It’s 11:00 a.m. in Owerri, Nigeria.

I’m in entrance of my laptop ready for the bong notification from Google Meet. In a second, Oghenerukevwe Odjugo seems on the decision. I’ve been a fan of her funding publication sequence, The Newbie Investor, on LinkedIn as a result of, properly, I’m a newbie investor.

It’s 9:00 p.m. in Sydney, Australia.

Maintaining frequent late nights as a part of her job is a characteristic, not a bug. Twelve-hour workdays are frequent in her position as an fairness analyst at Schroders. However on this explicit evening, she goes to see a film to de-stress.

We begin the dialog with the approach to life shocks of shifting to Sydney. We make small speak about tax programs overseas, and he or she tells me, hardly to my shock, that the UK—the place she beforehand lived and labored, and the place Nigerian immigrants incessantly settle—collects extra in taxes.

“There’s no nationwide insurance coverage [in Australia], in order that saves you a bit of cash. Within the UK, nationwide insurance coverage is actually a authorities pension scheme, however in Australia, the equal is superannuation, which is totally paid by your employer,” she explains. 

We speak about a peculiar fascination I’ve had with Australia from my little nook of the world: animal sightings. Odjugo laughs as she recollects the query she has been requested extra instances than she will depend: ‘Do frogs actually discover their method into your rest room in Australia?’ It’s the type of factor you hear about Australia—alongside the outsized spiders and lethal snakes—however, as she explains, it’s largely a fable for city-dwellers like herself. 

“I’ve been right here a 12 months and a half, and I’ve by no means seen a single snake outdoors of a zoo,” she says.

What she has seen, nevertheless, is a life and profession which have taken her from Warri, a riverine metropolis in Nigeria’s south, to Cairo, London, and now Sydney. She spends her days analysing inventory market tendencies and assessing firms. 

Exterior of labor, she has discovered a rhythm in her new metropolis—one that features yoga, Zumba, taking part in squash, and swimming twice per week.

A journey rooted in numbers

Odjugo’s relationship with finance began early. 

“I like to inform people who my story begins with a love for maths. I used to be the type of scholar who, in SS2, purchased an engineering arithmetic textbook meant for college college students—simply because I loved fixing issues,” she says.

However when it got here time to decide on a college course, she needed to be strategic. 

“If I had informed my mother and father I wished to check math, they’d have requested, ‘So that you need to be a trainer?’” she says. “I knew I wanted one thing that sounded sensible, so I stated banking.” 

Her mom, an accountant, advised she research accounting and so she ended up an accounting scholar at Covenant College.

She excelled academically—ultimately graduating with top notch honours—however by her third 12 months, she knew she wished to do greater than stability books. 

“Accounting is beneficial, however I couldn’t see myself doing it for the remainder of my life,” she says.

A 12 months after faculty, an internship with Afreximbank in Cairo marked her entry into finance, and a scholarship to Loughborough College within the UK for a grasp’s in finance and investments solidified her path. 

“At that time, I knew this was it. It was finance, however with much more room for evaluation and technique,” she says.

Her profession path was something however linear. She utilized to dozens of corporations earlier than touchdown a break by way of the 100 Black Interns programme (now 10,000 Black Interns), which led to a graduate position at Schroders in London. After finishing the two-year program, it was time to make the massive choice.

“On the finish of it, you might be purported to discover a job throughout the agency or when your contract ends, that’s the tip. So after I was coming to the tip of the programme, I wanted the job,” says Odjugo.

Months later, a task on the agency’s Australian workplace opened up.

“I had by no means considered Australia,” she says. “However after I learn the job description, I assumed, ‘That is precisely what I ought to be doing.’ It described me so completely that I virtually felt like I had written it myself.”

Inside two weeks, she had gone by way of a number of interviews and acquired the supply. Schroders processed her visa and switch from London to Sydney, and life started within the emerald metropolis.

A brand new life in Sydney

Transferring from London to Sydney was much less of a tradition shock than shifting from Warri to London for her grasp’s diploma. But Australia nonetheless had a number of surprises. 

“The homes listed below are a lot larger than in London,” she says. “And the roads are wider.”

Not like London, the place riders faucet in solely after they get on a bus, in Sydney, it’s a must to faucet in and faucet out. Forgetting to faucet out might imply being charged for a complete bus route. 

“That was a shock,” she says, laughing.

The price of residing was one other shift. Lease in Sydney is often paid weekly or fortnightly, and for a single particular person, it ranges between AU$300 and AU$400 per week. However in case you’ve obtained a half-decent paying job in Australia, you’ll be positive, says Odjugo.

Regardless of these modifications, she discovered her footing rapidly, because of an surprising message from a fellow Nigerian. 

“After I moved, I posted on Twitter about it. A Nigerian girl residing in Sydney reached out and stated, ‘When you ever want something, let me know.’ We ended up assembly for lunch, and he or she even paid for my meal,” she says. 

That assembly has since led to a 10-person  good friend group who meet each different month.

Life at Schroders

As an fairness analyst at Schroders, no two days are the identical.

“I might stroll into the workplace with a plan for the day, but when a significant information story breaks about an organization I cowl, that plan goes out the window,” she says.

Her job includes researching publicly traded firms on the Australian Inventory Alternate, significantly in tech, gold mining, schooling, and funds. 

“A big a part of my position is determining which firms are value investing in. Meaning studying annual experiences, taking a look at monetary statements, and attempting to grasp an organization’s long-term potential,” she explains.

One firm that has saved her significantly busy is IDP Training, which helps worldwide college students safe college placements. 

“It’s a fascinating enterprise as a result of schooling is such an enormous trade, particularly for individuals from growing international locations trying to research overseas,” she says.

Past work

Balancing work and private life is one thing Odjugo takes severely. 

“Finance is intense, so I make it some extent to step away and do one thing only for me,” she says. 

“Once you transfer to Australia, you simply begin doing issues like yoga, Pilates, and going to the seashore,” she says. “It’s a part of the approach to life right here. I’m not fairly on the browsing stage but, however we are going to see.”

Journey has additionally been a defining a part of her life. She has visited 18 international locations, profiting from discounted flights and strategic reserving. 

“Once I was within the UK, I might purchase flights virtually a 12 months prematurely when British Airways had offers,” she says. 

That strategy has taken her to Greece, the US, and throughout Africa.

Regardless of working in a area that revolves round long-term forecasts, Odjugo doesn’t consider in inflexible long-term planning. 

“Past the following step, you actually can’t say. A 12 months earlier than I moved to Australia, I had no concept I might find yourself right here,” she says. “I concentrate on what I can do at present that can make the following step attainable. That’s it.”

This mindset extends to her ideas on profession success.

“Be glorious the place you might be. In case you are the perfect at what you do, you may compete globally,” she says. “There are a lot of sensible Nigerians who, with the correct publicity, can break into world funding administration corporations. The expertise is there.”

Her ardour for finance extends past her job. In 2020, she was recognised as a LinkedIn High Voice for her contributions to monetary literacy, courtesy of her publication which simplifies investing for younger professionals. 

“I began it as a result of finance can really feel intimidating, and I wished to interrupt it down in a method that felt approachable,” she says.

As we wrapped up the decision, I requested her, “When you might do something in a different way about your journey, what would that be?”

“I obtained an internship supply from Citibank in Lagos across the identical time as Afreximbank in Egypt. I didn’t need to miss the Afreximbank alternative, so I selected to not do the Citi internship and didn’t present up,” she recollects.

“However then, the Afreximbank internship obtained pushed by a 12 months resulting from timing points, and I realised I might have accomplished each. If I might return and do it over again, that’s the one factor I might do in a different way.”

Nevertheless, with life at Schroders, Odjugo appears to have put that remorse behind her. She loves what she does, she’s travelling, and importantly, she is studying learn how to permit extra flexibility in her life.

For now, she is targeted on excelling in her present position. 

“The place I’m now could be much more sure than the place I’ve been up to now, and that may be a good place to be,” she says.

As for the longer term? 

“I’ll determine it out after I get there,” she says with a smile.