2022 Internship Program ESG Investing and Research

Job Description

abrdn plc is one of the world’s largest investment companies, and we are built on a long-standing culture of caring about the future and making a positive impact. Together we invest for a better future. We do it to make a difference in the lives of our clients and customers, our employees, society, and our shareholders. Our strategy is to build a vibrant and value-creating purpose-led organization, with the current and future needs of our stakeholders at the heart of all we do.

Grow Sustainably Early Careers 2022 Internship Programme – Asia Pacific

ESG Investing and Research, Australia

The Asia Pacific ESG Investment Team is looking for an intern, preferably a final year student to join our Grow Sustainably Early Careers Internship Programme running from July - December 2022 in our Asia offices. This internship is no ordinary 6-month placement. You will be given real work with tangible outputs mentored by senior asset management professionals, and experience working across borders with your regional interns to lead a people engagement project. You will also be participating in an 8-week learning course with the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership, in addition to other early careers development opportunities. There is also a potential for conversion to a permanent role at the end of the internship.

We have been investing in Asia for 30 years and have a large on the ground footprint in the region. We embed environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors throughout our active investment process. Our aim is to enhance potential value for investors, reduce risk – and, ultimately foster companies that can contribute positively to the world. In 2021, abrdn launched the Sustainability Institute, APAC. A fully integrated center of excellence, the Institute builds on abrdn’s internal ESG expertise to drive sustainable outcomes for investors, create a community of knowledge and contribute to sustainable investing progress across Asia-Pacific. 

A key part of this internship will focus on learning the basics of ESG integration and engagement, and understanding what is sustainable investing and what role ESG plays in your particular function. This on-the-job learning will be enhanced and complemented by your 8 weeks online Sustainable Finance course at the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership.

Roles and Responsibilities

This role reports to the ESG Investment Director Asia Pacific and will work closely with the abrdn Research Institute and the Central ESG Investment Function. The purpose of this role is to assist in the production of client-driven ESG research with a particular focus on APAC-relevant issues.  Responsibilities include:

• Extensive reading and summarising of existing ESG literature relevant to the expectations of and challenges faced by investors in APAC
• Work in close partnership with abrdn Research Institute and the Central ESG Investment Function on project creation and execution
• Manage and incorporate feedback from multiple stakeholders from across the business throughout the internship, in particular, the investment and distribution teams
• Working with marketing teams to tailor content for external audiences
• Actively participating in, and contributing to, the Sustainability Institute, APAC.

Key Skills, Qualifications & Experience

We are looking for motivated candidates with the following attributes:

• Strong academic background in any discipline  -  Master’s degree in economics or policy an advantage
• Knowledge of ESG and financial markets would be advantageous
• A demonstrated interest in sustainability
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office applications especially Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint suite
• Familiarity with Eviews, R or Python
• Ability to comfortably work with structured and unstructured datasets
• Attention to detail, strong numerical, analytical, and writing skills
• Clear and effective communicator
• Able to embrace an international business mentality, with the willingness to occasionally adjust working hours to incorporate global meetings that may fall outside of the standard working day.
• Ability to bring new perspectives and to apply those to financial markets
• Mature, energetic, self-motivated, ability to work and adapt in a fast-paced environment

We passionately believe in diversity in our workforce and welcome inquiries from all regardless of gender, race, ethnicity. 

We will be flexible regarding days/hours worked and will accommodate university study requirements. We expect the successful interns to commit to a minimum of 20 hours per week in an average week.