Why I love a good conversation
October 2023
Jane Williams,
Senior Research Analyst,
Russell Investments
What is your day job?
My role is to research the fund managers who invest our clients’ money to make sure they’re deserving of the responsibility. I focus mainly on Australian equity managers.
Russell Investments has a robust process for selecting managers based on the data we gather about a manager’s strategy, its actual investments and returns over time.
But it’s not just a number crunching exercise. We also have plenty of conversations with a manager’s investment team to test their claims and ability to keep performing.
What are your qualifications and previous experience?
I have been part of the fund manager research team at Russell Investments for almost seven years.
Before that, I held a similar role at Westpac for its BT Financial business for seven years. Originally, I was an auditor at KPMG in Sydney and London.
I hold a Bachelor of Business (Accounting) from the University of Technology Sydney and am a Chartered Accountant.
Why did you choose a career in financial services?
It wasn’t a deliberate choice – I was assigned to the financial services division at KPMG and just found I enjoyed it.
Studying accounting wasn’t always about the numbers for me. I liked the communication element behind accounting as well. Meeting with investors is still my favourite part of the job – some of them are quite famous in their industry and it's interesting to see their results.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt in your career?
Don't assume you know something. Be prepared for a meeting – but don’t assume you know everything because it can leave you making conclusions way too early. You learn more by being approachable and will pick up more information with an open mind.
Any favourite hobbies, books or podcasts?
I have two children (8 and 10) and we all go caravanning and camping together with the family.
I read, listen and watch a lot. The podcast I love at the moment is Half-Arsed History. It’s hosted by an Australian, Riley Knight, who takes a Steve Irwin approach to history, right back to the 1500s.
For a book, I highly recommend Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens by Shankari Chandran, it’s a recent Miles Franklin Literary Award winner.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
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