Mark Tabrett (MA 2005, MBA 2006), Founder and CEO
I really enjoyed meeting and working with such a diverse group of students from various different cultures across a range of experience levels. It introduced me to different ways of thinking, approaches to learning and generally meeting lots of very interesting new people.
One of my favourite experiences was being taught about securitised products by the former Chief Economist at Freddie Mac (who was a market leader in the US mortgage market in creating these new products). It was very interesting to be taught how these new “safe” financial products were going to revolutionise bond markets before bringing the global financial system near to collapse less than three years later. Although the theory was flawed, I feel very lucky to have had an insight from an expert in the field before such a world-defining event.
I would advise all students to prepare for the tutorials - you get so much more out of the seminars reading ahead and joining in with the debates, plus any job afterwards is going to involve that so enjoy the time to practice! You should make the most of Aberdeen - for many it’s a new city with a different culture so try to get out of the library and see as much of it as you can.
My career path has been anything but conventional... after graduating [with my MBA] in 2006, I stayed in Aberdeen and worked as a chartered accountant for four years at a Big 4 and a smaller independent firm. After realising accountancy wasn’t for me, I had an internship at a global Asset Manager in Edinburgh (which I loved). After the internship ended, I joined an oil E&P company back in Aberdeen as a business analyst, providing financial support to the operational business units. I always go back to asset management but ended up enjoying oil so much that I decided to stay, ultimately moving through several departments including business improvement and corporate planning. Eventually I left Aberdeen and made my way to London, where I joined the Equity Research department of a global Investment Bank, spending my days analysing and making investment recommendations on (you guessed it) oil companies.
My top tip for students is to stay open to new experiences and don’t set a fixed career path as it never works out as planned. I always wanted to work in financial markets and never the oil industry… but after I joined an oil company I really enjoyed it and it ultimately lead me into a career in financial markets at one of the top institutions in the world, and then founding my own company. Life would be boring if you knew exactly what would happen next, so pick a role you’ll enjoy and see where it takes you!