ASB Graduate Diaries: Raj Kumar

This is the latest entry in our Graduate Diaries series, highlighting some of the talented ASB Future Me graduates as they share their experiences progressing through the programme. 

I’m an ASB Future Me graduate in the Private Banking, Wealth & Insurance (PBW&I) Stream, and I hold a BCom/LLB from the University of Auckland, majoring in Economics and Law.

Looking back, it’s amazing how much I have learned in such a short time. I had the perception that I would mainly take a support function in my team while I got my bearings transitioning into working life. But it’s been far more engaging than that!  

From Day 1 as a Future Me grad in the Strategy team, I was given responsibility for deliverables, as well as the autonomy to work on my own project - creating a Quarterly Review pack for PBW&I to monitor market and customer results. The learning curve was quite steep but it has really hit home how valuable the problem-solving skills I learned at university are.

The nature of the work is engaging and interesting as there is a good balance of technical analysis and stakeholder engagement which helps me develop my technical ability and grow my network both within my division and the wider bank. I am fortunate to have joined at an exciting time, with a new CEO joining ASB and the banking industry facing disruption and change. This has given me great visibility in terms of changes that will be made moving forward.

The culture at ASB, I feel, is unrivalled in the market as everyone I have come across lives up to the values of Integrity, Caring, Ambition and Passion. I have grown a lot, in my time here, by focusing on setting clear development goals and taking advantage of the opportunities to learn from some very clever people who have challenged my paradigms of thinking.