Most Important Skills for a Head of Emerging Market Sovereign Debt at Abrdn
Edwin, Head of Emerging Market Sovereign Debt at Abrdn, prioritizes "intellectual curiosity" above all else when hiring, looking for evidence of this through travel, foreign languages, and diverse experiences, as he believes this "you can't teach". Beyond this crucial trait, strong quantitative skills, political and economic acumen, historical context knowledge, and familiarity with local cultures are also highly valued.
Intellectual Curiosity, Quantitative Skills, Political and Economic Knowledge, Historical Contextualization, Foreign Language Proficiency
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Edwin Gutierrez
Head of Emerging Market Sovereign Debt
Abrdn
UC Berkeley
MS Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Political Science, American Studies
Finance (Banking, Fintech, Investing)
Finance
Honors Student
Video Highlights
1. Intellectual curiosity is a key trait, demonstrated through diverse interests (travel, foreign food, languages).
2. Strong quantitative skills are needed for financial analysis of sovereign debt.
3. Understanding of politics, economics, and history, especially the historical context of countries, is critical for analysis.
Transcript
What skills are most important for a job like yours?
If there's one skill or trait I think is most important, it's intellectual curiosity. It's really what I look for when I'm interviewing people for jobs. I like to see a willingness to step outside one's comfort zone, to try new things and have new experiences.
At the end of the day, our company will teach you the specific things you need to do for the role. But you can't teach intellectual curiosity. So I look for evidence of interest in travel, foreign foods, and foreign languages.
When I look at a resume, I actually skip to the bottom. If you've made it this far, I figure the middle stuff – your academics and job experience – is probably pretty good. I'm looking at the bottom for those differentiators.
Aside from that, good quant skills are handy, as is a sense of politics, economics, and history. Knowing the historical context of a country is very critical when analyzing it. And definitely, being able to relate to locals.