. By integrating our HR consulting know-how with HRS’ core services, we can offer additional innovative and customised solutions to help clients meet their HR challenges. Together, we ensure businesses have the right people in the right positions at the right time to achieve their business goals.

Successful graduates will join us as Actuarial/Investment Analysts in one of our pension or investment teams.

Our offices are in London, Edinburgh, Ipswich, Manchester, Reading and Bristol. Since the invention of Xerography more than 75 years ago, the people of Xerox (NYSE: XRX) have helped businesses simplify the way work gets done. Today, we are the global leader in business process and document management, helping organizations of any size be more efficient so they can focus on their real business. Headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., USA, we have more than 140,000 Xerox employees and do business in more than 180 countries, providing business services, printing equipment and software for commercial and government organizations. Learn more at www.xerox.com.

The Requirements We look for graduates who are both literate and numerate, have a strong academic background, are good communicators, and highly analytical. Graduates need to be flexible, confident and committed to their profession. As a prerequisite, you will need to have: • A mathematical, statistical or business related degree such as Actuarial Sciences, Mathematics, Economics or Physics • Minimum of 2.1 Class Awarded/Expected • 3 A levels with a minimum of grade B

Pension You will progress from simple pension transfer calculations to more detailed functions, such as full actuarial valuations of group pension schemes, assessing the funding requirements of a retirement plan, and evaluating pension obligations as part of a merger, sale or acquisition of a business. Investment You will progress from valuing pension scheme assets and monitoring their ongoing performance, to more complex investment work such as drafting and implementing advice on the transfer of assets between investment funds and asset classes, carrying out asset-liability modelling studies and advising on pension schemes’ long-term investment strategies. At all stages of your professional development you’ll be guided by more experienced members of your team. You will also be working with qualified actuaries and CFAs, thereby gaining valuable insights and experience into many different aspects of actuarial and investment pensions work. In order to to ensure that all new staff are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable them to develop into consultants, we place a high value on training and development provided both in-house and externally, and professional qualifications. Training During your first few months you will take part in a general induction programme which will include: • Introduction to the company • Initial IT training • The appointment of a personal mentor for your professional studies 3

You will also receive a mixture of on-the-job training and more formal sessions, and in each case you’ll be expected to undertake client work to help put the training into context. Professional Studies To achieve our aim of having fully qualified staff, we offer generous professional sponsorship which involves: • Mentoring • Study leave • Payment of professional subscriptions, course and examination fees • Salary increases and bonus payments on passing exams

Benefits Package Graduates receive a competitive starting salary and can participate in the Company’s flexible benefits scheme, MyChoice. MyChoice benefits fit into the following three groups: • MyWealth, which includes membership in a pension scheme, additional pension, life assurance for you and your partner, and long-term disability insurance • MyHealth, which includes cycle scheme, gym membership, dental, and private medical insurance • MyLife, which includes childcare vouchers, holiday trading, charitable giving, and travel insurance

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How to Apply To apply to our Graduate programme please send your curriculum vitae and covering letter to [email protected] We will be starting our assessments in late November 2014. Once again, thank you for your interest in the Programme.

Graduate Profiles 5

Chloe Smith, Actuarial Analyst Graduate 2013

Why an actuarial career? An actuarial career appealed to me as I have always wanted a job that would challenge me and make great use of my problem-solving and interpersonal skills. Life as an actuary requires dedication and hard-work but it provides an opportunity to work in a stimulating and rewarding environment. What does your work involve? As an Actuarial Analyst it is my job to work with other members of the team to prepare advice to trustees of occupational pension schemes. On a daily basis my work will range from calculating transfer values for individual pension scheme members, updating the funding position of a pension scheme to present to the trustees or sponsor and completing reports based on the results of triennial valuations. What is the working environment like? This an ideal environment for an actuarial analyst to work. Study support and the encouragement to develop professionally are invaluable. All members of the team are approachable and helpful, which provides a great pillar of support and guidance. The company encourages its employees to broaden their skills and knowledge through working with different departments in the company and become involved in testing new models that we build to use in our daily business. Why did you choose us? I was attracted by the broad range of clients and the services that it offers to these clients. There’s great emphasis here on tailoring the solutions it provides to each client to suit their individual needs. This provides unique experiences and opportunities to work on both standard and non-standard actuarial work, which may not be the case at other companies. Working in a mid-sized team enables everyone to get involved and develop both from a technical and consulting point of view.

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Aruran Morgan, Senior Research Analyst Graduate 2010

Why an investment career? A career within investment consulting greatly appealed to me because it provides a perfect platform to learn more about the fast moving world of financial markets as well as the opportunity to apply creative solutions to complex client-specific problems. What does your work involve? I started out as an Investment Analyst supporting the Investment Consultant in delivering on-going bespoke advice to clients. This could include producing investment strategy reviews on the optimum asset allocation for pension fund assets, transferring assets from one investment manager to another or attending trustee meetings. I transferred to our research team in July 2012 and now spend the vast majority of my time going out and meeting investment managers who offer investment services within fixed income and property. I’m excited by the opportunity this new role gives me to interact with leading minds in the industry and to further develop my knowledge of investment markets. I have also been given further exposure to the investment world having been seconded to the New York office in July 2013. What is the working environment like? When you work here you get the sense that everyone’s happy to help each other and we all work towards the same goal. I like the fact that you can go to any senior consultant or analyst and pick their brains on any subject matter, and this is something that has been key in how I’ve developed professionally during my time here. Why did you choose us? I felt I would be able to gain a variety of exposure within investment consulting (e.g. manager research, asset-liability modelling, performance monitoring etc) by working for a mid-sized firm. I was also attracted to the study support package as it was evidence of the commitment that the firm makes to develop my career personally and professionally.

Paul Butfield, Consulting Actuary

Vishal Makkar, Retirement Practice Leader - London

Graduate 2007, Qualified 2012

Graduate 2001, Qualified 2009

Why an actuarial career? Actuarial work is both challenging and engaging. The work is varied and requires the application of both technical and consulting skills. There is a clearly defined career path, progressing from student to qualified actuary and finally to scheme actuary. Pensions are becoming an increasingly important issue for businesses and actuaries have an important role to play in the future.

Why an actuarial career? The opportunity to apply my mathematical and analytical skills to solve real life problems in a commercial and pragmatic way was very appealing. I also liked the fact that as I progressed through the actuarial exams towards qualification I would continue to challenge myself and learn new ideas and techniques.

What does your work involve? My role primarily involves advice for the trustees of occupational pension schemes, although I also get involved on the corporate advice side. The work is varied, but as a rough cross section I get involved with funding valuations and updates, accounting disclosures and the impact of various decisions on funding. As well as the technical side I also attend trustee meetings where I will often present. Since we provide a great deal of bespoke advice I have had to construct various models and draft advice from scratch rather than simply applying standardised models and templates. What is the working environment like? The team here is great, with a good mix of students and qualified actuaries. The working environment is relatively relaxed and flexible; however this is balanced by a strong team work ethic. Social events outside of working hours are common and many friendships extend outside the workplace. Why did you choose us? I have been exposed to a wide variety of actuarial work, rather than being pigeonholed as may be the case at other companies. I am usually involved in projects from start to finish which gives an insight into the bigger picture behind the work that I do. There are also many opportunities to stand out from the crowd, and Buck Consultants is not afraid to develop and push people forward from within.

What does your work involve? As a Senior Consulting Actuary and Retirement Practice Leader of our London office, I’m involved in the day-to-day delivery of actuarial and consultancy advice to both trustees of occupational pension schemes and corporate organisations. This means my work influences many high-level strategic decisions made by businesses in relation to their employee benefit provision. I also have responsibility for managing our actuarial students, the team’s training needs and recruitment in our London office. What is the working environment like? This has been the ideal environment for me to develop, not least due to the excellent study package provided when I was working towards qualifying and the ongoing support and training given so I continued to develop. We have extremely talented individuals in our business and I have found colleagues are always willing to go the extra mile to help each other. Why did you choose us? The company has a wide client base, each client with its own needs and commercial pressures. Working here has given me the opportunity to understand how these different businesses operate and that each requires its own bespoke solution. The size of our organisation makes it easier for me to get involved in a wide variety of projects and to work within other areas of the business. This breadth of experience is invaluable and I believe it has helped me develop into a more rounded actuary.

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To apply to our Graduate programme please send your curriculum vitae and covering letter to [email protected]. www.xerox.co.uk/hrconsulting

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