Students and Alumni Secure Positions With Financial Times Publications

The Financial Times (FT) is a world renowned, international British newspaper, which is published in London and 23 other cities round the world.

Known for its distinctive salmon-coloured newspaper, the FT is often consumed via tablets like the iPad or through smart phone applications. The FT has a reputation for being a leading authority on financial news and is a great place for JMSC students to intern or get a job after graduating.

The JMSC has strong links with the FT in Hong Kong and China; the company has an Asia-Pacific base in Hong Kong and an office in Beijing, both places JMSC graduates choose to work.

Kanupriya Kapoor (MJ 2010) is about to start work as an intern at the FT in Hong Kong. The internship will last three months, during which time she’ll be working with the Asia News Editor and team putting together packages about business and the financial markets in Hong Kong and the region.

Kapoor will also be writing for the website and hopes to have the chance to some multi-media work as well as to look at Asia’s political economy.

“I’m looking forward to working in a newsroom again, to the perpetual activity, and the company of such sharp, quick and interesting journalists,” said Kapoor, who has previously worked at the Indonesian English-language newspaper, The Jakarta Post.

“But the experience of an international news organisation will be all the more exciting and I expect to have a very steep learning curve.”

“My skills as a writer and reporter have improved tenfold at the JMSC,” continued Kapoor. “I learned to take each story, no matter how remote from my scope of interest, as one that needed telling in the best possible way. I’m looking forward to using some of the multimedia skills I learned, and came to enjoy and be good at, thanks to the JMSC.”

Cleo Chen (MJ 2010)

Cleo Chen (MJ 2010) was recently employed as a news assistant for the FT’s Beijing Bureau. Her main responsibilities include assisting the bureau’s correspondents with news-gathering, research, interview scheduling, reporting and translation.

“I’m looking forward to learning practical skills from the best practitioners in the industry and to working out different stories in a challenging environment,” said Chen.

“All the skills I learn at JMSC and the people I got to know through JMSC’s connections helped me to prepare for the role.”

Over the winter break, Konstantin Riffler (MJ 2011) interned at Ignites Asia, a Financial Times service that is an online news source specifically for asset management industry professionals working in the Asian market.

Konstantin Riffler (MJ 2011)

Ignites Asia is the sister publication to Ignites, the most popular fund industry news source in the United States.

“During my internship, I wrote stories about the asset management industry and investment in Cambodia, the Philippines and Malaysia,” said Riffler.

“One of the stories that I did was a coverage on how Cambodia is liberalising its capital market and the challenges that still lie ahead in that regard. I also wrote about Islamic investment in Malaysia, which is one of the most important hubs for Islamic investment in Asia.”

After graduating from the JMSC, Riffler hopes to secure a job as a reporter or editor for a financial or economic media company or a financial beat in Asia or the US.

“I could well imagine reporting on investors and the fund management industry,” he said.

“There are many important and interesting stories, especially here in Asia, where funds are flocking in and a lot of big asset management companies are eager to tap into the Chinese market. For me it is important that my work is challenging, also intellectually, and that it takes me further in a competitive industry.”

Natasha Khan (MJ 2011)

Natasha Khan (MJ 2011) has been a financial journalist at Mergermarket since May 2009.

Mergermarket is an online financial news service, providing readers who work at investment banks, private equity funds, law firms and large corporations with stories on companies and their growth strategies.

The Mergermarket Group and the FT are both subsidiaries of the Financial Times Group, which is owned by Pearson.

Khan writes about companies and their corporate growth plans, particularly ones in the healthcare, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

“I love that my job allows me to discover how various companies operate and how they relate to the greater macro environment,” said Khan. “I am constantly learning, and keeping updated with exciting developments in the field.”

“Last week, I learnt how a college textbook publisher chooses which titles to offer, I learnt about a new stem cell technology that could impact thousands of lives and about a cheaper radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with one potential application to dramatically improve the efficiency of global airport baggage claims. I also enjoy speaking to different people, and the brisk no-nonsense nature of business news writing.”

“Joining the JMSC was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made — my enrolment in the programme has really fuelled my passion for learning, asking questions and accurate writing,” Khan said.

“The journalism school’s deeply experienced professors and their generous sharing of stories, observations, advice and opinions have been really inspiring and unforgettable. The support from the school — whether it be personal conversations with professors, tricks and tips learnt in class, or the sense of journalistic responsibility and ethics ingrained into us through different classes,  have all been invaluable as I continue to develop my career as a journalist.”

Nevin Nie (MJ 2006) is a reporter for Debtwire, a subscription-based newswire owned by Mergermarket Consulting, part of the Financial Times Group.

Nie covers the debt problems of Chinese Companies.

“The JMSC helped me access the resources I need to do what I want to do, which is write in English and cover financial markets,” said Nie. “I enjoy working at Debtwire very much, and still reach out to what I learned from Gene Mustain‘s and David Plott’s classes to describe complicated financial situations in plain English.”