Erne McDowell
Team Leader, Business Support
Mellon Newton

Tell me about what you do?

The team with which I am involved was expanded two years ago to support the private client business. The key functions currently carried out include the monitoring and control of regulatory tasks such as anti-money laundering checks, the payment of intermediary commissions, collation and production of management information together with any ad hoc projects.

I am responsible for ensuring that the appropriate controls have been implemented to allow these functions to be carried out satisfactorily and in line with any regulatory requirements.

What aspect of your job do you find most rewarding?

The variety - we are always getting new projects in the team. What I enjoy most is taking on a new project and seeing it through to completion. Also, the recognition that you get from doing a good job is quite rewarding in itself.

How have you developed in your job?

I have been involved with numerous areas of the business and this has led to a greater industry awareness in general. I am able to communicate with people at all levels and as a consequence have become a more confident person.

What helped significantly in developing many of my skills was attending various internal courses. These included MASK (Management, Attitude, Skills and Knowledge) which is a course which prepares employees for future management roles; and 'Communicate and Win' which is a two-day communication skill course. You learn to recognise that everyone has a different communication style and so by communicating with different people you may have to adapt your style to achieve the desired outcome.

Tell me how you ended up in Investment Operations?

After completing my business management degree at Heriot-Watt University, I knew that I wanted to be involved in some aspect of the finance industry, however did not specifically know what. I had a temporary contract with another financial company for a few months prior to gaining employment within the Operations department at Newton.

Being here has opened up a lot of opportunities for me. I have made quite a few good friends through work and hope that I will continue to be given the opportunities and challenges to progress my career within the company.