Steve Charangwa

Life at Stirling was one that l will always look back with happiness and unwavering gratitude. My heartfelt gratitude goes to the Karen Napier Charity for awarding me the scholarship. This experience would have not been possible. The faculty and administration staff on the course were very supportive; the course was not easy but very achievable. I was changing careers from the health industry with very limited finance background. I made some lifelong friends from as far afield as China, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Ghana, Germany, Canada, Vietnam and of course some local Scotsmen. 

One of my highlight experiences was being chosen to represent, as part of a team of five, the University in the annual CFA Global University Research Challenge finals in London. The competition draws about thirteen CFA Program partner top business universities in the United Kingdom. Stirling had been second in the United Kingdom for the two preceding years, a feat on its own, but we managed to win the UK finals representing the UK CFA Society and the University in the European finals as UK winners.

After graduating with an MSc in Investment Analysis (with Distinction), l initially joined Silk Invest (London) as an Intern. l am now a Quantitative Analyst. Silk Invest is a specialist asset management boutique focused on the high growth markets of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. Every day is different and l regularly draw upon the knowledge gained from this very practical course to keep ahead of what is a steep learning curve. 

In conclusion, the MSc Investment Analysis course at Stirling is simply, best in class. It is practical and the knowledge gained can be readily and very effectively applied, especially in the infancy of a fund management career at the very least.