Nathan Lam

6.15 AM

I’m not usually an early riser, but today I am meeting a friend before work for a coffee so managed to get out of bed (with only hitting the snooze button twice)!
My commute to work involves a short bus ride down the Brooklyn Hill into the CBD – a quick 20 minutes with little traffic at this time!

7.15 AM

When I get into the city, I meet up with a friend at the café downstairs below the office. This is also a common spot for both morning coffee runs and ‘afternoon blues’ treats (the savoury muffins are my favourite).

8.15 AM

I spend the first 15-20 minutes of my day clearing emails once I grab (another) coffee from the machine and clear any emails that have come through overnight.
We recently started with a new client whose main finance team is based in Singapore. This morning I am working with another member of the team to complete their monthly reports which involves collating information and preparing reconciliations to make sure the balances match up to what we would expect. We also review the emails that have come in overnight and prepare further work based on this.

10.30 AM

Time to take a break and another coffee! The team has been spread with a mix of working from home and in the office so today is a chance to reconnect with everyone over a scone and coffee at Pravda (famously home of Wellington’s best cheese scones).

11.30 AM

For the rest of the morning, I have an internal meeting with one of our Private Partners who I have been working with closely over the last few months on a specific client. The purpose of this internal meeting is to discuss what I have learnt and enjoyed with the piece of work, strengths, and also areas to further develop my skills.

Internal meetings like this are called ‘check-ins’ which is a useful way to not only take time to reflect on the work you have done, but also discuss areas you would like to grow in.

12.30 PM

After my meeting, a co-worker and I pop off to a nearby shop to grab some sushi and head over to the waterfront.

1.30 PM

For the afternoon, I quickly pick up my laptop and travel down to a client’s office. This Central Government client is a quick 4 minute walk away. Today, we are working through a forecast we have been building for the last few weeks.

The focus of the meeting is to run through assumptions we have used and discuss what is happening within the organisation which may provide more information for our forecast. Having a mix of behind the desk work and direct client interactions was part of the appeal of a role in Private for me as I enjoy the direct relationship I get to build with them. In Private, we try to invest in each client to become their trusted adviser so they are able to confidently pick up the phone and ask us anything!

5.00 PM

After coming back to the office, I build a list of priorities for tomorrow based on new emails which have come in; now it’s time to head home!